xt6exy

I had the car running when I jacked it up. The back wheels were off the ground about and inch, so I guess that might make the height sensor think it was aired up enough. Lowered it back down to see if it held any air, it sank back down. Funny thing too, my suspension failure light isn't going on right now either. It did a few other days, when it was subzero, but as soon as it's like 15-20 degrees, it doesn't turn on anymore. Got a volt gauge, so I'll test that on the solenoid too.

Didn't get a chance to test the solenoid(hook it up to a battery), but I did jack it up and turn the car on. Didn't air up at all. I listened for the solenoid to open, but nothing. This leaves me to believe that there's something electrical wrong. I'll hook the battery to the solenoid tonight and see if it responds to that. I looked through the trouble shooting stuff in the FSM, but didn't find much. I've know a mechanic at a subie dealer here, so I can at least get a little emp discount on a new strut there, but am wondering, does any one else have any super-secret ninja sources for these bad boys. I used to be able to find them online, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore...

Have you ever had a leak and not been able to hear it? Right now I don't think it's a leak cuz there's no hissing sound. The leak in the bad strut made an obvious hiss when I would shut the car off. All my other struts work fine, just this back one is bad.

Okay, Ill try jacking it up when I get home. Sounds like it might make sense, since I had to compress it to get it to bolt in. Compression felt good, not too easy to squish it flat. The O ring on the post where the silinoid slides on looked good, no obvious cracks. I put some grease on it to help with the seal. The o ring on the little black hose looked okay too, still soft and flexible. Do you think the inside of the strut could have corroded at all with out that silinoid on it? I've got the fsm, so I'll look through the trouble shooting part, though the basic install/removal section didn't help me find the problem. I'm not hearing the silinoid click on or off at all, opening the strut to air, so that's why I think it's the silinoid. funny thing though, cuz before I pulled the strut off, I turned the car around and the strut aired up fine. Now that's its on the new strut, it doesn't seem to work....Hopefully it just needs a jack!

Is this something I would have access to, or is it inside the strut and unreachable?

I had a leaking air bag in my rear passenger air strut. I got a used one on here, rubber on the bag seems good, and I sanded and repainted the tube it rides over. It didn't have the silinoid on it though. The one on the leaky strut was still working, so I put it on the new strut and put it in. But when I started the car, it didn't air up, and all the other struts did. I don't hear any hissing or other noises that would alert me to an air leak. The silonoid worked on my car on the other strut just before, would there be any reason why swapping it onto another strut would make it stop working? That's the only thing I can think of, is that the silonoid isn't switching on anymore.

Ha! Sounds like my 88 xt6! Though probably for different reasons...

I just tipped over 260K on my 88 XT6, and boy does she sound her age!

Um, aren't the EA 81's solid lifters?

My rad went bad a few months ago and I went through a lot of crap to try to find a cheaper than OEM one that would fit. I don't have $300 for one from the dealer, so I bought the one every parts place had, a 2 row copper fot the 4 cylinder xt's. The hoses are slightly smaller, so get a stepping ring, and cut out the radiator support. Then buy some hood pins. It worked for me, and my car temp gauge stays right where it should.