New guy has a comical MarkVII air suspension...

[MarkyMarkVII]

Hi, I'm new, so please bear with me. I can't find an answer to this problem, which I'm not sure is really much of a problem since it doesn't affect how the car drives.
Anyway, my 85 Bill Blass Mark VII is fine, except for a weird noise the car makes after it is turned off. About a minute after I turn the ignition off, sometimes the front of the car makes a "fweep fweep fibbity fibbity fweeeep" noise as the car quickly dips to the left front, or quickly down in front generally or quickly down on the left generally. At first my mechanic thought it was a leaky front air spring, but this happens only sometimes, and when I turn the air suspension off for days it doesn't sink at all. It never happens when the car is running. The weirdest thing is this loud cartoon character noise it makes, which has been going on for four months. The "problem" has not been getting worse, and my mechanic is hesitant to bother fixing it until the symptoms happen consistently. Does anyone think I need to repair a certain part of the air system, like one bag or two or whatever is making the car do a goofy imitation of Stooge "Curly"?

[Lscman]

Sounds like the air relief valve in the air compressor is noisy. The car will level itself when you get out. The car's ride height is preserved when passengers exit. This means the car will drop to re-level after the door is slammed shut. You are hearing air escaping and air control solenoids clicking.

[BLUECOLLAR]

There are a couple of diverting valves that are suppose to slow the air down in the dryer. They will get sticky sometimes and make noises.

As long as it vents fast enough, it won't hurt anything allowing it to continue, just embarrassing.

[MarkyMarkVII]

Thanks for the quick replies, guys. I suppose I should just wait until something progresses further, like the compressor failing, or I was wondering if there's a component that can be addressed first?
I don't mind the car making these loud silly noises and bopping around like a lowrider in its parking space occasionally, but I would think this can't go on indefinitely.
Arnott industries lists components like the front spring assembly for $89 each, the dryer for $35, the O-ring kit for $19.95, the compressor/dryer for $150 and core charge for $50, and air spring solenoid kit for $19.95.
It seems like you guys think this can slide for awhile, but I may eventually need a compressor? Is there a separate "brain" that may be confused? Maybe I need an exorcist? Or a publicist to book the car into comedy clubs? Anyway, this site is excellent and all you guys are as cool as the cars you drive. Thanks again.

[DaKat]

quote:Maybe I need an exorcist? Or a publicist to book the car into comedy clubs?

Personally, I liked those options :D , but if you decide to go the compressor route, talk to BLUECOLLAR - he'll take good care of you.

Glad you like the site - welcome!

[Charlie]

I'm botherd by the fact that your car drops too low. If it was the air just bleeding out normaly it should never drop below normal hight. I think these guys know that and just misread your question. I think the air spring is still the problem. There is a hole in it near "the fold" in the spring. That means that sometimes the fold in the rubber spring covers up the hole just right that it doesn't bleed down. Other times it bleeds air out past the rubber fold and makes that funny noise. I'll bet a dollar that if you change the air spring that this problem will go away. I've heard that the springs should be changed in pairs. Talk to Blue Collar for prices and instructions. Thay are easy to change.

[MarkyMarkVII]

Thanks so much for all your help, you guys. Charlie, what you said definitely makes sense to me, since the dipping is most consistent with the driver's side front air spring. What I'm wondering now is what about the other dippings that include the front right and sometimes the rear left? Usually it bops around making noises and comes back up and stays that way overnight but sometimes it stays dipped in whatever weird way it went until the car is started again. I hope BLUECOLLAR comes back and maybe has a suggestion if I should try just the driver's side spring first or just go ahead and replace more stuff, and if so then what. My mechanic buddy says he's game to try anything since he has not experienced this before.
My neighbor's kids like to listen to my "barking car", but they'll get over it.

[Lscman]

A "sudden" dipping of the left, front suspension below normal ride height during the air release cycle is not normal. If it was due to a leak, the car would be a low rider, especially when parked for a few hours or more. I am not clear about the left side ride height times other than when you exit the car. Is it normal height when parked and driven?? Does it only fall below normal for a couple minutes when you exit the car? If so, the problem is electrical. It could be a bad height sensor or it's wiring to the air computer. Air Bag leaks invariably cause the car top sag during extended parking periods. Your compressor barking noise can be eliminated with a rebuilt compressor assy and is unrelated to the left side suddenly falling below normal ride height. On simple troubleshooting procedure is to drive the car at normal ride height and shut off the suspension. If the car has bag leaks due to bad bags or bad o-rings, it will be a low rider within 12-24 hours. A car with healthy bags & o-rings will sit level for at least 3 days.

[ December 10, 2001: Message edited by: Lscman ]

[MarkyMarkVII]

Thank you, Lscman.
My mechanic intitially diagnosed it as one or more leaky airbags, so he asked me to turn off the air suspension switch on an occasion that the car did not do its freaky misadjustment routine. I had it off for 3 full days and the car did not sink unevenly or at all in a perceptible way, which led us to believe this "problem" is just weird. The car NEVER is off level when the engine is running, and when its running moving or parked running you would think the air suspension is always just fine. The noisy dippy poltergeist effect ONLY happens about a minute after the car is parked and only sometimes, and how it tilts itself is never consistent.
So is this sensor thing part of the airbag, part of the compressor, or a standalone part? I guess I could just replace everything that is suspect, since if a part of the system is failing more will probably follow, but I thought this type of failure might have had a relatively simple and less expensive fix. Its been going on for four months without getting worse, and since it does not affect the drive I've been letting it slide.
I'm guessing if a sensor is causing this fast dip thing to happen only when the car is off, I suppose it is inevitable to start happening when driving--- which could be dangerous.

[Lscman]

Here's what is definitely NOT defective on your car:

Air bags
Air lines
0-rings
bag solenoids
dryer
compressor motor and pump

Here's what is marginal on your car:

compressor air release valve (noisy, possibly ready to fail). Keep in mind this is part of the compressor assy. If valve operation becomes chronic, the car will ride too high.

Here are possible causes for the Lft Frt height variations:

1)left front hall effect ride height sensor dirty inside or failing.
2)dirty height sensor connector ckt in wheelwell or at computer in trunk.
3)height sensor wire pinched (intermittent ground) or momentarily open (frayed/separated/corroded).
4)bad air suspension computer (unlikely)
5)sticking air solenoid on left front bag (unlikely)