Problem with air-ride

[JRMARK8]

Hey guys it's been a long time I have not been on the web.

I know this subject been brought up many times never bothered to read because I dred it would happen to my car.

So here it goes....the air ride works when you turn on the car, the car goes up to its proper level and then when you park the car and let it sit for three or four hours the front end is sitting on the floor. Im not much of a mechanic, basic oil changes and brake jobs. Is there a way I can detect where the air leak is coming from and in a inexpensive way. Also, anyone that you can recommend in the NYC area with good techs and rates.


Thank you

 

[Right on the Mark]

Yes spray the air bladders and connections with soapy water and look for bubbles.

 

[Calabrio]

You're front end is leaking.
Odds are, the rubber air springs are leaking air.
Solution, you need to replace the front air struts.

There's no inexpensive answer to that.

You can put soapy water on the bags in an effort to see where the air is escaping. Sometimes you can even hear the air leak.

Also possible, your strut solenoids are leaking. Given the speed of your leak, that doesn't sound likely.

Likley OPTIONS:
Contact EDDIE at American Air Suspension and purchase rebuilt struts or convert your air ride to a coil spring.
Contact MAX at Five Star Ford and order new struts from Ford.

AVOID ARNOTT.

That's the bad news. The good news, you can do this repair without much difficulty with only a jack and a box of ratchets. It very simple.

Also note, this isn't a problem you want to leave unaddressed too long IF you intend to keep the air ride system. You're putting a lot of strain on your compressor motor, it stays inflated because the compressor constantly is kicking on to refill what is leaking out. If you don't act in a timely way, you risk burning out the compressor.

 

[JRMARK8]

Thanks guys for the reply. is there a tech article that can show me how to check or repair the front air strut.Also where are strut solenoids located at.If you have any pics and the how to it would be helpful.

 

[Calabrio]

There's no way to "repair" the strut, unless it's just an o-ring or solenoid that's leaking. It's really just an issue of replacing with a rebuilt, replacing with a new one from Ford, or converting to coil springs.

Air Strut Replacement
http://mark8.org/lod/strut.htm

Coil Spring Conversion
http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/tech/lincoln-mark-viii/Coil-Spring-Conversion/index.htm

 

[American Air-1]

I agree its probably the front struts giving you the problem.

Pretty much anything you need to do is here: http://www.americanairsuspension.com/MARK VIII AREA.htm