Scenerio. Gas tank. Not even-suspension? INTERESTING

i regret selling my 01 lightning and 93 civic.

truck was tons of fun-honda was great for commuting.

Now all i have is a sinkin' lincoln....
...
....
 
I understand what you are saying.
I am 26 years old this month-and have been using the same mechanic since I was 16-and before I was, my family has used him too.
Fortunately when I cant find a part-he finds it for me-with no mark up. My family and myself have provided much business for him over the years.
I usually supply the part and he is very cool about it.
I know for a fact I am probably one of the only customers that he does this with.

In the past-when the alternator I installed fried_it was a used one- he installed the new one free insisting that he make sure its done rite.
He also has allowed me to attempt small tasks in the back of his shop so if I screw up-he can assist me.
I have gotten him swag from sporting events I work-bought him dinner and sent lunch on a few occasions for the shop.

Its a give take relationship and i have never felt like he took me for a ride on the bill of anything.

It really is important to me that I take care of the ones who take care of me.
I love every car I have owned-its just starting to fade on this ride

I will not be surprised if he does not charge me for the 10 min bag install.
He knows down the road he will have me in there again.
Give and take..
give and take...
 
update

New bag installed from arnott.
My bag definately tore open from rubbing against that peice of metal where the ride height sensor can be adjusted.
Nobody knows why.
Only thing replaced in that area was a bad tie rod.
mechanic took care of me and only charged for tie rod install.

The bag was in place.
It was correctly secured still top and bottom.
It looks like it had twisted somehow- because you can see stress marks in the rubber-but this could have happening after it deflated.

Is it possible that the air spring never expanded with air correctly and somehow twisted in the process?
Either or-
Mechanic does not know how the hell it rubbed-but it def did.
My uncle-retried ford master tech- still claims the bag was defective somehow.

Im still lost.
This is getting filed under LINCOLN MARK VII MYSTERYS.
 
update

i showed my uncle the bag-
he now is 100 percent sure, like my mechanic, that is rubbed against where you adjust the ride height.

he also is stumped at how this possibly happened.
Jesus.
How the hell did this happen.
If my bag goes again somehow i swear on my soul im selling this thing or getting springs.
Im fed up
 
I just swapped out both front bags (with a pair of used Arnotts) in my 92.
I almost had similar situation had I not watched the bags inflate while it was still on the jack. I had to stop them from filling let some air out and readjust (twist) the lower section of the bag so it was nice and straight as the bag inflated. IMO it is better to have the the tire off the ground, someone else controlling the air suspension while you make certain the bag is straight as it inflates.
As far as why/how it could have gotten damaged by the sensor bracket is beyond me unless it occurred because the bag was twisted. (which will cause the rubber to fold and stick out)
 
LL FORD MAN- UR ON THE MONEY

this would explain why there are twist marks on the bag-

This is the only logical explanation I have heard so far-
your theory makes the most sense.

Im gonna sleep on this.
I feel a bit better digesting your reply.
thanks.
 
I heard a "stop and go" hissing noise after the car leveled and i shut the door.

It trimmed the ride height...
and than i heard this hiss of air after it settled-as if it was a leak that hissed-stopped-hissed a little less-stopped and than did a shorter hiss.
It was coming from the wheel well area where the air bag popped-driver front.
So i got a bit paranoid.

Also- I did the self diagnosis ordeal-with the help of a battery charger-and nothing registered wrong as far as the test goes.

However-
I feel like the front rides kinda low-not much room in the wheel well compaired to prior to the air bag ripping open.
Sometimes I get out of car and it does not even trim the ride height because I feel it is already too low.
Shouldn't the car always trim a little off the front height because of the weight of a 200 lb driver.
It used to-and sometimes it does-

So advice please?
Air suspension is closed to being removed completely unless I can get a car that drives me to work and does not sink-and im not super paranoid to drive
 
in and out of car today- driving around to and from work.
Ride height trims in rear after getting out of car- however front stays put and does not vent at all.

Sometimes it does-but for example, today, it has not.
My weight does not varry- 190 lb all said and done.

Yet sometimes it trims and sometimes it does not.
Why is this?

I really feel like the trim level is so low with space between the wheel and top of wheel well- that when i sit in it- if I could view the side view image of the mark with my driver weight in it-im almost sure that it will look low on the driver side front.

Are you listening to me LINCOLN MARK VII GOD--------
IM FED UP.
 
Markus2 said:
in and out of car today- driving around to and from work.
Ride height trims in rear after getting out of car- however front stays put and does not vent at all.

Sometimes it does-but for example, today, it has not.
My weight does not varry- 190 lb all said and done.

Yet sometimes it trims and sometimes it does not.
Why is this?

I really feel like the trim level is so low with space between the wheel and top of wheel well- that when i sit in it- if I could view the side view image of the mark with my driver weight in it-im almost sure that it will look low on the driver side front.

Are you listening to me LINCOLN MARK VII GOD--------
IM FED UP.
Click to expand...
MarkUS

A few obsservations.
My 90 LSC trims (usually for 5 -10 seconds of pumping) briefly after every start. It may also trim while driving. I'm unsure. I put new bags and a new pump in it a couple of years ago. Now it trims higher than it did before. I'm unsure if the new bags are taller than originals but I have slight clearance between top of the curve on the fender well and the top of the tire. Before the curve of the fender was below the top of the tire. Don't know if it trims while moving. New pump is more noisy than original but being an old guy I can't hear it if the car is moving. It trims immediately if I put weight in the trunk. Before the new bags I'd hear it let air out of the system but now I don't hear that anymore. Perhaps because I just can't hear it -- don't know.
 
thanks guys.

From what I do understand, which is very little, (shrug) is that the sensor works or doesn't. have checked and rechecked to make sure sensors are connected correctly-it all looks kosher.
And it does trim-and when there is two people in the car-it definately substantially vents-and clearly this is due to the weight of two adults.
WHen it has no weight in car-no passenger or driver weight- its at least an inch plus lower when sitting idle.
The inch lower-is in reference to tire to wheel well clearence. It is definately lower.
The bag s in prior were the OEM Goodyear stock factory bags.
Maybe the arnotts just sit a bit lower-

Its just I feel my 190 lb is almost the threshold on when the sensor kicks in-because sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't.
And when it doesn't I feel like it sits even lower-I even feel like the headlights should be adjusted because the focus of light seems to be god awful close to the bumper instead of out in front of the vehicle.
As if the lights are pointed down a bit more do to the new ride height.


AGAIN-this could all be paranoia-and it prbly is.
But I notice and feel as if it just sits lower.

The rear has no change-but I have taken notice due to my new obsession of observing the overall suspension and height of both the front and rear-that when somebody sits in the passenger seat-me in driver-and somebody in the passenger rear seat too- the car definately sits lower on passenger side in the rear-like there is just too much weight on the passenger side adn it can not compensate perfectly.
IDK
IDK
 
Lincolnlov said:
MarkUS

A few obsservations.
My 90 LSC trims (usually for 5 -10 seconds of pumping) briefly after every start. It may also trim while driving. I'm unsure. I put new bags and a new pump in it a couple of years ago. Now it trims higher than it did before. I'm unsure if the new bags are taller than originals but I have slight clearance between top of the curve on the fender well and the top of the tire. Before the curve of the fender was below the top of the tire. Don't know if it trims while moving. New pump is more noisy than original but being an old guy I can't hear it if the car is moving. It trims immediately if I put weight in the trunk. Before the new bags I'd hear it let air out of the system but now I don't hear that anymore. Perhaps because I just can't hear it -- don't know.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much with your personal experience on your mark.
Question-what aftermarket compressor did you go with, and was any modification needed to hook it up?
I have heard through the wire that the aftermarket units are much noisier-just like you said in your review of it.
But noisy and pumping hard it better than quiet and weak, right?
I might be purchasing a compressor rather soon-just to get that crap out of the way so down the road-my 19 yr old one doesn't go while on a trip or away.

Sigh-the woes of owning a mark.
Or in my case, part of a mark.
I think i am gonna RENAME MY CAR- its a MARK 6 1/2-because after all the money, and time, and questions- it still is far from a true MARK VII.

LINCOLN GODS-WHY WHY WHYYYYYY
 
Markus2 said:
Thanks so much with your personal experience on your mark.
Question-what aftermarket compressor did you go with, and was any modification needed to hook it up?
I have heard through the wire that the aftermarket units are much noisier-just like you said in your review of it.
But noisy and pumping hard it better than quiet and weak, right?
I might be purchasing a compressor rather soon-just to get that crap out of the way so down the road-my 19 yr old one doesn't go while on a trip or away.

Sigh-the woes of owning a mark.
Or in my case, part of a mark.
I think i am gonna RENAME MY CAR- its a MARK 6 1/2-because after all the money, and time, and questions- it still is far from a true MARK VII.

LINCOLN GODS-WHY WHY WHYYYYYY
Click to expand...

MarkUS2

Got my bags, solenoids, and pump in Aug. 07 as a kit from Suncor Industries. in Fla. 954-783-2272.
Wed. to FRIDAY this week I made a 1600+ mile trip to Maine and back to Va. in my 176+K Mark. Had about 120 lbs. in the trunk. In spite of the snow (lots) I got 23.2 mpg. No problems with the air bags.
Don't give up on her!
 
Congrats on that successful trip.
I want to be able to make trips too.
Sounds like you got a good package with suncore.
I have done 5(yes 5) bags from arnott inc. over the past 6 months.

Question:
Do you feel that with weight on passenger side front and back seats (2 adult males) that the car will sag on the passenger rear air bag area?
I feel that my bag sags almost all the time anyway on the passenger side rear-by like 1/2 inch.

I wonder if being that most roads are not an even surface due to the contour of the design for "water runoff/drainage" purposes-Combined with the one sensor which is less accurate than the two ride height sensors up front--
..
...leads the rear to almost always lean to one side or the other-pshhhesh idk

I am getting super critical over this PITA suspension.
 
Markus2 said:
Congrats on that successful trip.
I want to be able to make trips too.
Sounds like you got a good package with suncore.
I have done 5(yes 5) bags from arnott inc. over the past 6 months.

Question:
Do you feel that with weight on passenger side front and back seats (2 adult males) that the car will sag on the passenger rear air bag area?
I feel that my bag sags almost all the time anyway on the passenger side rear-by like 1/2 inch.

I wonder if being that most roads are not an even surface due to the contour of the design for "water runoff/drainage" purposes-Combined with the one sensor which is less accurate than the two ride height sensors up front--
..
...leads the rear to almost always lean to one side or the other-pshhhesh idk

I am getting super critical over this PITA suspension.
Click to expand...

MarkUS 2,

Just wondering if there has been any damage to any of your sensors or their mountings. Also, it is possible that you may not have gotten the same bags for each corner. Road crowns etc. don't seem to have any negative impact on my system. I did have a bit of difficulty getting one of my sensors to go back in the correct place after disconnecting them for the bag job.
 
Last edited:
Markus2 said:
Congrats on that successful trip.
I want to be able to make trips too.
Sounds like you got a good package with suncore.
I have done 5(yes 5) bags from arnott inc. over the past 6 months.

Question:
Do you feel that with weight on passenger side front and back seats (2 adult males) that the car will sag on the passenger rear air bag area?
I feel that my bag sags almost all the time anyway on the passenger side rear-by like 1/2 inch.

I wonder if being that most roads are not an even surface due to the contour of the design for "water runoff/drainage" purposes-Combined with the one sensor which is less accurate than the two ride height sensors up front--
..
...leads the rear to almost always lean to one side or the other-pshhhesh idk

I am getting super critical over this PITA suspension.
Click to expand...

MarkUS2

Just another thought. Have you checked to be sure that your rear stabilizer links are equally tightened - or perhaps have unequally worn bushings?
 
Update

Rear bushings are shot.
Not in a fatal sense- but def. Need replacement.
I rec the noise on bumps in the rear, as the same rattle that used to come from the front before i did those bushings.
So yes i need to change em' but i dont think it is causing my suspension a radical enough change to cause it to seem lower at times.


I pulled the front end of my car onto a snow mound in the parking lot- i felt like the air came out of my car after staying there for a period of a few minutes.
I pull off the snow mound to level ground and in fact my front end is totally dropped.
Wait about 2 minutes with no air pumping back into them.
Front is totally dropped.
I turn off car.
Reset switch in trunk.
Turned car on.
Turned car off.
Hit switch again.
Car turned on-
and slowly all bags in front raise to correct height.
Very odd.

New front bags def. Are correct for model.

The front sensor(s) and rear sensor are both set on middle setting. No damage done to sensors.

I get out of car sometimes and ride height trims up front-but sometimes with same weight it does not and seems to be most definately sitting lower-as if air should have been in it while i was sitting in it driving.

Shrugs.
 
update

I got a a check suspension light in nyc the other night.
It was after being parked on avery uneven surface for a few minutes at idle.
I was rushing to get through the lincoln tunnel so I did not inspect but could tell by glancing at lines on hood that my front seemed to be noticeably higher-at least on the drivers side I could see it was higher up.

I drove to destination arriving 15 min later.

I got out to look at suspension and where it was sitting-LIGHT WAS STILL ON.

I noticed the front drivers side was extrememly high-the highest I have ever seen it.

Went to bed upset at yet another BS mark vii issue.

Woke up and corner was still up-the CHECK SUSPENSION LIGHT was off-it did not trim at all the front corner when I turned it off, and now the next morning it was still inches, 6+ above the tire. CRAZY.

I went to trunk turned off air suspension.

I turned on car drove around-no change.

Pulled over turned off car and turned back on air suspension.

Went for a 5 min drive and parked.
Re examined and see the car was now at perfect ride height all around and no check suspension light still.


But the problamatic drivers side air suspension is haunting me yet again.


BUT THIS TIME I GOT A LIGHT and even though that light is off now-it should have a code in the memory.
So-there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I plan on having my first suspension code-long over due-and maybe some sense will come of this.
Gonna tackle it soon as power steering crap arrives and jump on all issues at once.



GOD O MITEY---------------WHY WHY WHYYYYYYYYY
 
missed my mark on my mark :(

NO SUSPENSION CODES.

Thought maybe I did something wrong because it was the first time I used my new scanner I got off amazon.

Brought ride to mech.
STILL NO SUSPENSION CODES.

I told him the light went on and there should be a code.

He said the explanation for that would be as follows:

THe computer saves codes for x amount of cycles-perhaps I went over 'x' amount of cyles and the computer cleared the code.
He thought the cycle is 50 starts or so.

I got off ebay a used suspension computer.
Tried driving around with it-still felt like the front end is lower at times-same crap as before.

I will park the car and the front will not level-and seem low.....
I will park the car and the front will level (release air) and sit fine.....
I will park the car and the front will not level and seem at good height....


This is the major update:

My car is loosing air upfront somehow-
i know this because I have observed the following now:

If the car is left parked for a period of time ( days)-the front will drop-not fully to the ground-but about 1/3-1/2 way to the ground
Sometimes this will occur in two days.
- I think in hotter weather it happens faster
I have recently seen in the 100 degree humid weather in nyc area that my front suspension will drop 30-50 percent if left parked all day in the heat.



If the bags are not equally low-than the passenger side front will look lower than the drivers side-THESE ARE THE ONLY WAYS I HAVE EVER SEEN THE AFTERMATH


4 air BAGS ARE NEW and o rings are new.

If air is leaking out of front suspension-doesn't that mean that the air is not staying inside of the bag..
..which means either the bag, o ring, or solenoid is the issue, right?


So I should try replacing the solenoids maybe?


FED the **** up
 
in deep..

i hear ya man...

...
.....
i have said it before but am strongly considering...


im in deep with this mark.
by far the most invested in respect to other vehicles in the past.

96 mustang gt-(4.6 modular) from 59k-115k. only thing i ever replaced was alternator.

91 boneville sse (flawless and the 3800 series is one of the smoothest systems i have ever driven-smooth and power on tap for a v6-very nice)

95 honda civic-ran forever.

92 chevy z28 with 350 block from monte carlo ss (first and last chevy ever purchased)

My 87 mustang gt had no options and ran like a champ past 180k mated with the T5.

01 lightning-great (cept for head issue-shooting plugs out block)

94 ford tempo-amazing.

95 taurus amazing

87 mark lsc-multiple electrical issues and charging issues (just like the one i own now)


I have driven ford vehicles for the past 10 years----and with exception to both marks past and present-FORD HAS TREATED ME GOOD.
I think the 5.0 is a proven engine(they put it in everything)-the drivetrain in fine right down to the 8.8 rear..
its all the magical mark options that make the mark difficult in my experience.
Along with my lack of overall basic car knowledge- the mark vii and make make for reoccur'n problems.
Maybe I got a lemon- i know some situations were because of my foolish un-researched decisions


But all in all Ford has been fine-its just all the gadgets-and electronics that make it so damn unreliable.
 
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