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ls400 1989 airbag suspension problems. please help

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Old 03-22-12, 04:13 AM
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harley91
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Default ls400 1989 airbag suspension problems. please help

im having problems with my ls400 1989 lexus airbag suspension, they are stuck on low and wont pump up at all. i braught the car with like this so im new to it all.
just wondering if there is there any common problems with the airbags? and wondering if there is any noise when tring to pump them up and deflate them? please help me with sugestions, will be greatly appreciated cheers
Old 03-22-12, 11:40 AM
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timmy0tool
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this is a very common problem on old air suspensions. most of us simply upgrade to regular suspension as repairing the air suspension usually entails the replacement of the bags/shocks themselves which is very costly.

search and you can see tutorials on how to remove the air stuff. then a local junkyard may have a non air suspension LS400 for you to take the suspension off. or you can upgrade to coilovers or the like.
Old 03-22-12, 04:48 PM
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harley91
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thankyou mate, i give that a try today.
Old 03-22-12, 05:39 PM
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j2b4o
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If its not completely deflated I doubt you have a leaky strut. Generally if you switch it off in the trunk it should close all the valves and no air should move in the system which will show you if there is a leak which corner it is at. So if the back left corner is down lower than the rest,that corner has a leak somewhere. If it sits level for over a week with it switched off I would say its probably a compressor/valve issue. I don't know enough about these specific air systems yet to take you beyond that. The yard would likely have any air suspension parts you would need also so it's worh diagnosing IMO.
Old 03-27-12, 05:50 PM
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harley91
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its completely deflated, what you have explaind helps alst thankyou the car looks the same all way round, no corners of the car are higher or lowerer then the rest. i think its fully pumped down.. and does nothing when pushing HIGH and NORM buttons on my console. could u explan where the compressor is please? i have a spare one im going to try replace that. hoping thats the problem. cheers for your help
Old 03-28-12, 04:50 AM
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harley91
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wondering if anyone had a ls400 workshop manuel?
Old 03-28-12, 07:09 AM
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j2b4o
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I honestly havent looked for it yet but if you want to find the compressor I would follow the pressure line coming out of either of the front shocks (a few inches down from the top of the shock tower in the engine compartment). I would also look through the fuses and relays on the system you could get lucky.
I know on my mercury if the air suspension detects a fault and shuts down and deflates it won't re-engage untill I reset the system so I would try pulling the fuse for it for a few seconds and you may get it to inflate once or atleast get it to try to inflate raising the corners without leaks. If you get it to inflate turn it off and see what happens.

There is also a thread on here somewhere about a guy who put green slime in a deflated air shock and it sealed just fine. I'm sure his compressor was working though.

Good luck!
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