1998 continental rear suspension weird???

[rmorrow1970]

1998 lincoln continental. air ride rear suspension. stock everything. never messed with. never any engine warnings. when you park the car........SOMETIMES the rear will lower to the ground (or as close as can) within fifteen minutes, sometimes it may take two days, sometimes it does not do it at all, and remains at the correct height. If you start the car, it will pump up instantly, and run and ride correctly until shut off and parked again. both sides lower. as it does it only occasionally, im lost as to why. or why sometimes it takes six hours to lower, other times fifteen minutes. the most typical time frame is within an hour it lowers itself, but today, it did not lower itself at all. it is parked on a slight incline, and backing the car in does not seem to matter. i ran the car and got it lifted, and now have shut off the system via the trunk switch. it has been two hours, and it has not moved....but as sometimes it does not...im not sure that this means a darn thing! any suggestions?? i love my baby!! thanks
rick

 

[rmorrow1970]

1998 lincoln continental. air ride rear suspension. stock everything. never messed with. never any engine warnings. when you park the car........SOMETIMES the rear will lower to the ground (or as close as can) within fifteen minutes, sometimes it may take two days, sometimes it does not do it at all, and remains at the correct height. If you start the car, it will pump up instantly, and run and ride correctly until shut off and parked again. both sides lower. as it does it only occasionally, im lost as to why. or why sometimes it takes six hours to lower, other times fifteen minutes. the most typical time frame is within an hour it lowers itself, but today, it did not lower itself at all. it is parked on a slight incline, and backing the car in does not seem to matter. i ran the car and got it lifted, and now have shut off the system via the trunk switch. it has been two hours, and it has not moved....but as sometimes it does not...im not sure that this means a darn thing! any suggestions?? i love my baby!! thanks
rick

five hours in now with the switch off...the car just began settling slooowwwwwllllyyyyyy.....so......leak?? intermittent?? help??!!!

 

[MooJohn]

My car's suspension hasn't messed up yet so I haven't delved into the system much. Just from your description it sounds like the "vent" solenoid is leaking. I can only assume that if it was a bag it would do it every time vs. sometimes.

FWIW my car was in the shop getting the trans rebuilt and it spent 3 weeks with the switch off and the rear never dropped a bit.

 

[bradyelich]

The switch in the off position is supposed to lock that height, for jacking and towing (never tow these cars by front wheels, only wrecks the hubs, haul it instead or use a tow strap for short distance). My car lowers slightly after turned off and I can hear the venting, only enough to release pressure. The pump is not supposed to run for more than 90 seconds - mine has once or twice with a full load for vacation.

Being the anal person I am, I put Armour All on the air bags to preserve them....I even put Armour All on my garden hose. Weird, huh?

 

[BigPip]

I had a rear bag leak on me, let then pump up and get a water bottle and spray the bags and look for bubbles. The bags are/were pretty cheap at $100/bag and be cautious when buying them after market. I bought one and saved $10 bucks but found out later they didn't have ANY warranty but the other brand had a lifetime. The 2 companies were Arnott and Suncore. I forgot who was who but i know I was looking at both of them. The one without the warranty called me trying to get me to spend even more money and buy a spring conversion kit- no offense but I love the air ride on my car- that is one of the main reasons i purchased my 2nd Continental.