Repair-It

I believe my level control pump is not running. I have to pull the rear seat cushion to check fuses and the relay, but pulling that cushion requires zero tools and about 10 seconds, as do most sedans. It actually has a driver and passenger side rear fuse/relay box, in addition to the one under the hood. This is actually not that uncommon in more modern cars.

I started the car this morning and I heard the compressor do its 3.5 second run. So....I don't understand. I guess I don't need to check for a fuse. I don't know what would cause it to be intermittent. The level sensing is based on the MRC system suspension sensors.

Best I can come up with is disconnecting, inspecting the harness and reconnecting it.

Level control operation. More or less the system works just like it did on my 95 Fleetwood, except the control side is integrated.

Ran again this morning after startup, as it is supposed to. I'll have to fool with it this weekend and test it to make sure it can actually level out a load.

I am getting warmer. Pump ran when I started it leaving work. Apparently the way I was parked caused it to want to keep running. Except the back never rose. So....I think this is mechanical. It is very hard to hear while in the driver's seat which has caused some of this confusion about the symptoms. I had to get out and go to the right rear corner to figure this out.

Either pump, or air lines or shocks. And the shocks are pretty new. And the pump runs. Probably an air line issue. Now I know where to focus.

When I bought my Fleetwood the air leveling did not work and I had an issue with every piece of the system. If this is just lines that would be quite an improvement. That car was 13 years old with like 71k. This is 12 years old with 127k.

I think the lines are fine. I disconnected them from the shocks and the compressor is not making any air. I pulled it off of the car which required lowering the right muffler a little and tested it with some jumper cables and wires. No air output. In fact some air seems to be coming from the intake so I think it is blocked inside somewhere. I fooled around with it with my air compressor and still doesn't make air. I began to disassemble but it is rusty and I gave up. I can get one from either an 07 STS or 07 SRX from a salvage yard in Foster. I am headed there now.

Waste of time. Drove out to Foster. We looked at both vehicles that were in the inventory as having the pump. Both were FE1 cars (no compressor). We also looked at probably 5 or 6 other STSs and SRXs. ALL were FE1. Crazy. He said there was another STS that was not in inventory but didn't know where it was and the guy who did know wasn't answering his phone. So I waited around for a while...and then left with nothing.

They wanted $120. I also found this on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/05-10-CADILLAC- ... dQ&vxp=mtr

$95.

It looks about as crusty as mine. Given all that, I think my best option is a Dorman from Rockauto. After shipping and coupon it comes to $213. Advance Auto wants nearly $500 for the exact same thing!! The other cool thing is the Dorman one also comes with all brand new air lines. I don't feel like re-running them (it is in the nooks and crannies behind everything), but I will have them at least. Now I have to figure out how I want to put the car back together so I can at least drive it in the mean time.
Oh I forgot the best part. The compressor is attached to the car with 2 bolts. Well...3 bolts and a rubber isolated tab. It is directly above the right muffler. 2 bolts go on the inside into the unibody frame, and the other side is supposed to have a bracket that is part of the body and another bolt. The thing is that bracket on the outside rusted COMPLETELY off. The compressor was actually resting on the muffler. I have no idea how to fix it and I might just reinstall that way, with the 2 bolts holding it on the car at least. I think it would require welding to fix properly.

I cut off the plug from the failed compressor and connected it to the car side to protect those pins from road debris and water. Right now the air lines are just laying on the muffler. Not the best place for them but it's at the very end of the exhaust and there's a lot of airflow back there. I think it will be fine for a week.

Some pics.

Got the new compressor.

Makes me wonder how aftermarket parts like this are made. Do they reverse engineer every component? Do they get the drawings somehow? Dorman's logo is cool looking. Also they claim to have been around since 1918. I had no idea.
http://www.dormanproducts.com/Pages/cor ... story.aspx
Now here's something. It actually came with the mount for the side with the tab. If I could just figure out a way to hang this somewhere (like bolted to a small plate welded to the car body) I'd be all set. I'd have to use a big washer or something as I assume the large hole is for another isolated mount.