First
of all, TURN OFF THE SUSPENSION SWITCH in
the trunk and put the car on jackstands.
NOTE:Put the jackstands under
the frame, not under the lower control arm!
Disconnect
the 2 pin electrical connector and then disconnect the air line by pushing the
orange collar towards the solenoid, then pull the line out. (if the line has never
been removed before, the brass collet may be "dug-in" to the line and may require
some patience on your part) If it doesn't want to release the line, click HERE
for ideas.
To
remove the solenoids, just remove the safety clip that keeps the solenoid from
accidentally twisting. You can do this with a flat head screw driver.
Twist
the solenoids till they stop. The solenoid has a 2 step removal process. ALL
THE AIR IN THE STRUT/SPRING WILL MOST LIKELY RUSH OUT VERY QUICKLY AFTER THE FIRST
STAGE IS DONE! If they've never been off before, you may have to help it with
a screwdriver or something. The solenoid "SHOULD" stop at the first stop. I have
seen it where it popped off and hit someone in the head, so be careful. At least
turn your head when you twist the solenoid.
After
the air has stopped rushing out, twist it again and pull it out. Pull off the
old bigger o-rings and replace them with the new ones THAT HAVE BEEN LUBRICATED
WITH PREFERABLY DIELECTRIC GREASE. Install 2 new o-rings while keeping the
nylon washer in between(see pic below)the o-rings.(Thats
right, the same stuff Ford uses on spark plug wires) The dielectric grease doesn't
seem to attack the rubber like vaseline. If you don't lubricate them with something,
they will twist and probably won't seal as good as the old ones, which means you
did all this for nothing.
To
replace the o-ring that seals the air line, first remove the orange collar. Then
carefully remove the brass collet(its easily crushed) and remove the little nylon
washer, then the old o-ring. See picture below
Install
the new smaller o-ring in the hole of the solenoid, making sure its flat and seated,then
the little nylon washer. Make sure both are flat and seated. Install brass collet
and then orange collar.
After
these o-rings are replaced, install solenoids, plug in air line and 2 pin connector
and remove from jackstands.
NOTE:
Install
the air lines into the dryer DRY.
We
DO NOT recommend using ANY
type of lubricant when installing the air lines into the dryer for 2 reasons:
#1)
The lines are held in by way of a collet. The small jaws of the collet hold the
air line into place. If you put a lubricant on the line, the line could pop out
and would result in a major leak, which would allow the front and/or rear of the
vehicle to lower all the way down to the bump-stops and most likely do serious
damage to the compressor.
#2)
The heavy duty o-rings we use on our dryers are made to last 3 times longer than
a stock factory o-ring, but are NOT designed to be in contact with ANY foreign
substance! In other words, using a lubricant on the lines on installation will
almost certainly cause reduce the life of the sealing o-rings, thus causing a
leak.
