It finally happened

S

subdriver

Registered
After having my mark for about a year now with no problems I had to replace my alternator.:frown: I started it after work Thursday morning about 6am and the batt light in the dash came on. I drove the car home on the battery and then had myself a quick shower and pulled it out and jumped on the buss and went to parts store and was back home and the new one in by noon and was back on the road. :) Cant say as I have any complaints about the car so far as its a 93 with 109k on it and the alternator i pulled out was the original one. Looking at air suspension work on it this summer as the pump comes on when i start it for about 20sec then shuts down have had no check air ride alarms as of yet. Since I spent so much time on subs in the navy a proactive maintenance attitude is alway good with these cars as they get a lil long in years. So now I'm getting the cash together to replace all the air ride components except the computer module.

One question is should i get all new plumbing lines for the air ride as well?

and should i do the work myself or have it done? I have the line on a guy who is still in the service and does custom suspension work on the side.
 
air ride lines "generally" aren't a problem unless they suffer some mechanical damage.

IMHO if your compressor only runs for 20 seconds.. that to me says your air ride is probably in pretty good shape, especially for the miles.

I commend your "fix it before it breaks" attitude though {hats off)

you definatley could get the parts now and have then ready when your first bag begins to leak..that will make your original compressor last much longer.
 
Jim-
All sounds like it's working as it should. XLRViiii is correct IMHO that you could go ahead and buy new bags so you will have them when they go, but I would also like to suggest a couple other items as well.

1. A real Mark Vlll shop manual, not one of these generic Chilton's or Hayes, but the one FOMOCO produced. I don't have any for a "93", but you can go on the Auction and find them and some a on CD's as well. Beleive me it will be worth the money to you.

2. Go to American Air Suspension and invest in his Spider Valve which will help increase the life of you current compressor as well as any new one you put in. What it does is provide system venting exterrnal to the compressor instead of internal. Our compressors fail mostly due to internal rusting from the venting mosture that builds up in the system. The Spider Valve Eddie now sells gets around all that (Just like your garage compressor with moisture trap) and also vents thru its own schraeder valve. This same valve can be attached to a air line to fill the car's suspension up in the event of a compressor failure as well.

http://www.americanairsuspension.com/PARTS BY VEHICLE.htm


3. Be prepaired- you can read this article on strut (air bag replacement). Is something that most people can perform with out alot of technical skill. Note that the new air bags use a shorter solenoid. You need to take your old one and throw away the marshmellow foam tip and take a sharp knife and trim along the perforated plastic just behind it. Otherwise you will not get it to slide up and double twist into the new bag, Be sure to get new "O" Rings as well as your old ones will not reseal- trust me on this. Be sure to lube them also, I use di-electric grease.

http://mark8.org/lod/strut.htm
 
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Thanks for the info guys. Have found the CD/DVD manuals online for about $80, also a slightly used 94 paper repair manual for $89. The CD/DVD looks like a better choice as i can easily print what I need then use it and get rid of it.


One more thing I know the LSC options was not available in the 93 model year but the warranty card that is still in the glove box says its an LSC. Also my car is a Canadian model.
 
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