95lsUCF20

I have a 1995 LS 400 with air suspension… My front end is evenly on the ground… Numerous people tell me to just get two front air shocks and that should fix it. I am skeptical because both sides are evenly on the ground, I am not very familiar with air suspension diagnosis and I don’t want to just throw Parts at such an old car

does anyone have a way I can diagnose this so I can be sure what to replace? I considered just doing a cheap aftermarket coil spring conversion...but the quality of air ride in this car is amazing so if I can restore it to original I would prefer that (but I’m very cheap lol, and this car just isn’t worth throwing big bucks at, it’s not in great condition overall)

(Just to throw it out there… The car has 130,000 miles and it is in oK overall condition, but the car was given to me for free so I am not against spending money that most people wouldn’t on this car… But obviously I’d like to keep things as cheap as possible)

thanks so so much for help in advance!
You can forward me links to posts that may have the answers to this as well..I searched but I didn’t find anything surprisingly, I’m not that good at searching the forum tho so it is probably just me sorry if so

PLEASE HELP!!!
THANK YOU!

Legender

Pretty sure it is your air shocks. If you're cheap, as you say, you won't be able to fork over the ~$2k for just the front air shocks. Might as well go the ~$1200 route and replace all 4 with standard shocks. The rears are bound to go out soon and that would be another $2k or so to fix those. Most just switch out to standard shocks as the replacement of the air shocks is generally more than what the car is worth by the time they end up failing. Good luck. Have you priced out the air shocks?

creilly

I aspire to replace the still-functioning air suspension system on mine when it decides to give up, but in all likelyhood it will probably end up on coilovers out of necessity and frugality, though that's not to say I don't think the money going back into air suspension would be a waste. If your first concern is keeping costs low and your car isn't showroom clean I think most would agree that fitting conventional suspension all around is the way to go.

95lsUCF20

I figured that was going to end up being the case(buying conventional struts)...I’m a mechanic at a second hand Mercedes dealer and we use Arnott a lot and a few other aftermarket suppliers ...I didn’t know if maybe some cheaper aftermarket air bags existed that I could maybe afford
my next question would be what’s the ride quality with conventional struts like? Is there a good cheap set someone could reccomend (I’m a mechanic so I do the work myself and also usually can get some sort of a discount on all aftermarket parts)
Like I said the car was a gift to me for free, but I keep thinking to myself if I should even Bother investing a dollar into this car being that it is an old luxury car with expensive parts to it, and it does have a few problems from what I’ve seen just looking under the hood and on a short test drive
-big power steering leak (but doesn’t pour out, car still maintains power steering but it’s a mess at the bottom)
-valve cover gasket leaks
-the car took a VERY long time to get to operating temp (drove around for 10min and idiling about 20 min) temperatures never passed a quarter thru the gauges reading (while most cars sit at halfway)
-rear looks a little low too so prob will need aset of four shocks and I haven’t even lifted it up yet so who knows what else
-pads and rotors all around as they are low and very very rusty which also concerns me
- small exhaust leak under hard and a little during moderate acceleration
-engine and trans drove nicely tho very nice wow what a smooth ride this car is I see potential lol...that’s why I considered putting the air bags on to restore its ride this car seems like it would drive like a dream but it just doesn’t seem effecient to do...also no shakes rattles or anything while driving, that’s all why I considered saving it but I already have a cheap get around car that runs great so I don’t want this to be a money and time pit (mk3 2.0 Jetta is my current car lol so this is A LOT nicer I’d like to upgrade but it doesn’t seem smart

thanks a lot everyone for your input I really appreciate the help!!

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

it all depends on your need for the car. it all comes down to what you want to do in the long run. to get the car up (literally) and running better 4 new conventional struts are your best bet as no one out there makes comparable OE type bags to replace the factory stuff. also it's the air suspension components that will go bad as well such as the compressors and valves to make it all work. I'm sure you're familiar with that on some Mercs. you can certainly drive the car around with blown bags but your tires will prematurely wear out and the ride quality would be terrible.

if you can find decent aftermarket shocks with OE conventional springs the ride quality will still be very smooth, assuming the rest of the suspension is sound. what I fear is that as you break into the car, you'll uncover more bits and piece already broken or will break as a result. being in NY you probably see a lot of snow and rust is a major concern. you might have rotted bushings, exhaust leaks which you've identified already, etc.

Legender

Car has relatively low miles for the year... and for free? Guess you have to decide if it's worth it for you to put the time/money/parts into it.
Power steering leak is a known weak point and if not fixed will take out your alternator.
It has some great potential but you'll need to put some time/money into it to make up for what has not been maintained properly.
It's a personal choice. I use a 1998 as a daily driver and it has 225K miles on it. Drives smooth and powerful and enjoy the ride to/from work every day.
I'd choose it over a Jetta any day... but that's my personal choice.

jaaa

These are the cheapies I put on my 1996 ls400 four months ago or so. My shocks were totally shot so these seemed to be great when I put them on. Not sure how they would stack up to an OEM set:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/29115150944...true#vi-ilComp

Moarpower

Ill add to the opinion that the air shocks just are not worth the trouble as they age, and unless you have a few grand to drop on an all new setup, just get some good, mild, adjustable coilovers.

95lsUCF20

Wow that is such a cheap set that’s what I’m looking for lol! Thanks a lot

my other problems are is my long commute from Yonkers to queens everyday it’s about an hour of driving because of traffic, without traffic it’s about 20 min commute but that’s never the case for me lol...I’m wondering how these cars are on gas? I saw the rating but that’s for brand new lol what do you guys experience gas mileage wise?
Also a huge question is how does this car perform in the snow? The Jetta is good in the snow and it’s AMAZING on gas 40$ every other week in gas is great for me lol I wonder how this car will do (plus it’s going to be a PAIN to park this boat in queens NYC where I work :/ but if everything else is good I may put this on the road cuz it’s a nice car to have for dirt cheap lol

again thanks so much on your input you guys have no idea how much your all helping I was seriously considering completely junking this car so thanks again for all the options and help!!!

Moarpower

There are a few things that you can do to ensure yo get the best possible mileage from your car at its current age, obviously the mpg wont be as good as a brand new one.

Change the Engine Coolant Temperature sensor. This is a key link in the chain when it comes to usage of fuel. Tune up and replace plugs and wires. If you like do the rest of the ignition system like the caps and rotors. Run some injector cleaner and replace the filter for fuel.

In traffic the car will use a bit of fuel. Mine gets about 11.2Litres per 100 km.

jaaa

Just took a 5600 mile trip in my 1996 ls400 238k mile lexus. I averaged 25.5 MPG throughout the trip. I get closer to 19 in the city. I wouldn't run this car in snowy conditions in the winter just because of ground clearance.