Rear Air Suspension woes

[Grifter]

Hello all, its my first post. I just picked up a 2003 300A MM last night.
Here is the first problem I am having.
I drove the car last night, and this morning w/o any air suspension problems, but today when I went out, I noticed the "AIR RIDE" light was on in the instrument cluster. Sure enough the rear bags are deflated, leaving the rear tires tucked up in the fenders. As i am sure you know, the ride is unbearable like that.
I checked the 2 fuses, they are good, and I swapped the Air Suspension relay with is neighbor, and still nothing.

What else should I look at? This is my daily driver car, so I need it functional.
Thanks all!

[glassman99]

The air suspension might be disables. Check the switch in the trunk.

[Grifter]

Tried that as well. On and off a couple times. Nada

[n-cherok]

also check to see if the compressor is working, it is located below the air filter housing if i recall

[fastblackmerc]

If the compressor is working you'll hear it....

[Grifter]

is there a way to manually energize the compressor to test whether or not its dead?
I'm coming from a Mark VIII which I converted to manual control of the air ride, so i am reasonably familiar with the concepts behind the air ride.

At what point does the compressor turn on to raise/lower the car? when the key is engaged or after a certain speed? other?

[torinodan]

load the trunk and start it.

Does it have a cold air intake installed? make sure that the are out/bag supply line is not loose or pulled out from the pump.

[Grifter]

No, no cold air intake. just a drop in K&N

[torinodan]

well, you can load the trunk and just turn the key on and wait for the noise the pump makes. Noise and no raise as you know from the Mark8s its a leak. No noise and your gonna have to dig deeper.

[Grifter]

is there a relay that is mounted on the side of the compressor that goes bad, like marks have?
or is the only relay the one in the power distrobution block?

[torinodan]

best I remember it's only a plug and a hose on the side.

[Grifter]

load it up and see what happens in the morning.

I was looking around the forums, and i came across the method to adjust the ride height of the rear by sliding the sensor mount left/right. is it possible that somehow that came loose and slid to the low position, so that the compressor isnt kicking on because the sensor is telling it that the height is right? (grasping at straws here)

[torinodan]

load it up and see what happens in the morning.

I was looking around the forums, and i came across the method to adjust the ride height of the rear by sliding the sensor mount left/right. is it possible that somehow that came loose and slid to the low position, so that the compressor isnt kicking on because the sensor is telling it that the height is right? (grasping at straws here)

For a straw that would be worth looking at too.

Although, and someone can correct me here if I'm wrong, I don't think the bags will go all the way down just from the switch being off or loose. I think it would be low but not all the way down. If you give me 10 minutes I'll go out and break my Marauder.... umm, I do this alot.

[torinodan]

looks like it's a signal to or from the pump to me. anyone else?

[FordNut]

Never had any issues with mine, but it could be the sensor. It is attached to the Watts link. Maybe it's mechanically loose, out of adjustment, electrically bad, electrically disconnected?

Maybe it's another electrical signal? I believe the doors must be closed for the system to activate so a bad door switch could be an issue?

Could also be the compressor.

I'm wondering why it dropped down too. It would be the first one I've heard of with a leaking air suspension system. Maybe the sensor is messed up in some way which told the system to drop and then keeps the compressor from coming on because it thinks it is in the right place?

[Grifter]

thats kinda what i was thinking. But would that throw a "Air Susp" light on the dash?

[Grifter]

also, is there a way that i can pull the air suspension codes when the light coems on? my Xcal2 doesnt want to read them.

[hbarrett]

Someone else had a similar problem with theirs. Here is how it ended up. "....Apparently the sensor in the back of the car worked its way loose and slid down to where the car didnt need to pump up the air suspension.

I know this is not where I set it because I had set the suspension myself to lower it just slightly from where the factory had it. And the bolts were tight so I guess I should have used blue lock tite."

Good Luck!


Todd
Hello all, its my first post. I just picked up a 2003 300A MM last night.
Here is the first problem I am having.
I drove the car last night, and this morning w/o any air suspension problems, but today when I went out, I noticed the "AIR RIDE" light was on in the instrument cluster. Sure enough the rear bags are deflated, leaving the rear tires tucked up in the fenders. As i am sure you know, the ride is unbearable like that.
I checked the 2 fuses, they are good, and I swapped the Air Suspension relay with is neighbor, and still nothing.

What else should I look at? This is my daily driver car, so I need it functional.
Thanks all!

[Qrsterling]

I took my Watts link bars off my 99 Crown Vic this Memorial Day weekend to sandblast and re-paint them and noticed a similar problem. My air susp light came on after detaching the sensor (ball joint type) under the rear assembly. My air compressor has not come on since, although my air susp bags are still fully inflated. My air susp light is still lit, full time, after re-assembly. I may have re-attached the small black (metal with ball joint) sensor plate on the Watts link bar in a diff position causing the light to remain on. I may have done something bad to the sensor during this operation. I'm gonna invert the black plate to see if sensor is fully extended to cause the light to go off. Otherwise, I'll call the local Merc dealer to see what they say. Look to see if that black plastic covered sensor housing is slightly bent. It may cause the air bags to deflate. Good luck.

[Grifter]

figured out my problem. the compressor is SHOT. it was so corroded on the outside, i took it apart, and it was worse corrosion inside. i tried to clean it up as best i could in hopes that it would work again, but no luck. but on the bright side, i did manage to manually get air in the rear bags, i turned the air ride switch to off, so it should stay inflated until i can get a new pump

[grampaws]

A jumper wire across the pump relay under the hood pass.. side..
junction block..
will power up the pump use two peices of wire with spade connectors
and afuse or cicuit breaker in the middle...in case there is a short'..
this can inflate the bags so you can drive short distances until you figure
it out..if pump the pump doesn't work then the pump could be the problem..
the connecting rod on the rear axle could be popped off or broken--
near center drivers side if I remember correctly!!!

[rayjay]

Hello all, its my first post. I just picked up a 2003 300A MM last night.
Here is the first problem I am having.
I drove the car last night, and this morning w/o any air suspension problems, but today when I went out, I noticed the "AIR RIDE" light was on in the instrument cluster. Sure enough the rear bags are deflated, leaving the rear tires tucked up in the fenders. As i am sure you know, the ride is unbearable like that.
I checked the 2 fuses, they are good, and I swapped the Air Suspension relay with is neighbor, and still nothing.

What else should I look at? This is my daily driver car, so I need it functional.
Thanks all!

If you bought it from a dealer, take it back. In NYS there is a implied warranty on newer model used cars. May not apply to your state. BTW, Welcome aboard. :D

[Marvbearcat1]

Help please, I replaced my air suspension compressor and air bags now I can’t get the compressor to come on. I don’t know if I messed a step but replacing the parts was fairly simple. Need assistance ASAP to get compressor working .

[fastblackmerc]

Help please, I replaced my air suspension compressor and air bags now I can’t get the compressor to come on. I don’t know if I messed a step but replacing the parts was fairly simple. Need assistance ASAP to get compressor working .

What PD did you do?