The Air Suspension From Hell

[Lux]

I just wont convert this car.

I cant wait till i pull the car off the road and its no longer my daily...it sucks having air suspension problems when you drive them daily, i can understand that.

If it sits in a garage most of the year and you take it out on nice days and weekends...well then, air suspension for the win!

 

[Staffamerica74]

If you convert to coils and go with lowered springs make sure you buy good struts and coils for a t-bird not the conversion crap they sell for our cars.

 

[XLRVIII]

You'll perpetually be fixing the damn air ride system on this car..

you know, I probably backed my car up further than you have driven yours FORWARDS, and I wasn't "perpetually" fixing the damn air ride.

BUT.. I took action at the first signs of trouble.. I didnt' wait until the car wouldn't move before I fixed it.

 

[mikemark8]

I just wont convert this car.

I cant wait till i pull the car off the road and its no longer my daily...it sucks having air suspension problems when you drive them daily, i can understand that.

If it sits in a garage most of the year and you take it out on nice days and weekends...well then, air suspension for the win!

Mine is not a DD, and neither was my first (RIP)-so when I had problems with the air ride (and I have had problems with both Marks) I let it sit until I could replace what was wrong-but with the air ride, I completely agree, it virtually eliminates these as daily drivers IMO-I was driving my first Mark about 100 miles from home about 6-7 years ago when my front bags blew out-as fortune would have it I was not far from the Pa Turnpike, which for the most part is not too bumpy, and I drove it home. It sat, I replaced both front bags...then, it cost me around $600-$700. My present ride had bad front bags when I bought it, I found one, then the other on ebay and replaced them cheaply (less than $250 for both) and they do not leak, almost 3 years later. I don't put more than 5000 miles a year average on this car, it is just for fun-but if I had to depend on it, I wouldn't hesitate at the first issue to replace with coil conversion. Air is doomed to failure, some can afford to let ti sit while it is repaired, and some use these as daily drivers. JMO.

 

[StankinLincoln]

i had that problem with my tc. i dont know anything about the mark suspension so i probably shouldnt be commenting on this but id hate to see you convert to coils. that is what sets the mark aside from all others. i replaced everything on my suspension but the lines and after a month i found out the selenoids were bad form the get go. i recieved bad parts. see if the selenoids you bought were bad from the factory. i dont know if there is a test you can do with them. but dont give up. air ride is far superior to coil springs.

 

[UltimateSVT]

Ok, let me bring everyone back up to speed. The car is back up & running & as I mentioned before, it was riding a bit too high. I sensor lowered the car today but it only lowered it about an inch 1/2. I went back under the car for the rear & expanded it alllllll the way up, did the same for the fronts, bought them all the way down... NOTHING! It's higher up than I expected. I've cycled the compressor many times, let them vent, reset the system (turning it on & off) done everything imaginable but it sits just about 1/2 inch below regular ride height. I'm not getting any "Check Air Ride" messages so I'm not going to mess with it anymore unless some1 shines some light on this so I can go directly to the problem. Has this happened to anyone before where you have sensor lowered your car but it doesnt lower much?

 

[XLRVIII]

If it didn't lower enough for your needs, then remount the sensor bracket.

If you move about a 1/2 inch it'll give you probably the adjustment you seek.

 

[DreDaDevil]

hey just adding my 2 cents

If it didn't lower enough for your needs, then remount the sensor bracket.

If you move about a 1/2 inch it'll give you probably the adjustment you seek.

Get the Coils! i did that with my Mark vii and now i will be ordering a set for my 95. i hate the air springs.

 

[XLRVIII]

Get the Coils! i did that with my Mark vii and now i will be ordering a set for my 95. i hate the air springs.

Uhm.. I seriously doubt you'll see ME putting Tbird junkyard parts onto MY mark 8.

But if it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling, then by all means feel free to use parts for your car that were designed for another platform.

the air springs on the mark 7's were crap from day 1

the mark 8 air springs are a much improved design than lincoln put on that aged fox body.

I got 200K out of my original air ride, and another 200K out of the replacement set.
At 408,000 miles it still had working Air Ride.

 

[kustomizingkid]

Mine is working at 110k

 

[LaserSVT]

WHERE TO BEGIN, I'LL MAKE IT SIMPLE... MY COMPRESSOR DOES INDEED PUMP AIR, I REPLACED 2 SOLENOIDS (1 FRONT/1 REAR), REPLACED THE MODULE, I KNOW MY BAGS ARENT LEAKING & I ALSO HAVE A SPARE COMPRESSOR BUT THOSE DAMN BAGS WON'T COME UP!!! I HAVE THE CAR JACKED UP ABOUT 3 INCHES TO ASSIST THE INFLATION PROCESS BUT THAT DOESN'T WORK EITHER. I'VE GIVEN UP. THE CAR HAS BEEN SITTING FOR 2 WEEKS NOW WITH THIS ISSUE. THE WEATHER DURING THIS SEASON ONLY ALLOWS ME A 2-3 HOUR SUNSHINE WINDOW DAILY & I NO LONGER KNMOW WHAT TO DO. I'M PASSED IMPATIENT, I'M FRUSTRATED!!! WHAT DO I DO??????

 

[shiryu0]

My air bags leaked @ 68K miles.....and out they went.....

 

[Lux]

www.americanairsuspension.com

"IF" the system is in decent shape, the car "should" raise up to normal height. On an old system, it may require more than one ignition cycle, due to a 90 second compressor run time limit.
http://www.americanairsuspension.com/switch-left-on-low.htm

I had the same problem as you described. Pump would pump but i was getting check air ride messages.

When i replaced my suspension and let all the air out of the bags, the compressor took 3 trys to get it back up in the air. Throwing the check suspension on each try. I put another compressor in it last night (thanks micah) and so far everything seems to be fine. No check air ride message.

Sounds like your compressor is getting weak. Pretty quick to change out...mine sucked because i had torx screws holding it to the car (replaced with hex from the other compressor) and i have the spider extreme v3, so i had to rewire the solenoid, move everything, fiddle with it. Took way longer because of the spider but as i was under there the water seperator was half full already and it hasnt been a year yet. lol. so i drained that and now all seems to be better.

 

[Roadboss]

He's in Florida so you can imagine how much moisture is in his system. He needs a rebuilt compressor and Spider Valve from American Air and he should be just fine. I bought a compressor and rebuilt bags back when Eddie was selling them 5 years ago, and everything works just fine.

 

[XLRVIII]

He's in Florida so you can imagine how much moisture is in his system. .

here on the texas gulf coast 85% humidity is considered low for 90% of the year...its very common to be 100% for weeks upon end.

 

[LaserSVT]

I sure dont miss that from living in Houston. Its quite a bit less humid this far up north of you but it still sux.

 

[UltimateSVT]

Dude, u truly made me crack up. Whenever u see me post something in all caps it's usualy because I'm frustrated! lol

here on the texas gulf coast 85% humidity is considered low for 90% of the year...its very common to be 100% for weeks upon end.

Bro that's way more humidity than we get here in Miami. There are some days where we may get like that but damn that's crazy humidity.

Guys as far as my system, if you read my update, I already replaced the compressor & it runs amazingly great. My only current issue is a leaky hose to the passenger rear bag. It's right up front by the compressor, I can hear it.