WTF . Air ride issue overnight ???

nsjuice

nsjuice

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Everything was fine when I came home and parked the 97. The next day I start her up and right when the compressor usually kicks in to raise the car, the check air ride message pops up. Shiate.

I cruise on the freeway passing 60 mph. No message. I get home turn off the car and get out, I notice the car is in raised mode and doesn't lower. No clicks. Nothing. So I get in repeat. Same thing. No compressor. No lowering.

Since I have the Ray switch installed I hit it to see if it will lower, and it does. But I lower it only to see that it does and stop it cuz I don't wanna be stuck with lowered suspension.

What could be the culprit here, solenoid? Relay? Sensor?

Anyone who has an idea please chime in. Thanks.
 
I'd think compressor relay or compressor itself. You can swap the relay with the ABS relay to test it, or if you're creative enough you can run 12v directly to the compressor to test it...
 
Thanks for that, I went to the boneyard and never realized how many Tbirds there were there.. i'd say about 40+.

Anyway, There were 3 Gen I's and a lonely 98. The 98 had coil conversion so the compressor was gone, but the relay on the other side for ABS was entact so I grabbed it.

I also needed a Compressor (mine is going soon) so I snatched that off of a First Gen and just for the hell of it I also grabbed the Relay.

Got to the pay window and they wanted 40 bucks for the Air compressor because they didnt have it in their database. I gave it back and walked out knowing I could get a fresh one from American Air for a few bucks more. Especially with no way to test if it still works pre-purchase.


Verdict: I tried the newer Relay from the 98 and I was disappointed that it didnt work. From there, I just thought about how much PITA it was going to be trying to troubleshoot the problem. Undetermined, I put in the First Gen Relay in, just so that in my mind.. I can say that I give up on this Air Ride Stuff.. and Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttttt.... The car raises!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The relief!!!!! and Surprise!!!!!!!!!!!


How often do these relays go out? There's a bunch more in the boneyard, I'm thinking of going back to stock on them just in case.
And especially since the one I put in is older I just don't know when itll give. If I remember reading correctly, relays aren't available new anymore? Please correct me on this.

Also thinking about that Rear neon (if it works). Took off the driver Sun Visor with Homelink off of it, but decided not to keep it because it was beige color and not grey. owell.


Thanks MediumD.. and LVC.
 
Haven't checked myself, but I hear they're still available at your friendly neighborhood stealership. Or Maxxxxx..
 
The relays last a very VERY long time... on the order of 10-12 years.

What kills them is a weak pump that overworks the relay.

You shoulda gotten that 40.00 pump, you cannot get one "for a few bucks more" from Eddie..they are MANY bucks more than 40... on the order of 110.00 MORE.

I scoop up all the pumps I find in the JY, to add my my FrankenPump parts bin.

your pump is weak and tired and probably full of water, and it will KILL the new relay in a short time..

replace or rebuild the pump ASAP

hell you could probably take the compressor apart and clean it with brake cleen..and do the same for the electric motor and MIGHT be able to salvage that pump... unless you drive it til it croaks
 
Umderstood as far as the pump killing the relay. Thanks for the advice.
 
I think I am gonna order a pump from Eddie next week or maybe this week. Mine is a tad on the loud side (to me anyway) and since its the original and was pumping bad bags for a few months its prolly a smart choice. I havent gotten a CAR warning but I dont want it to do something weird.
 
What consists of a Compressor Rebuild? Couldn't find a guide or info in Search..

I wouldn't know :q:q:q:q from Jack as far as compressors go, or where to get parts for it if needed.

I'm asking this cuz I noticed Eddie's compressors are out of stock.
 
He should get some back in stock soon. Luckily I'm not going to have this problem anytime soon because the compressor I have came from Eddie and I sent it to Jamie so that it would beat me down to Florida before I flew down to buy the car. He installed it for me the same day I got there and it's super quiet. He pulled a good compressor out but I think the rubber bushings it sets on were worn or something. Maybe he could explain it better but it was working fine, just a bit loud.

When he took it out, he showed me the bushings that it sat on and it was pretty much setting on metal to metal. He installed my new one on new bushings and on a thick wool type dampener and I can barely hear this thing run. So, for those of you that have loud compressors, check and see what it's setting on to make sure some rubber is there to help keep it quiet. I don't know how often the rubber feet go out or get brittle but it could be the cause of a lot of loud compressors.

If it were me, I would just pay the $155 for one from Eddie and send yours back to him as a core and be done with it. You'll be at peace for years to come.
 
nsjuice said:
What consists of a Compressor Rebuild? Couldn't find a guide or info in Search...
Click to expand...

rebuild might not have been the best choice of words....sorry

i meant refurb/clean/replace worn broken parts<--with donor parts from other compressors

like we did with "frankencompressor" which went 200K on grandmas car, and 10K so far on my current car.

they arent "that" complicated..

you should have gotten that 40.00 jycompressor.

eddie could rebuild it, hes out of stock because he's probably waiting on rebuildable cores..
 
my buddy here in town (the IkeMark) just ordered a compressor last week, guess it was the last one.
 
XLRVIII said:
you should have gotten that 40.00 jycompressor.
Click to expand...

i agree 40 aint bad, and you could of hooked it to a battery to see if it worked. and im like tommy i grab every compressor i come across, C4C was good to me. and FYI almost all the ford compressors are close enough to work with some minor modifications
 
and if you have a spider valve you eliminate the most common failure the leaking vent solenoid which quickly smokes the compressor
 
Well shiate. There's a gen one there with front end still entact. Gonna go dig up the compressor. Also will grab all solenoids and relays off of it.

I noticed one mark with bags still inflated. Worth the grab? I assume the bags that show no air in them (shriveled), are not good anymore ?
 
Oh and sensors too. I just have to look up how many there are/where they are on one car and what they look like.

Edit. Nwvermind found the tech article on sensor lowering.
 
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