1990 LeSabre Custom - air ride compressor on after car is off!

[lxtacy]

Hello -

This is my fathers car and after driving it yesterday I turned the vehicle off and started to walk away. I noticed it sounded like a small air compressor running....and it ran for 5 minutes or so. Glancing at the tires I noticed the insides were severely worn. The back end sits low and my suspicion is the air ride suspension is screwed up somewhere. I will try and trace the air lines to see if there is a leak. If that tests okay, I will replace the rear shocks....and they should be replaced regardless with 135K on the clock. Any input is appreciated..specifics on where the compressor is located, what side of the car the air lines run, is there a common area where they leak, etc.

Thanks in advance.

[jgeorg]

I have the identical year car and the same situation. The pump is staying on because it's trying to level off the car. It has what they call an automatic leveling system. The pump is located in the left front left section of the engine compartment just behind the left headlight. The rear shocks are air shocks. Changes are one or both are leaking and the pump is staying on trying to level off the car but the air just leaks out. That's why you car is sitting low in the back. You can confirm this by having someone put the car on a hoist and remove the rear wheels to inspect the shocks. It'll be pretty evident when you look at the shocks. It's just a matter of replacing the shocks. Once you do this the car will ride better and stay higher in the back. The pump won't run as much.

[yogi_123rd]

I too have this identical problem (air pump running continuously) , but I have also identified a different cause for it. There is an automatic leveling device under the car which is supposed to turn the pump off when the car is level. When I park on an incline, the pump comes on and runs continuously. The shocks do hold the air in my car. You can disconnect the wiring connector of this pump to shut it off. This prevents a drain on the battery but off course you loose the shocks after a while.

[lxtacy]

Great input guys. I will take a stab at it this weekend and update the post. Hopefully the shocks are not too expensive.

['97ventureowner]

Can the shocks on these vehicles be replaced with shocks from a vehicle that doesn't have the air leveling system? My '90 Lesabre doesn't have this system in question, but my '97 Venture van does. Last year I started having the same problem as lxtacy and it got to the point where I just pulled the fuse and temporariliy solved the problem. I was wondering if I could replace these shocks with shocks that would go on a Venture that doesn't have this system?

[jgeorg]

I'm not exactly sure about your van but I know that I asked for what you suggested and the local parts store suggested a pair of monroe sensa tracs for my car which included all the necessary hardware that eliminates the OEM air shocks. There's also a company called Strutmasters that sells only shocks that replace air shocks in older cars. You can check out their website at www.strutmasters. com.

[lxtacy]

Good Info!

I had the opportunity this past weekend to take a look at the system. I poured a soapy solution over the entire compressor unit (under the hood) and air bubbles were coming from all connections! I did not check the connections where the lines actually go into the shock. Not sure if its worth replacing the lines and air shocks, OR going with the Monroe's suggested above or regular shocks from a NON-Air ride equiped LeSabre. IMO its not worth dumping a lot of money into and the latter is probably a better solution.

[lxtacy]

Still have not replaced the shocks yet. Over the weekend the battery died due to the compressor constantly runnning. I pulled the air ride fuse and jump started it, everything is fine now. Will update the thread when the shocks are replaced.