JimzGator
May 23rd, 2004, 11:01 PM
Well I think I have finally found the root cause of my failure.
My wife called me at work and said that she heard a motor running and it wouldn't shut off when the car was shut down. She was able to disconnect the battery until I got home. The rear end of the car was on the stops.
I looked at the compressor and found the dryer was broke where the cap is. The compressor bracket isolators were shot. I thought that the failed isolators must have failed the dryer due to vibration. Since the motor had run a long time I decided to order a complete new aftermarket assembly. After I installed the new compressor my troubles were not over. The motor continued to run continuously even though the leveling system operated fine. It would only shut off for a short time when the compressor overheat sensor cut it out. I didn't have any leaks and the vehicle held its position overnight.
I booted up my CD manual. Wow, troubleshooting this system has a million steps and requires some special diagnostic equipment. I decided to take a look at what I thought the most likely cause would be, the compressor relay.
This relay looks real expensive, so it's bound to fail. It's solid state, (MOSFET) metal oxide semi-conductor field effect transistor, thats what the manual calls it. There are metal fins on it to keep it cool. It's located under the compressor on the frame and can be accessed easily behind the bumper.
I first disconnected the wiring harness to look for corrosion. There was a little on one of the terminals but cleaning it didn't help. Next I removed the relay and looked it over. It looked fine, no external signs of failure. So I banged it on the frame three times and reinstalled it. It worked fine after that, the motor cycled on and off as it should. So now I need to get a new relay.
This is a bit long, but I hope it may help anyone with the same failure.
My wife called me at work and said that she heard a motor running and it wouldn't shut off when the car was shut down. She was able to disconnect the battery until I got home. The rear end of the car was on the stops.
I looked at the compressor and found the dryer was broke where the cap is. The compressor bracket isolators were shot. I thought that the failed isolators must have failed the dryer due to vibration. Since the motor had run a long time I decided to order a complete new aftermarket assembly. After I installed the new compressor my troubles were not over. The motor continued to run continuously even though the leveling system operated fine. It would only shut off for a short time when the compressor overheat sensor cut it out. I didn't have any leaks and the vehicle held its position overnight.
I booted up my CD manual. Wow, troubleshooting this system has a million steps and requires some special diagnostic equipment. I decided to take a look at what I thought the most likely cause would be, the compressor relay.
This relay looks real expensive, so it's bound to fail. It's solid state, (MOSFET) metal oxide semi-conductor field effect transistor, thats what the manual calls it. There are metal fins on it to keep it cool. It's located under the compressor on the frame and can be accessed easily behind the bumper.
I first disconnected the wiring harness to look for corrosion. There was a little on one of the terminals but cleaning it didn't help. Next I removed the relay and looked it over. It looked fine, no external signs of failure. So I banged it on the frame three times and reinstalled it. It worked fine after that, the motor cycled on and off as it should. So now I need to get a new relay.
This is a bit long, but I hope it may help anyone with the same failure.