idosubaru Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 no coil over conversion comments, i have the parts, but i'm not doing it unless time makes me! this is a new to me XT6 i got last week. finally got the AWD automatic i've been looking for.... the compressor runs for 10 minutes then shuts off (by design to prevent overheating). air susp light blinks and no struts air up. installed another computer and the same thing happened, no change. if i ground the compressor (to turn it on) and solenoids for each strut, the drivers side struts air up fine and hold air, but neither passengers side will air up? maybe i just need to jack the passengers side up to get it started? i think i may just swap all 4 air struts from my previous (rusted out) daily driver as i know they are all good. does anyone know how the air tank works? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 dont go hunting down the computer. If it was computer it wouldnt run at all or it would run for ever. One of two things is happening. Either you have a massive air leak, or your comprssor is shot. Is your compressor putting out any air at all? is the suspension system reacitng at all? I would check the airlines between compressor , control unit, and tank to see if there are any leaks. Also check all the lines. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 12, 2006 Author Share Posted June 12, 2006 the drivers side struts will both air up and hold air if i ground the compressor (turn it on) and the solenoids. compressor came off my previous daily driver which had a perfectly working air suspension in it (parting it out due to rust). and it airs up the drivers side, so compressor should be fine. the passengers side solenoids will click open and closed, but when i turn the compressor on they won't air up like the drivers side will. i'm wondering if anyone knows what could be "common" between the two passengers side struts? seems too ironic that both struts would be bad? but i have those to swap if i have too. thanks nip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 From what i can tell, nothing. Check the lines with soapy water and see if there is a gross leak someplace. Also check to see if air is getting to the struts. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 12, 2006 Author Share Posted June 12, 2006 Also check to see if air is getting to the struts. the front did expel a tiny bit of air when i pulled the line, but not much at all, very little. leak checking coming.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c150L Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 the front did expel a tiny bit of air when i pulled the line, but not much at all, very little. leak checking coming.... Gary, As I recall, both of the fronts, if low, should be should open at the same time and air should be sent to bring both fronts to height before either rear solenoid would open. If the rears are above normal height, the rears should release air before any other action happens with th e fronts. I beleive, when ever the compressor is on, the tank solenoid opens. When the tank reaches pressure, the compressor would shut off and take care of maintaining strut height. Kind of like the compressor takes care of teh tank and the tank takes care of airing the struts. I remember the fronts being real doggy to start to rise, if totally deflated. I sometimes jacked the fronts, just to get them off bottom dead center. The rears take air almost immediatly. The computer will try any one operation 8-10 minutes, expecting that situation to be taken care of, then go to the next. Any one condition, which is not handles in that 8-10 minutes, the puter shuts itself down and blinks the light, until the key is cycled again. Keep in mind, if you have a rear that is too high, the compressor will stop and the rear solenoid should open to relase air from a high condition. I have had a couple compressors with problems on the discharge soleniod. I did discect a discharge soleniod or 2 and revive them. I had one control puter that had a bad transistor in it, which was not sending the ground signal to the discharge solenoid. While I was waiting for a replacement transistor, I ran a wire to the test plug, to manually energize the discharge solenoid, until the compressor kicked in again. If you can locate the 4 pins in the test plug, for the 4 strut solenoids, you could try airing up each strut manually, with a shop air compressor. I went and retrieved an XT, which had no compressor in it, by taking a portable compressor along, using an air chuck, aired up all 4 struts to an aproximate height. (The computor was unhooked, so the air stayed most of the way home. And OH! I just have to mention, I have a nice set of front struts on hand, and nothing to put them in. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c150L Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 And OH! I would not have traded my air suspension in my XT6 for anything. If I'd come across another, I'd also keep it air. You know how to make the ride height change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 13, 2006 Author Share Posted June 13, 2006 i swapped in a new passengers side air strut and also jacked the car up to get it going and nothing happened. the original front p/s strut would not separate at all...it was like it was "stuck" in the deflated position, probably sat that way too long. so i swapped it out and still nothing. can't decide whether to work on it any more or just convert to coil overs. i don't really want to convert at all but right now time is critical. i energized the struts and solenoids and they really wouldn't pump up at all, so i'm thinking maybe the compressor isn't putting out enough. it worked fine on the XT6 that i pulled it from (it was my daily driver) 6 months ago so i was confident it was good. but maybe not. unless i figure something out i'm converting to coil overs...and hopefully i'll convert back one day because i like the air suspension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted June 14, 2006 Share Posted June 14, 2006 Gary, if anything, convert the car for the time being and get a stand set up to where you have the components of the air suspension system so you can at least test the compressor, bags, and solenoids off the car. Then you can have a complete system, get all the bugs worked out, and then swap it all back into the car. Just my $.02 cause I really don't know much about the air ride suspension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 14, 2006 Author Share Posted June 14, 2006 cab, i like that idea as i want to be driving this one now. i can reinstall later. i'm going to try one other compressor (since nothing airs up even when i power the compressor and solenoid). after that the coil overs are going in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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