Legacy air shock deflation?

Its a UK '93 Legacy with air suspension, I've had it for three months.

If I didn't drive it for a few days, the car would settle down as the shocks lost pressure, especially at the back.

Recently, the passenger side is going down overnight, so I find the car leaning over in the morning. This is clearly not a good trend, especially as they are a very rare car in the UK and spare parts and repairs cost a fortune - I've been told £500 per shock by the only other person I know who has one of them.

Any suggestions or advice would be welcome. I'm going to live with it for the moment, but what should I do?

Regards,

Pete

Reply to
Pete
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I know these from previous Lincoln Mark VIII ownership. The air ride suspension needs to be rebuilt or replaced. The seals that hold in the air are broken. It's expensive. There was/is a place in Jacksonville, FL, that sells rebuilt air ride components for Lincolns fairly cheap. Look for a shop the specializes in Lincolns and/or Cadillacs or works on a lot of Lincolns. Lincolns and Caddies have used this system for years. Another possibility is conversion to regular shocks. This company makes a conversion kit for Subarus.

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't know if they ship to UK, but some Google searches might turn up somethingcloser to home. snipped-for-privacy@madmousergraphics.com
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Reply to
LauraK

Also some motorcycles used air shocks so you might find a motorcycle shop that can rebuild them.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

I'll assume you have a 91 to 94 Legacy. The entire suspension can be replaced with a conventional coil spring suspension. A simple remove and replace process.

May want to test a few things before going this route. Disconnect the air line at the strut. Be careful peeling back those plastic lock tabs because they will break if bent too far. The strut will immediately deflate. But the compressor should activate and you should feel/hear a strong flow of air coming from the disconnected line. Not wimpy puffs but a good flow. Do this for each strut.

If you have a good flow of compressed air at each strut then you know all the system up to the strut solenods is good. Now all that can be wrong is: The solenoid is leaking, the air line between the solenoid and strut is leaking, the air line fitting at the strut is leaking, or the strut has a hole. Everywhere an air line connects to something there is an O-ring.

Soapy water can be used to detect leaks.

Last week a set of air struts (23K miles) sold for slightly less than $200. They don't appear very often but several times a year someone sells a set.

I really doubt if you will find anyone that can rebuild these struts. They fail 99% of the time because the airbag either cracks or gets a hole. I've never been able to find anyone that has these bags.

Reply to
johninKY

Check ebay item #7940583272. (USA)

Reply to
johninKY

Try here:

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put their rebuilt rear struts in a Mark VIII and they were excellent. Savedabout $1,000 over new. snipped-for-privacy@madmousergraphics.com
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design, print design, photography

Reply to
LauraK

especially

has one of them.

My fronts seem to last about 100K & the rears about an extra 6 months. Conventional replacement all round works out about half the price of OEM. Depends how long you're keeping the car. Rides better on air; handles better on Koni gas or similar. Bike suspension shop may be able to rebuild. Some seem able to rebuild 'anything'. Cheers

Reply to
hippo

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