MOISTURE AND THE DAMAGE IT CAN DO

Its been my experience as a air suspension compressor remanufacturer and a Ford/Lincoln technician,that about 90% of all vent solenoid and/or compressor failures are from moisture INSIDE the air suspension system.

1st QUESTION: How does it get in there?
The first source of moisture that may cross your mind is the environment the car is subjected too. While living in a "wet state" like Florida or any other state with allot of rain would increase the amount of moisture the system has to deal with, I am going to explain why a vehicle thats even in a dry environment may experience a moisture problem.

NOTE:

Every compressor produces (condensation) moisture....thats a fact. To produce moisture free air, you don't put a dryer directly off of the compressor. The reason for this is, the air is still pretty warm and moisture is still in a vapor state. The air goes by so fast that most dryers can't remove ALL the moisture. (the rule of thumb is to locate the dryer 6 feet or so away so the air can cool down first) Although not as much distance is needed on a small compressor, this holds true with small air compressors on air suspension systems also.

Unfortunately, ALL the air compressors for Fords & Lincolns have the dryer mounted directly off of the compressor. At best, the dryer may remove 95% of the moisture going into the system. That sounds pretty good huh? Now times that 5% of moisture EVERY TIME the compressor runs, times 10 or 12 years and you can see a potential problem. You'll see the majority of the moisture problems on vehicles where the compressor is mounted fairly low, like a Mark VIII or Town Car.

How could it get worse?

If a compressor produces moisture during normal use, what happens when it has to run allot more to replace the air lost with a leak? If a compressor runs 2-10 times more because of a leak, its going to produce 2-10 times more moisture than it would normally. This moisture is in addition to the accumulation from years of service.

What happens when it gets in there?

Moisture will accumulate in low-lying areas like air springs and some air struts. Because of the great design of the solenoids used on each air strut/spring, moisture won't usually damage anything past the compressor/dryer assembly. But, over years of service, the factory dryer gets overwhelmed and actually turns out to be a reservoir for moisture, as well as every low lying place in the system. Moisture is then "see-sawed" back and forth from the dryer to the rest of the system. After moisture has accumulated to a certain point, every time the vehicle vents, it blows moisture from the dryer, through the head of the compressor and through the vent solenoid. In a nutshell, its giving the compressor a bath every time the system vents.

How does moisture effect the vent solenoid?

The vent solenoid is basically just a metal piston that goes up and down (to vent) by way of a coil or electromagnet. After being submerged in water for awhile, the piston WILL corrode and rust so bad it can't move. This can happen in either the closed position, which the car is usually drivable (pumps up car but won't vent) or the open position (won't pump up car because the solenoid is leaking any air out) which allows the car to "slam" or vent all the way down.

NOTE: On a Mark VIII compressor, the head is positioned so that the vent solenoid is the lowest point of the compressor. In other words, if there is any moisture in the compressor area, it will eventually make its way to the vent solenoid.

Another part of the compressor thats affected from moisture is the piston. The fabric type piston rings used on these compressors will swell if they get wet, making it very hard for the electric motor part of the compressor to move the piston up and down in its cylinder. This extra amperage consumption is very hard on armatures and compressor relays because it is requiring allot more amps than it was designed to handle.

Accumulated moisture mixed with dirt and grime inside the compressor is also very abrasive and hard on the brushes that ride on the armature. It is basically "wet sanding" the brushes and wears them prematurely.

How do you get the moisture out?

Removing moisture from every low-lying area is expensive....as per the Ford Shop Manual recommends replacing ALL the air $trut$ and air $pring$ and blowing out all the air line$ as well as replacing the compressor/dryer assembly. That has been the only thing that works..............UNTIL NOW.

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