Air bag problems. :(

[marauder21]

So long story short. I took my car for an inspection and well I guess the mechanic didn't know that to lift the car with a jack, you have to turn off a suspension switch. And at first the car was sagging once it was brought down so I quickly turn it on not knowing What to do and the car did seem to get back up to its height. But idk now for some reason to be it seems the rear is lower than the front. Should I turn off the suspension switch and turn back on or is it too late now or..? Suggestions.

[marauder410]

when i bought my car and i didnt know about that for a while and my car as been on lift or jacked up before hitting switch and did get lower are but after click switch goes back up and mine still sit right with back littel higher than front im guessing ong as its done to much it will be ok so i dont think that would be what caused the issue

im guessing you have a small leak of something

[MrBluGruv]

Double check and make sure the ride height sensor is in the right place before you do anything else. You'll have to find threads about it, I don't know them off-hand. :(

If that's fine and your air ride compressor is still working, you've probably got a leak in your air springs like Marauder410 said. If that's the case, you should probably also be getting a light on your dash signalling you have an air ride failure though.

[marauder21]

Well no light on the dash..this happened on Monday morning, drove the car Home and seemed fine and wasn't till today afternoon(Tuesday) at 3:20pm where I went in the garage And to me it kinda seemed the front was a bit higher than the rear. But as far as I know no light on dash. Maybe when I get the chance ill check for a leak if I can:/ but if nothing is happens, You think if I turn off and on the switch it'll have a chance of.going back to its normal height?

[MrBluGruv]

Well, I didn't have a lot of experience with it because when my bags failed, it was pretty much overnight. After they failed, I swapped from air springs to heavy-duty coil springs also, so that was it for me and air springs.

If you have the time, what I'd do is let it sit for like a day or maybe two, turn the air suspension switch on, and then turn the ignition to accesory (specifically NOT firing up the engine, just getting electrical running) and listen for the compressor pump under the hood. If it works for a LONG time it will eventually shut off and count it as an air suspension failure and should light up on the dash. I don't remember the color of the light even, it's been too long. :(

[EMAS]

The reason you are supposed to turn off the suspension before lifting the car is that the bags deflate and when you put the car back down the deflated bags can get pinched and when they are re-inflated tear. When they tear they will normally have a large leak and the compressor won't shut off until it has run for a long time, the system shuts itself down to prevent overheating the compressor and turns on the RAS light.

Lifting it w/o turning it off first will not damage any thing other than the bags. Now if you've lowered the rear a bunch I guess it could be possible that letting the rear hang could damage the sensor, which would immediately turn on the light.

Can't say I've done it on the 98 style rear suspension but on the earlier I've lowered them quite low to the point I had to modify the sensor mounting significantly and it never caused a problem with the sensor.

Drive the car to a level place shut it off, get out, close the doors (and trunk) and then get back in and fire it up again (with everything closed). Let it run for a few minutes shut if off and get out (close the door again). Then you can re-check your ride height.

[marauder21]

Thanks EMAS! imma try this as soon as I get home hopefully it'll be fixed.
But worst case scenario, if I still have a leak..how would I know? Would something literally be leaking? A hissing sound of air escaping? Other than the light dash what's a good sign you got a leak? (Sorry for the rookie question but I'm learning!!)

[EMAS]

You'll only likely hear the big leaks. The simple way to tell is just to park the car with the sw in the off position and see what it looks like after sitting for a few hours or overnight. But don't be fooled by a drop in temp causing it to sag IE it was 60 degrees when you parked it in late afternoon and it's 40 degrees the next morning. That will cause it to drop some.

[RF Overlord]

Drive the car to a level place shut it off, get out, close the doors (and trunk) and then get back in and fire it up again (with everything closed). Let it run for a few minutes shut if off and get out (close the door again). Then you can re-check your ride height.^^^This.^^^

[marauder21]

doing what you told me as we speak:D oh and mr blugruv...the color is orange for the airbags fyi lol

[marauder21]

Well thank you fellas!! The ride does seem to be back on its normal stance. So from now on any time the car is going to be lifting the switch has to be turned off?
and just out of curiosity for future reference...what's a good suspension replacement for the air bags in case they fail?

[clmrt]

http://www.arnottindustries.com/part_LINCOLN_Air_Suspension_Pa rts_yid2_pid68_gid263.html