90 legacy/liberty air suspension problem

[suby do]

Hi guys I have a 90 liberty(australia) Legacy(usa) wagon and have replaced a rear passenger side strut and a right front strut since i have had it (4years) it,s done 300k kms and am about to do the head gasket, that bit doesn't bother me too much, but have a problem with obviously a air leak in the right side, as the right side goes down overnight and takes ages to come back up when i run it.

there doensn't seem to be a leak in the front unit as it's new and i've replaced all 'o' rings and done a bubble water test, Should the front strut go down if there is a leak in the rear one?

any suggestions

[john in KY]

You may have another problem. It should not take ages for even a cracked strut to inflate. Just as a test, swap the front solenoids side to side. If nothing changes then it is a safe bet the compressor is on its last legs. If the left side deflates overnight then replace the solenoid.

[suby do]

that was something I thought about but couldn't figure why the air disapeared from both front and rear right side. Will change solinoids in the next week, cars off the road got another suby to run around in.

Thanks

[suby do]

What I would like is a detailed description of how the suspention system works eg when soliniods open and close, what solinoids stay powered when ignition is off.

I find that the pump is working but the solinoids near the fire wall seem to stay activated even when the ignition is off and key removed

 

Any help would be good

Suby do

[sregor13]

What I would like is a detailed description of how the suspention system works eg when soliniods open and close, what solinoids stay powered when ignition is off.

I find that the pump is working but the solinoids near the fire wall seem to stay activated even when the ignition is off and key removed

 

Any help would be good

Suby do

 

Email me at sregor13@gmail.com and I will send you some awesome PDF's. They explain the System and give diagrams and troubleshooting tips and all.

[suby do]

Absolutly brilliant thanks a heap.

Exactly what I was after, now where's the wagon

[idosubaru]

in the drivers side fender well (at least i think that's where it is on your car, that's where it is on my XT6 and XT Turbo), is the air suspension compressor, air tank and drier. the other item of interest that would be dedicated to a particular strut is on the air compressor outlet (the receiver i believe). there are 5 air lines connected here. one to each strut and one to the air tank. i'd carefully inspect the line and fitting to the strut giving you problems. there are the same o-rings here as on the other fittings. replace all of these o-rings as you on the strut solenoids. another common issue is the plastic fitting itself. the female side that's connected to the air compressor assembly can leak. the base of them are only plastic and they crack very easily. i believe they are only pressed or lightly glued in place, they crack easy enough. the soapy water trick should work here as well. if your strut and solenoid look good, and you don't find a leak at the compressor fittings like i just mentioned i'd start thinking the suspension computer or the strut height sensor (internal to the strut) are bad.

 

when you're under the fender well area with all the suspension goodies, that's a good time to also remove the valve attached to the air tank. it's obvious since it's the only thing threaded into the large air tank with wire coming out of it. takes a wrench to get it off...something big like 14 or 17mm. remove this valve and scrub all the flaky corrossion off the inside of it. i've seen some completely corroded shut. get all of that out of there and reinstall, only takes a couple minutes.

 

good luck and have fun.

[suby do]

So far I've done the bubble test with detergant and water on ALL the connectors and they seem fine NO leaks there, checked the condition of the Pressure switch on the air tank and its fine still gotta check to see if it actually switchs, this I can only do on the tank because my compressor only goes to 115 PSI and the switch requires 137 to open and 109 to close. So still checking one thing at a time.

I forgot to mention that over the 4 years that I've had the wagon every say month or so the height control switch flashs, I just turn the ignition off then back on and it's fine for another month most times.

thats all for now

 

Well just pulled the compressor apart and the seal that is on the piston within the compressor is cactus (no good)

Are these available any where?

[c150L]

It's been awhile since I've done the air suspension things with my XT6, so excuse me if I error. As I remember, the fronts need to come up before the rears will get air. With my XT6, the fronts took forever as compaired to the rears. If I didn't want to wait "forever", I'd put a jack under the front side and jack it just enough so that the flat strut would come off from being bottomed out. Once off the bottom, the thing would go up almost immediatetly. Once the front are up to their proper hight, the rears will start to air up. My XT6s rear struts took air almost instantly.

 

If you not sure where the leak might be, disconnect the battery over night. That will take the computer out of the picture. (and perhaps the solenoids.) If you have one strut leaking, only that one should go down. With the computer in the picture, as a side starts to sag, due to a leak, the puter may open another solenoid on that side or end. If you have a solenoid leaking on a strut and and perhaps a leak between there and your compressor/tank, your tanks reserver air will also bleed down.

 

I don't get into this thread often, so might need to PM me if I can be of further help.

 

With your strut in the normally up position (and aired up) check the bags where they roll under and into the insides, next to the struts. Look for weather checking. If checked and leaking slightly, you might be abole to buy a few months by sliming the strut. (About 3 oz works wonders.)

 

Probably of no use, but I do have 2 front air struts, in good shape, from an XT6. Possibly a front solenoid.

 

As for sequence on the airing of struts, I beleive, when low, fronts fill first, then the rears. When high, the rears need to be lowered first, then the front. If the front is low and the rear is high, the high condition in the rearis taken care of first, then the fronts will be brought back up.

 

I don't get into this thread oftem, so might need to PM me if I can be of further help.

[suby do]

thanks for the couple of tips,

I can see why (I think) why the front tents to take longer than the back to come up i think it is purerly a weight difference between the front and back of the vehicle as all struts are conected to the one delivery line before the solinoids take affect.

will try the battery disconect idea once I get the compressor going again never even thought to do that but makes complete sense.

 

Any one know whether I might be able to get the seal at the top of the piston in the compressor?????????

[idosubaru]

i highly doubt you'll find a replacement part number or seal.

 

but if you can take the old seal and piston to a good auto parts supplier (think local auto parts stores, not national chains for this one), you can probably match one up that will work just fine. i've never seen a rebuild kit for these air compressors and i've kept my eye out for them.

 

air compressors across EA82 and XT6 are the same (the struts are not).

 

the HEIGHT sensor blinks when the computer detects a problem with the air suspension system, so i'm not surprised you didn't find a leak. the computer would only flash a code for something it can see.