Please help asap!!!! Air ride trouble.

Hi Everyone.

I read through your forums here and there seems to be some pretty knowledgeable Mark owners here. I have a crazy problem.

Last fall the air ride went out on the drivers side of my 94 Mark VIII.
I called Arnott and ordered the front air struts. I replace the drivers side last fall and all was well. Fastforward to this week and the car was down again. This time the compressor wasnt doing anything, so I figured (after talking to Arnott) that the compressor was shot too. So I ordered the compressor. I replace the passenger side strut and the air compressor (Only 3 hours and 4 beers YEAH!!!) Started the car, turned on the air ride and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!!!!

Are there any relays that are bad or possibly the height sensors (how do you adjust those BTW) and YES I did turn the switch in the trunk back on.

I am puzzled. Please help.


Scott

RE: Please help asap!!!! Air ride trouble.

No error message?

So the pump isn't running at all? Have you checked for voltage at the compressor?

There is a relay that could be the culprit, it looks like this:

http://www.lincolnmarkviii.org/suspension/suspension/compressor_relay.gif

You can replace it with the ABS relay on the otehr side of the car, or you can verify it is/isn't working by checking for voltage at the compressor when it is supposed to be running.

There's also a couple of O-Rings that may not be seated correctly. If the compressor runs, that is..I'll wait for your reply.

Kale

RE: Please help asap!!!! Air ride trouble.

sounds like a fuse or relay.

RE: Please help asap!!!! Air ride trouble.

Where the heck is that relay? I cannot find it!

Please help!

Thanks,

Scott

RE: Please help asap!!!! Air ride trouble.

It's mounted on the compressor assembly, #3 in this pic. There are also two fuses that you should check in the engine compartment. Fuses#4 and #20. (I think they are labeled on the lid) #4 is a 15 amp control module fuse and number 20 is a 50 amper that controls the air compressor. These normally will not be your culprit unless you did sonmething that caused them to blow.

http://www.mark8.org/kale/images/comp_layout.gif

Kale

RE: Please help asap!!!! Air ride trouble.

Thank you sooooo much Kale!!!

I was not able to locate a new relay today, but I did find the ABS relay and switched the two. Now the air ride is working, almost.

I hooked everything up, buttoned it all up and started the car. The air struts inflated and look great. I learned that I may have to cycle the start several times in order to fully inflate the system. The goofy thing is this ... I have a new compressor, (1) new strut and (1) that is nine months old. When I start the car I can hear the compressor fire up, not too unusual but after about 15 seconds the compressor starts tapping out a sound and the check engine light comes on and the draw from the compressor makes the check engine light alomost blink in time with the tapping noise. This last for about 45 seconds and then the check air ride signal comes on. Goofy!!!! When I shut the car off, the compressor vents and then continues with the tapping sound for about 20-30 seconds and then shuts off. The tapping sound sounds like the compressor running on 1/8th power. It sounds like it is cycling, just very slowly. When the ingnition is on, it fires right up.

Any suggestions? I am thinkng I still am losing air because the compressor shouldnt run unless the system needs air? Perhaps the O rings you were talking about?


Once again, thanks for all of your help. I will check out the rest of the boards, as I do have quite a bit of experience with other areas of Mark VIII repair. Hopefully I can help someone else out as you have helped me.

Scott