About 2 years ago I bought a 1995 for $350. The air suspension was shot, but the car was in amazing shape. The inside and out are 9/10, so I couldn't pass it up. It runs great and it was inspected when I bought it, but the owner stopped driving it as soon as the air suspension failed. So, anyways I just got around to fixing it up, and replaced all 4 air bags, solenoids, and the compressor with new/rebuilt parts. Now, I just have a few questions as I am new to the whole Lincoln/air ride scene. First, how often should the compressor run? Does it normally come on while driving to adjust? If so, how often is normal? Secondly, as soon as I shut the car down, it "vents" the front and rear a little bit. Normal, I know, but then the rear still seems to have a leak somewhere. I would have to assume it is where the solenoid goes in to the bag?? They are all new parts and o-rings. Overnight the rear air will leak out till they are completely empty. Thirdly, is it normal for the bags to leak down eventually? After about a week the front was a little bit lower than when it initially vented, but not all of the way down. Is this normal? There is not service ride control light on or anything, and the car seems to sit level while driving and rides good. I had someone follow me to check the height/levelness while driving and they said it looked all good. Any help would be extremely appreciated. I tried searching, but I did not come up with all of the information I was looking for. Thanks for ANY help, as I am trying to fix this all myself and avoid the dealers lol.

 

You could have a pinhole leak in one of the plastic lines comming from the compressor to the bag. The lines remain pressurized even when the car and compressor arent running when the cars parked. The same thing happened to my boss' 96 cadillac, the bags were fine, but it squatted after it was parked for a while. By the way thats a pretty nice car for $350, ive always liked those!

 

I was thinking about it being a line, but it only does it when its shut off. The solenoids on the bags shut off the air from exiting/entering the bag when the ignition is off. So, I am thinking that the lines are not the issue for this reason. They are essentially shut off from the bag itself. I'm not sure how the Caddy's are though.

 

Did you use new o-rings on the solenoids when you redid everything? The o-rings are a source of headaches on those suspensions. The compressor shouldn't be running all that often. It should lower the car at highway speeds, and raise it at lower speeds (I forget what they call it, trim 1 and 2 or something), but if your compressor is constantly cycling, it will eventually burn it up.

 

Yeah, the solenoids were new/rebuilt and came with new o-rings installed already. The only thing I didn't do was grease them at all before I installed them, which after now doing a lil research, seems to be a suggested thing to do. I may try and pull the solenoids out and try greasing the o rings up a little bit? What do you think?

 

Would be worth a shot, and the cheapest/easiest solution. Hopefully that works out. Like you said, the solenoids isolate the bags, and shouldn't be venting down while you're driving around until you get to highway speeds. If you lose some pressure over the course of it being parked for a week, that's pretty ok. If it's nose or rear down overnight, it's serious.

I got so fed up with the air ride quirks on my L that I converted it to coils. First it was bags, then it was the compressor and lines...I just want to drive it!

 

Jester, after looking at your profile, I see that your selling a truck which I messaged you about on Craigslist before. I believe you live right down the road from me, I live up on 989 by Economy Park. Small world. Anyways, about the Lincoln, I debated on the coil spring swap, but the air ride kit was almost the same price as the coil spring swap. I am thinking it has to be a leaking solenoid. Hopefully I get this thing worked out...

 

Did you really? Wow, it is a small world, Economy Park is minutes from me.

You can check the rest of the system the same way you check a tire bead after putting it on the rim too, spray some soapy water on it and look for bubbles.

 

Thats what I'm going to do this week, is first take the solenoids out and grease them up and re install. Then, I am gonna let it pump up and check the fittings where the lines go into the solenoid. Then I am going to spray the hell out of everything with soapy water. I'll check back in whenever I get to this either friday or saturday. thanks for your help

 

there is a guy who owns a place in central pa called 'the lincoln farm' where he collects, strips, restores, parts out lincolns of every year. I got a tow dolly from him and brokered a sale of a 94 to him that was cherry and I think he is parting out - if u need parts they may fit.

 

thanks for the info quaddriver, but 95 was the first year for the new body style so theyd be different.

 

Gotcha, your system is a little different from the caddy's. Everything is controlled on the compressor on the caddy, no solenoids. Double check those o rings, maybe one got pinched upon instalation. Maybe try and use some kind of sealant on them if thats possible.

 

86F250BIGBLOCK, If you are still having problems with your air-suspension, there is a great place to help you with it.

Lincolns Online I have an 89 Town Car myself, and the folks there are just great when it comes to getting help for these rides.

 

+1 for LOL.
It's a great group, I've been a member for a few years.