air suspension problem

It almost seems as if recently my car is falling apart. My keyless remote system took a dump, the blend door took a dump, and the front air bags have been leaking for a little while. Well today after I got off work I was driving to my buddys house crusing on the freeway and the front of the car slams to the ground. Thinking to myself, wtf? I pushed the vehicle system check button on the computer, ran the whole thing and no errors came up. A few minutes later the check air ride error message came on. I drove it slammed to my buddys place and turned the car off. I turned it back on and it raised the car back up. Then I was noticing that the compressor was making odd noises. The car sat for about 5 hours and it held air, I got ready to leave. Got on the freeway and about 5 minutes later the front end drops to the ground again. From what I gather it only happens at freeway speeds and not around town. I hear what seems to be air leaking from the front drivers side every now and then while driving around the streets. Anyone have any ideas on what the problem might be? I would like to isolate the problem and repair it, but if I can not then I will just do a coil spring swap. There are a few birds at the wrecking yard, what years work if I end up having to do this?



69 Mark III Continental
97 Mark VIII
80 Kawasaki LTD KZ1000

RE: air suspension problem

Sounds like an air bag leak that if you continue to ignore will also cause a pump failure as well. Get it fixed. Call American Air Suspension to get your parts (Spider Valve also).

RE: air suspension problem

so I need a new bag? What parts should I get?

RE: air suspension problem

Yes, you should replace the airsprings/struts in pairs though. If one goes the other one isn't far behind.

I've replaced the fronts on both of my cars with original Ford units. They are over 5 years old on my red Mark now.

I haven't had to replace the rears yet though.::uh::

RE: air suspension problem

Hi,

Having the same problem beginning to happen.
The poster did say both sides were going down at the same time.
So is mine. Is it common for both bags to get leaks at the same time?

Sometimes, I get the hiss on the driver's side too.
Aren't the bags independent of each other when holding air?
Or, if one bag has a leak, the air will come out the other too?

Could it be just a bad hose? Any other component than the bags?

When driving on the highway and the Check Air Ride System display comes on, I just pull over, shut off the car, restart, and the car raises, and I drive on. No problems again until the next morning. Always seem to happen when it is cool in the AM.

RE: air suspension problem

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Hi,Having the same problem beginning to happen.The poster did say both sides were going down at the same time. So is mine. Is it common for both bags to get leaks at the same time?Sometimes, I get the hiss on the driver's side too. Aren't the bags independent of each other when holding air? Or, if one bag has a leak, the air will come out the other too?Could it be just a bad hose? Any other component than the bags?When driving on the highway and the Check Air Ride System display comes on, I just pull over, shut off the car, restart, and the car raises, and I drive on. No problems again until the next morning. Always seem to happen when it is cool in the AM.
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Yours sounds like bad airsprings too. When your car lowers on the highway, the rotted cracks in the rubber airspring are exposed and they leak more.