Air gone HELP!!!

phielrain

Registered
On my wifes Mark VIII the front air is gone from her Shocks.
When I turn the key on I can here the compressor pretty loud.
(Still no air)
I disabled the Compressor and now I lost air in the rear.
When I enable the compressor I here it but get no response.
Should I be able to see this car rise??
Is it a long slow process???
Should I be able to here the compressor???

Any help would be appreciated!

Phiel::uh::
 
RE: Air gone HELP!!!

How (and why) did you disable the compressor?

It sounds like you have leaks in one or both of your front airsprings.

Try spraying soapy water on the rubber bladders of the front airsprings and let the compressor run. Then look for bubbles that might form from the leaks.

If you have no leaks in the airsprings, the vent valve in the compressor might be stuck open, or there is a leak in the lines or at the dryer.

If the front airsprings won't inflate, the system will time out and the rears won't inflate (unless you have an early 93).
 
RE: Air gone HELP!!!

I turned the compressor off because on other sites I read that the compressor will burn up from constantly coming on to try and inflate the front shocks. :D
 
RE: Air gone HELP!!!

OK, I can understand that.

Now, go find where it's leaking..:)
 
RE: Air gone HELP!!!

In a nOrMaL working system, it should be able to raise the front or rear up in less than 90 seconds. If it takes longer than this, the module(brain) will "time-out" and give up. Thus turning on the "check suspension" message and shutting down the system. After this has happened, the system won't try to make ANY adjustments until after the ignition is turned off, then back on. At this time, it'll try to raise the car again for another 90 seconds (or vent for 45 seconds).

Because "early in the stages of a leak", a leak will only leak while being driven, a leak will usually go on for at least 6-8 months before the driver even realizes theres a problem.....and to make matters worse, because the system is all automatic, as long as the compressor is able to keep up with the leak and meet the goal set forth by the module (brain) in the alloted 90 seconds, it may run 2-20 times more in a day than it would normally. This would be hard on any system, but even harder on an OLD system.....especially the compressor & relay.

It sounds to me like you started out with just a leak in the front struts. With time, I think it killed the compressor. It is also a very good chance you now have a leak in the rear air springs as well.

If you can ever get it up one last time, you should do a leak test to know where you are. You can try to help the compressor and "maybe" seal up the air bladders a little, if you use a floorjack and raise up the front just under normal ride height. This MAY help a weak compressor and/or leaking struts to raise the car up enough to do the leak test.

Remember this: To perform the switch off and drive leak test, you want the vehicle at the height its been at "most" of its life.....which is at curb height(lowered height=while unattended & hwy. speeds).

To do the switch off and drive leak test, go here:
http://www.americanairsuspension.com/MARK VIII LEAK TEST.htm

Good luck.
 
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