Rear Accessory Compressor cycles constantly

[gklainer]

HI All.

Has anyone experienced this problem. I have a 2001 Montana. The accessory air compressor in the back of the vehicle cycles on and off constantly while driving. It's very loud and quite annoying. Anyone know how to stop this or have any recommendations on what to look for?

Thanks,

Gary

['97ventureowner]

A quick way to stop it would be to pull the fuse to the pump. Is it the rear accessory pump, or the pump that controls the rear shocks for height level? I had a problem a few years back on one of my vans where one of the tubes came off from the pump and this caused the pump to run constantly. I couldn't fix the problem any time soon, so I pulled the fuse for the pump and that solved my problem, That trick should work for you. You might want to search for any hose that may have become disconnected, or may have a small leak in it causing the pump to run all the time in an attempt to build up/maintain pressure.

[gklainer]

Originally Posted by '97ventureowner

A quick way to stop it would be to pull the fuse to the pump. Is it the rear accessory pump, or the pump that controls the rear shocks for height level? I had a problem a few years back on one of my vans where one of the tubes came off from the pump and this caused the pump to run constantly. I couldn't fix the problem any time soon, so I pulled the fuse for the pump and that solved my problem, That trick should work for you. You might want to search for any hose that may have become disconnected, or may have a small leak in it causing the pump to run all the time in an attempt to build up/maintain pressure.

Thanks for the response. After pulling few different fuses, I determined it was the pump to the level control. I'll check any hoses for leaks or disconnection.

Thanks again,

Gary

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by gklainer

Thanks for the response. After pulling few different fuses, I determined it was the pump to the level control. I'll check any hoses for leaks or disconnection.

Thanks again,

Gary

If you don't spot any disconnected hoses, or leaks in them I would turn my attention to the shocks or the pump itself as being the culprit. Many people find out the shocks end up leaking and need to be replaced. Here is a link to a thread in the Venture forum related to your problem, maybe you can derive further information on repairing the leak. http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=673438

[1999montana]

Originally Posted by '97ventureowner

...If you don't spot any disconnected hoses, or leaks in them I would turn my attention to...

...The link between the sway bar and the control unit as a possibility...(assuming you have the leveling system)... The link is made of two plastic sockets with a steel ball / bolt in each secured to the sway bar and control unit. The ball will corrode inside the plastic socket, seize and then break the plastic socket so that the link is no longer translating motion to the control unit.

My compressor ran constantly because the control unit 'thought' the van needed to be raised. Kept pumping the shocks up higher and higher...had to remove the fuse to stop the compressor...of course now the shocks were pumped way up and I drove 'down hill' all the way home!

When I got home, I backed the van into the garage, jacked it up just a bit more and lowered it onto two axle stands. Sure enough the link had separated from the control unit.

As a temporary fix, I re-attached the two sockets to each end of the link with Krazy Glue, two of those plastic ties used to hold bundles of wires together; - one over the socket and one around the first tie just underneath the socket (where it meets the steel link rod) to make it nice and tight, then reinforced the whole thing with hot melt glue. I cleaned each ball end with a wire brush and sandpaper and then lubed each with wheel bearing grease.

Slipped the sockets back onto the balls and reinstalled the fuse. Lowered the vehicle and watched it do its magic. It lowered first, then the compressor came on for a few seconds and that was it....FIXED!

Still need to replace the link with a new one...but that repair has been on the van since August last year.

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by 1999montana

My compressor ran constantly because the control unit 'thought' the van needed to be raised. Kept pumping the shocks up higher and higher...had to remove the fuse to stop the compressor...of course now the shocks were pumped way up and I drove 'down hill' all the way home!

My van did that too, and boy did that look strange. I was having flashbacks to the mid '80s when I had air shocks on my Caprice and Monte Carlo, and saw kids riding around in their Camaros with the shocks so high Got a lot of strange looks before the van "settled down" to a near normal position.

[kpn]

Connecting rod broke on mine too. I too crawled under the van to discover it was broken. This $1 part cost $25 at the dealer. Mine was a 2000 van.

Keith

[1999montana]

Originally Posted by kpn

Connecting rod broke on mine too. I too crawled under the van to discover it was broken. This $1 part cost $25 at the dealer. Mine was a 2000 van.

Keith

Anyone out there a hobbyist in the 1/8 scale or larger radio control cars field?

It looks to me that you could convert the steering linkage (tie-rods and ball joints) from one of these babies to make your own connecting rod for a lot less than $25.

...just a thought...