Temp bag fix?

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Blkdvll

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So I finally got around to sensor lowering the LSC (took about 1.5" out of the front) and found that my front bags are the cause of my air ride problems. They leak very slightly around the very bottom.

Is there a temperary fix out there? I was thinking that since the leak is so small, and at the bottom that I might beable to get away with injecting the bottom of the bag with some Slim. Opinions?
 
slime will destroy the rest of the air ride components, dont do it.

there is no temp fix.. buy bags now, or your gonna kill the pump.
 
Slime will sit in the bottom of the bag and dry up and crystallize, which will then cut through the bags quickly. Theres nothing to mix it around the system as in a moving wheel to coat the inside, and its only meant to be temporary. I tried this with my old VII I had, and learned the hard way ;)
 
XLRVIII said:
slime will destroy the rest of the air ride components, dont do it.

there is no temp fix.. buy bags now, or your gonna kill the pump.
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Icarus said:
Slime will sit in the bottom of the bag and dry up and crystallize, which will then cut through the bags quickly. Theres nothing to mix it around the system as in a moving wheel to coat the inside, and its only meant to be temporary. I tried this with my old VII I had, and learned the hard way ;)
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Well that seriously sucks! I wish I had known that before I put the stuff in my front springs. I bought a brand new set of front airspring/shocks from Arnott and put the green slime in the springs before I installed them. My hope was that if dryrot cracks form around the fold at the bottom of the spring, the green slime would prevent them from leaking. It's been almost a year ago and I have had no problems yet. So now I've got something to look forward to. Dangit.
 
thaywood said:
Well that seriously sucks! I wish I had known that before I put the stuff in my front springs. I bought a brand new set of front airspring/shocks from Arnott and put the green slime in the springs before I installed them. My hope was that if dryrot cracks form around the fold at the bottom of the spring, the green slime would prevent them from leaking. It's been almost a year ago and I have had no problems yet. So now I've got something to look forward to. Dangit.
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If you bought Arnott, you would be buying new ones anyway within a year or two. Get the real deals next time or find some low mileage 98 bags and install them. You can find them fairly cheap.
 
NoLimit95 said:
If you bought Arnott, you would be buying new ones anyway within a year or two. Get the real deals next time or find some low mileage 98 bags and install them. You can find them fairly cheap.
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Yeah. I know. I bought a set of Arnotts about 5 years ago and they lasted one year exactly. Then I got a set of used 97's and they lasted until last year. I got the new Arnotts in January of '09. So if they stay true to form, they should be about ready to go. Hopefully not. Honestly, the new Arnotts look a lot more "robust" than the ones I got 5 yrs ago. The top cap is new, and is made of machined aluminum. And the bag itself has a lot more "ribbing" on it than the old ones. The old style was very smooth. Plus the bag material seems to be a lot thicker than the old style. Either way, I can't afford $500 bucks each for factory springs and $186 each was still over my budget. But hopefully, the new upgraded design will last a while. Knock on wood.
 
I know a guy with a 95 who is cheap, he claims his front driver side had the leaking cracks at the fold that he found with soapy water-he patched it with patches made for a water bed about 3 years ago and it still does not leak.
 
jack the car up with air ride off and below the bags you can use silicone tape from home depot and wrap the fucc out of it and lower the car...or you can fix it right and replace the bags
 
CobraStar_LS8 said:
jack the car up with air ride off and below the bags you can use silicone tape from home depot and wrap the fucc out of it and lower the car...or you can fix it right and replace the bags
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Do you wrap the lower portion of the bags where they roll under? How long will it last? My problem is that my air springs are a little leaky but the shocks are in excellent working order. And I like the stiffer ride of the LSC shocks and don't want to replace them with generics until they wear completely out. I just can't justify buying a set of air spring/shocks that won't have the same ride/handling characteristics as my LSC when the shocks are still good.
 
I'm Stumped

I'm stumped. Okay, last night I raised my front suspension about a half inch to see if maybe it would stay up overnight. This morning, it was on the ground. I was hoping that raising it up a little would close any dryrot cracks in the spring. Unfortunately, it didn't work. However, I'm now not so sure it's the springs that are leaking. When I was under the front end last night, I noticed that just about everything except the upper ball joints looked new. Even the springs/shocks looked very clean and smooth. And the shocks are super stiff. They wouldn't be that stiff if they were 13 years old with 173k miles on them, IMO. I have a feeling that maybe whoever replaced the air spring/shocks last may not have put new o-rings in the air valve solenoids. But that still may not be it.

It's wierd because sometimes it sinks and sometimes it doesn't. I drove it to work on Tuesday and parked it with the nose pointing uphill and it didn't sink an inch in 8 hours. My wife drove it to work and parked it for 8 hours and it didn't sink an inch. Yet when we park it in the driveway, which is relatively level, it is on the ground the next morning. Yet, sometimes, when I turn the air ride off when I park it at home, it doesn't sink overnight. But sometimes it does. I just don't get it. It's irritating. Anybody got any ideas at all?
 
you could pull the solenoid and lube the Oring and see if it gets any better.
 
XLRVIII said:
you could pull the solenoid and lube the Oring and see if it gets any better.
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I think that's my next step. Also I have already ordered a new set of o-rings from my local Ford dealership. They should be here Monday. I hope. Meanwhile, I'll still do the silicone tape thing just as a precaution.

It's just odd that the sway bar links, strut rod bushings, lower ball joints, and lower control arm bushings look brand new, and so does the air spring/shock. But the upper ball joints are worn out. And that the shocks are super stiff. I can push down on the front end and it takes all my not inconsiderable weight to make it move down an inch. Those are some seriously stiff shocks. And when I brake, there is absolutely no nosedive. Those shocks can't be very old. Even with brand new Arnotts on my '96, it was still soft and mushy. Not so the '97 LSC. It's got a firm ride and excellent handling. That's why I want to exhaust all my options before I have to replace those fabulous shocks.
 
The system is very simple. Each bag has a solenoid. The compressor has one "main" vent solenoid.

For a bag to leak IF the bag itself is good, the bags's solenoid would HAVE to be open and so would the vent. If either is closed, it should not leak.

With that said, after-market cheap bags do often leak from a top seal that Jamie pointed out - with photos.

Anyway, I would get on those o-rings as suggested. Just make sure its jacked up - and leave the wheel on for load wait to keep the spring extended, it may want to shrink a lot when you pull the solenoid out.

ONLY USE SILICONE LUBE!!! You can get a small pat of it in a grey container in the plumbing section of any store! Use any other grease and kiss those o-rings good bye. In fact, if you think they are new then maybe that is the problem! Might want to pull a solenoid and go pick up the silicone grease and new o-rings anyway.
 
It could be the top part of the strut leaking, pull the cover over and spray with some soap/water?
 
unity said:
The system is very simple. Each bag has a solenoid. The compressor has one "main" vent solenoid.

For a bag to leak IF the bag itself is good, the bags's solenoid would HAVE to be open and so would the vent. If either is closed, it should not leak.

With that said, after-market cheap bags do often leak from a top seal that Jamie pointed out - with photos.

Anyway, I would get on those o-rings as suggested. Just make sure its jacked up - and leave the wheel on for load wait to keep the spring extended, it may want to shrink a lot when you pull the solenoid out.

ONLY USE SILICONE LUBE!!! You can get a small pat of it in a grey container in the plumbing section of any store! Use any other grease and kiss those o-rings good bye. In fact, if you think they are new then maybe that is the problem! Might want to pull a solenoid and go pick up the silicone grease and new o-rings anyway.
Click to expand...

These are factory Motorcraft air springs. I have heard said many times that if you replace the spring/shock you absolutely have to put new o-rings in the solenoids or they will undoubtedly leak. I have a feeling that whoever installed these springs didn't put new o-rings in. At least I hope so anyway. I got a new set of o-rings and I plan to install them tomorrow. Incidentally, my wife drove the car to work today and it didn't drop an inch in 14 hours. But I'll bet it will be on the ground in the morning. It's just wierd as hell.
 
Okay. Got the front air spring/shocks off this morning. Turns out that the o-rings on the solenoids were completely shot. They had shrunk and the outer diameter was completely flattened on every one. ANd get this, on the drivers side, there was only ONE o-ring! I don't know where the other one went. Unfortunately, upon closer inspection, the springs showed signs of dryrot. Not bad though. I don't think bad enough to leak. They certainly aren't the original 13 year old OEM springs. They must have been replaced within the last 5 years or so, I would guess. And they are factory Motorcraft parts. So I'm saturating them with silicone spray, installing new o-rings, and wrapping the shocks with silicone tape just as a precaution. We'll see what happens.
 
Dont use spray, use grease. The spray is rather abrasive and may not help with insertion. The grease is like $2 and will last a long time.
 
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