96 Continental Air Suspension - HELP!

[Linda A. Carlyle]

:Bang I have a '96 Lincoln Continental that has 150,000 miles on it. The suspension light had started coming on and on Friday going home, I had suspension. Saturday morning, I got in the car and it rode like a jumping bean. The compressor was hotwired from the battery and the pump came on. The pump used to come on when I started the car but now it doesn't come on by itself anymore. Low on $$ and all immediate help is out of town. Anyone know where I should start looking first? Each tire was removed and the connector to the bags were taken off and put back on. Still no compressor start when the car is started. Where should I look next, what parts should be replaced and in what order? HELP HELP HELP. Thanks

 

[bigdog1279]

with the air ride i would say in a 96 if it,s jumping around like a jumping beam from my exsperienc it,s a back airshock perhaps
and what do you mean hot wire the compresser from the batter wow
i would take it to a mechanic and have them check it out if you don,t know what your doing

 

[Linda A. Carlyle]

Lincoln Air Shock Problems

with the air ride i would say in a 96 if it,s jumping around like a jumping beam from my exsperienc it,s a back airshock perhaps
and what do you mean hot wire the compresser from the batter wow
i would take it to a mechanic and have them check it out if you don,t know what your doing

I took it to a friend who know's cars. He wired the positive and poked a hole in the black/red on top of the compressor. That raised the shocks for the day. Funny, when I parked backed down a slight incline, I had some air left. When I turned the car around and had it pointing front downwards, when I got into the car, no air. There is NO air in any of the bags. The front is the worst part and downtown is heavy under repair. YES! It is a jumping bean big time. To the point where it's very irritating. I found a place that can run diagnostics so hopefully I can drop it off and they can at least find out all the things I need. Can't afford much and all who could help is out of town. I guess I can put my emblem on the 12 speed and two wheel it to work (22 miles each way). If I leave at 6:00 AM, I guess I can make it there by 8:00, LOL.

 

[white lincoln]

Either way, it will not be cheap. Looks like the mininum will be $200 or so. The shocks if they are are all bad will be about $600. Maybe it's just the compressor is shot, but if those bags are over 10 years, you can bet that this last winter cracked them (air bags) to where you it is time to replace them.

Best of luck.

BTW, I would not drive the car until you get it fixed because that can cause more damage. Sorry for the bad news.

 

[CobraConti]

please see my other thread about going to strutmasters. We drove 3.5 hours with no air in the bags. The car was riding on the shocks, each tire was tucked in the wheelwell. The car was a 3.5 hour pogo stick ride. I wouldn't advise doing it......but if you have to (like go to work) it can be done. Just get it fixed ASAP.

 

[aristo1963]

the relay in the center of the radiator top is blown.this is because you have been riding on a leaking bag which overworked the compressor.80-130 bucks dealer only.if you replace it without doing the bag repair it will fail again in short order.if you go with all 4 new bags new relay it will be around 750 dollars, if you can get a friend to install for free .add about 170.00 if you want a new compressor and dryer.if you do go new use arnottinc they are lifetimed and if you do this you will have a nice riding car for many years to come.
john

 

[Linda A. Carlyle]

Lincoln Air Shock Problems

I did take it to get everything analyzed and the conversation was . . . more than likely if you don't replace everything, which are dealer parts, it will more than likely have another thing go bad. Said would probably cost with installation around $2,300 to get everything new. Suggested Strutmaster and said struts and plus shipping would be just over $800.00, labor $350. What do you suggest????

 

[aristo1963]

I did take it to get everything analyzed and the conversation was . . . more than likely if you don't replace everything, which are dealer parts, it will more than likely have another thing go bad. Said would probably cost with installation around $2,300 to get everything new. Suggested Strutmaster and said struts and plus shipping would be just over $800.00, labor $350. What do you suggest????

check your pm's

 

[remote1234]

Air Struts
I had one side go out in my 96 cont. I replaced both fronts with active coil overs from stutmaster. These struts by pass the load leveling in front, but let you adjust the ride frimness. Thats what strutmaster says. I took me 2 years lots of agrivation to get them to work. If the ride is not exactly the same with the coil overs as the air struts, the computer will throw codes and the car rides very stiff, Every tar line shakes the car and passengers! Lincoln dealers will not look at it, speed shops screw arround for weeks at a time, and give the car back basically telling me the car is F...ed up. Strut master says go look at the trouble codes and fix the problem.
Problem codes were left front time out up, right front time out down. This means the ride height sensors need to be recalibrated. This procedure requires a Star Testor ll. This is an expensive dealer code reader. I located one, and the recalibrate procedure requires the suspension to go into the test mode. This will cause the suspension to raise up and lower to test output of the sensors, pump, lines solinoids. Once this is performed, this star tester will allow the suspension height to be adjusted, saved, and thus calibrated.
With the coil over struts, the up down setup test will not cycle and the calibration is over, no adjusting or calibration will be set. In other words Strutmaster said they cannot help me any more. The car rides like a rock, and the computer keeps throwing a code.
I was able to fix the problem my self. Don't ask me why the engineers at strutmasters could'nt figure it out. I placed the car on a level surface, used a volt meter to monitor the voltage out put of the front ride height sensors, reaching in with a 11mm box wrench, I adjusted the sensors to the correct voltage. Turned the car off, reset the computer, start the car, problem solved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Now the car rides great, I can adjust the ride stiffness, no error codes and the rear leveling works. The bad part is, had I checked the voltage in the first place, I would not have had to replace the air strut with the coil over in the first place, a very expensive mistake.
Some times you just have to tell the EXPERTS, to go jump in the lake, and think for your self. If you have any questions and you think I can help, contact me by e mail.
Christo.
chris.stoffels@comcast.net