Front Air Suspension

[mandymariee]

My dad was driving his 1993 Mark VIII and went over a huge pothole..and it messed up his front air suspension. The car will not go up and down now.

Does anyone know where I can find the steps or the schematics of how to fix it?

This is EXACTLY what my boyfriend said to find: "the air shock is blown.. I need the schematics on how to take air shock out of car and put it back in"

Thanks!

 

[98lincmk7lsc]

This should be everything you need. Click the link:

Front strut replacement tech article

 

[mandymariee]

This should be everything you need. Click the link:

Front strut replacement tech article

k..Thanks! Helped a lot.

 

[kustomizingkid]

If he hit something hard enough to blow out a bag I would thoroughly check every component, would hate to see a Lower control arm go out due to a stress crack...

 

[98lincmk7lsc]

Yeah, that's a really good recommendation. I didn't think of that.

 

[XLRVIII]

might have just popped the height sensor off the ball stud on the upper control arm.
it might not be "as bad" as it sounds.

Usually.. air ride problems ARE as bad as they sound though.

unless your an electrical engineer, the air ride wiring schematic will give you a headache..

 

[XLRVIII]

This is EXACTLY what my boyfriend said to find: "the air shock is blown.. I need the schematics on how to take air shock out of car and put it back in"

Thanks!

Sorry I missed the important last paragraph.

The front air strut is very easy to remove.
There are 3 bolts on the top under the plastic cover on the shock tower under the hood.
There is one bolt at the bottom of the shock where it meets the lower control arm.

it's a very straightforward job, should only take MAX 30 minutes.
your gonna spend more time jacking up the car and taking the tire off than you are changing out the strut.

The air ride solenoid needs to come out of the strut before you take it off..
just pull the little clip out, and twist the solenid a 1/4 turn and again a 1/4 turn and it'll drop right out.

It's really "fisher price" easy if you look at it...especially the solenoid.

 

[98lincmk7lsc]

Yeah, 30 minutes....

If the lower strut bolt is already removed.

 

[kustomizingkid]

The lower strut bolt has never given me any problems at all... and I'm in MN land of rust and corosion....

I always give it a zap with my impact and it comes right out.

 

[XLRVIII]

The lower strut bolt has never given me any problems at all....

If the lower bolt is hard to get out that means the sway bar probably has it in a bind...
you can get someone to slowly turn the steering wheel until the loose spot is found.

 

[98lincmk7lsc]

In my 97, the bolt was rust-welded to the metal sleeve in the LCA that it runs through. It kept spinning inside the rubber that isolated it. I ended up having to split the sleeve where the 2 ends bring it together to form a cylinder, by hammering a screwdriver into it. Not very fun. I had to do it in front of some guys house, after I bought it, before I could drive it home. It had a broken lower ball joint.