Common Air Suspension Leak Spots?

[Shawn99]

Well I am trying to figure out what's wrong with my suspension. It's a 1997 Lincoln MarkVIII LSC. Yes I searched. And I have been around the Tbird/MarkVIII community and I know of the suspension conversion like the ones American Air has. I am looking to get rid of the car real soon though so I don't want to drop $500+ if I don't have to. If I can I would like to narrow down what is wrong and replace just that part.

For a while my car's info center had the Check Air Ride Suspension warning come up. Well the car sits fine and wasn't leaking so I wasn't worrying. When I say for a while I have only had the car for a year and was going to convert but now I don't plan on keeping it. So just the other day I noticed my car was slammed but just in the front. The back looks and seems totally fine. The front tires are a half inch into the upper fender though. So what can cause just the front to drop? Is there a good way to look for leaks? Visually everything seems fine. I had it up on a lift today getting an oil change and they looked at it but don't do air suspension work (Firestone). The airbags seem to be ok and are not majorly ripped or anything. My friend told me there was a couple 97/98 MarkVIII's in the junkyard this week so I am hopping I can get any parts from there if needed or if it's just new hoses I'll get them new or I'll pick up a new compressor if needed cause it will still be cheaper then the other options.

Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
Thanks,
-Shawn

 

[95lscowner]

on my 95 does the same exact thing ... what yu need to do is start the car up let the bags fill up shut it off and listen for an air leak my car if you ean on the pass side you can hear the air escape i realy doubt it is an air line or compressor ... you need to listen for the air leak one of the front struts has a leak . let me no how it goes .....chris

 

[Shawn99]

I tried listening for leaks but could never hear anything. At first I could hear the compressor trying to work for about a minute and then it just stops trying and the warning message comes up. It never leaked and I did the leak test on American Air's website. Then one day I come out and it's slammed in the front. It hasn't filled up at all and I can't hear anything like a leak. Just the compressor trying and then stopping.

Visual inspection while they did brakes recently look fine around the airbags and lines too them. So I took it in to Ford to get an estimate just so I can actually try to get the problem narrowed down. They suggested replacing the compressor and then retesting for leaks. The compressor either leaked or a line or fitting near it did. So what I am going to do is probably buy a some parts from American Air (Compressor, resealed solenoid, air line repair kit, and some tubing) and then I should be able to cover replacing the compressor and have the parts incase there is still a leak near it.

I know I can get the spring conversion kit but at present time this option seems to be about half the price. If I were looking to keep it I would do the conversion but I am not planning on keeping it longer then a few months so I just want it running well and I think with the parts from American Air I can do this.

I will report after I get this done which should be in about a couple weeks.
Thanks for the suggestion.
-Shawn

 

[ONEBADMK8]

Let the car fully pump up. Shut off a/r switch in trunk overnight then in the moring the suspect bags will be deflated or significantly lower.

More or likely the front will be down, they almost always go first.

 

[mespock]

You can also go to the trouble shooting page on American Air Suspension's site.

If you still have issues...

Also sometimes you can find a used set of springs on ebay cheap...

 

[K-FAN]

how much for the car?
if so let me know ill take it as is? and ill pick it up k

 

[Shawn99]

Let the car fully pump up. Shut off a/r switch in trunk overnight then in the moring the suspect bags will be deflated or significantly lower.
More or likely the front will be down, they almost always go first.

Well the car doesnt even pump up now. I have had it on and driving and it's just deflated in the front. It never had leaking symptoms of slowly leaking. It never leaked until it was just slammed overnight.
Now I'm thinking Ford said it's most likely the compressor or a line. But what if it's the compressor (dead after trying over and over) and a front airbag/s? But Both sides on the front were slammed over night. If one bag were bad just that corner would be low, right? Not the whole front end? Does the front and back have different lines? How would the back still be holding air if the compressor is bad and let air out the front already?
Sorry for all the questions.

You can also go to the trouble shooting page on American Air Suspension's site.
If you still have issues...
Also sometimes you can find a used set of springs on ebay cheap...

I've been all over the American Air site. I've tried their trouble shooting tips. First other then the warning it didn't even seem like anything was a problem. It never deflated overnight or even over a week.
I saw a set of used springs on ebay. When they say used what are these used from most likely? Are there many Marks with spring conversions done getting wrecked these days that there are always some on ebay or are they off a different model car and if so which one?

how much for the car?
if so let me know ill take it as is? and ill pick it up k

I think someone else is also interested in it right now. I am most likely not looking to get rid of it for another 2-3 months. That's when will be done saving to get what I want next (G35). This car has some body damage in the back panel behind the passenger door. There's a quater size ding below the rear side window on the drivers side. It's not a perfect example of a MarkVIII right now. It can be brought back to fine shape easily if someone has access to a good bodyshop.
Other then that it's a 1997 LSC, 75K miles, Green, Tan interior, chrome 16" wheels, Sunroof, Disc changer in trunk, etc. If you are really interested let me know and I can get pictures of the damaged areas. Headlights are fogged but a friend did a quick buff and they looked good for while but could use a full buffing and will probably look pretty good.


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Another question, can I just replace the front springs or do they all need to be replaced? I found this full set on ebay but after shipping (ebay said $75, I may as well get a new set). Any suggestions on best place to get springs are welcomed althought I have a feeling American Air for $399 is the best I am going to get, am I right?



Thanks so much guys,
Shawn

 

[Shawn99]

Talking to a friend right now about grabbing a compressor from a good looking markVIII at a junk yard and giving that a shot. It'd be less then $50 in parts to at least try it and I can get a warrenty from the yard incase it's bad. So are there any tips for changing out the compressor? If I disconnect it will the back bags delflate on me or will they stay up for a couple hours until we a done and everything hooked up again?

Thanks again,
Shawn

 

[K-FAN]

ok shawn the best way to chang out the compressor is to have it on a left and remove the front passanger tire and the splash gaurd and the unplug the compressor and then unbolt it but before all that make sure u removce the intake (all ove it so u can reach the back bolts to the compressor )if u have any questions send me a shout k

 

[Shawn99]

Well it's fixed.... for now. We replace the whole tray that holds the compressor and relay. So it was one of those. Since people are saying if it were the relay that was bad, then the compressor wouldn't even go on. Well I know I heard the compressor before. It sounded bad but I heard it. So it must have been a bad compressor.

Now I know that they go bad because of something else. Usually moisture. Anyone living in Los Angeles can tell you that is probably not the reason. It's real dry out here. The bags were fine as they were hanging while the wheel was off and were full and over the couple hours did not get squishy. They looked real good too. I hope to have the car gone in a few months so I am just looking to be able to drive it until then. If at this point it's anything else it's probably a solenoid or valve.

So we swapped the parts out. Put everything back on. And I switched air ride on and started the car up. The check suspesnion light went on and it only rose about a half inch from before. Top of the wheel was level with the edge of the fender. So we turned the car off and the air suspesnion switch. Waited a couple minutes and started the car up and flipped the switch. As soon as I flipped the switch the car rose to normal height in a matter of seconds. The compressor is quite too. I drove an hour back home from where I did this and when I got home the car still looked good for height. So now to just see over the next couple weeks if the car sinks or gives warnings again.

Thanks everyone,
-Shawn