Sorry - 2004 air suspension advice, just bad compressor?

[sprangdog]

Any advice appreciated...

Been reading on here a while, just now posting... Getting ready to tap into stock air suspension on 2004 Navigator 4WD. Here's the deal: Compressor is making helluva racket, literally can hear it from two blocks away, people turn heads when start up in parking lot. Has 50K miles, garaged maybe 50% of life in midwest. There's no air ride warning on dash, just the noise from compressor runs about 3-5 mins after startup and then you'll hear it kick on a time or two just briefly right after that, but if drive more than 10 minutes it will kick on rarely, doesn't seem to be cycling to keep the car up after you get down the road a ways. Everything else seems normal, it lowers when you park and kicks on when you get in and out. It sits right if left a few days, but the noise was so embarrassing for my wife I flipped the air ride switch in the back and drove around and after about two weeks it was on the ground. Does this sound normal or could I have a leak I should look for? Basically, I'm trying to decide if I should slap a new compressor and bushings on and see what happens, or if I'm just going to end up cooking a new compressor and I should inspect and replace lines and bags. I do not want to convert.

I'd like to keep driving it another 8 years and keep it looking good, is there any chance bags are still good and last a while longer? I'm doing repairs myself, but took it to the dealer for state inspection and asked service advisor what he thought and of course wanted to sell me a pricy diagnostic and could tell me if compressor is bad, and pinpoint leaking bags, lines, etc... so that just an eyeball diagnostic, or something more?

Thanks for any help.

 

[cmack]

Surprised it took two weeks to drop. If you turn the switch off it is normal for the truck to drop. Just sounds like the compressor is wearing out. Not sure if there is a type of tune-up for the compressor, so you might just have to get a new one when your old one dies. Just keep going til you don't hear the compressor anymore and your truck stops rising, then replace it. Everything else sounds good.

 

[sprangdog]

Well, when I turne it off it sat low no doubt, but was drivable. About a week or two later it was way low, tires up in the fenders...

Thanks for the input. I gotta do something about the compressor cause it is obnoxious. Thought maybe just needss new mounts and vibrating, do the mounts go bad and cause racket, or does it mean compressor is on its last leg?

 

[cmack]

MY guess would be last leg, but I'm not 100%. I do remember the dealership wanting to replace mine because it was louder than normal. They did not mention anything about changing parts in compressor.

 

[sprangdog]

ok, just got it in garage to inspect the struts to see how they look, no visible deterioration, but stopped driving it for about a month so it was sitting so low tires all up in the fenders, so thought i'd let it pump up, well it didn't even budge after idling for few minutes. When I shut it off, I could hear a hissing sound coming from the compressor, not the typical release like when it drops after you park, but a prolonged hiss like when I don't have the drain valve tight on my pancake compressor.

I just ordered rebuild compressor from American Air, so hopefully that solves it... but worried about a bigger problem...

btw, anybody know where to get replacement power running boards, mine rusted out, just need the steel structural part but search for navigator power running boards might as well search for "hot babes" and see what you get...

 

[bainstang]

Honestly have been playing with my suspension for a while. I have decided I'm just going to get a new aftermarket suspension (coil overs). Cheaper+ better alternative for the long run