HELP! my soarer is unco :(

[Jezzza]

hi all

i have a 91 soarer, and i just replace the rims and noticed that my drivers front wheel sits extremely high (even with air bags on normal height)
for eg. i can fit a "scrunch" 4 finger width between my rim and wheel arch on my passengers front gaurd, and on my drivers i can easily have a 1cm gap between all 4 of my fingers between wheel arch and tyre
i have tested it on flat road also and same results.

i have checked the rod with the 2 nuts u use to adjust height, and nothing changed..
i tried "feeling" if my air bag moved when i flciked the switch, but nothing happened. the other sides went down and up but not my drivers
my rear drivers side sits a little higher, but i have a feeling this is due to the extreme height of my front drivers side

im not sure if i knocked something or it has been like that since the beginning of my ownership, but its quite strange.

some things i could think of (excuse my very limited knowledge of soarers)
1. individual fuses to airbags (i doubt it.. but never know) if there are.. where?!
2. lose wire from switch to airbag?
3. too much gas? lol.. or the airbag needs to be serviced?? purged?? or something??
4. scrap it all and go get some coilovers? haha

any help will be appreciated heaps! ill try take pictures tomorrow (its a bit dark outside with a phone camera)

edit: although till now, i didnt actually know if my airbags work.. but it does
also another thing, ive been reading up about a "spec r" height controller.. worth investing in one?

[pandaah]

seems like your airbags have suffered the leak of death... is it possible to take the unit out and taking it to a suspension place and getting them to do a possible pressure test?, maybe take out both front units and get them tested so they can compare differences..

either that or whatever controls air entering and exiting the airbag maybe faulty, i dont have a complete knowledge of the soarers either but maybe some sort of accumulator or valve needs looking at

[Z2TT]

Have a look there is good information on Planet Soarer about Airbags, may be costly though.

[Jezzza]

thanks guys,
sorry i forgot to mention i have been browsing the web, but have no idea what to search

ill keep looking!

[Sciflyer]

The stock setting if the switch is on "High" is rediculously high on some cars, like 4WD-spec, possibly as the switches are known to break it is actually stuck on High all the time?

A suspension controller is handy here as its a lot easier to set either max or min height and diagnose if the pump is working and the airbags are all operating. Note that the system does not always operate instantly! Sometimes you have to wait a minute or two before it kicks in

Only thing you can do is have the car running, operate the switch and wait by the drivers side front wheel to see if you hear teh pump come on. Oh and the obvious thing, check that the system is turned on at the switch in the boot!

Failing that there is probably some diagnostic jumper setting you can try but will need the Japanese service manual for this

Only adjust the rods if everything appears to be working, do not touch them otherwise or if you plan to get a suspension controller!

[Jezzza]

The stock setting if the switch is on "High" is rediculously high on some cars, like 4WD-spec, possibly as the switches are known to break it is actually stuck on High all the time?

my car physically goes up and down on 3 sides, only my drivers side front is stuck on "EXTREME" high

A suspension controller is handy here as its a lot easier to set either max or min height and diagnose if the pump is working and the airbags are all operating. Note that the system does not always operate instantly! Sometimes you have to wait a minute or two before it kicks in

i would prefer to get a control after i suss out my issue, as if it my airbag is stuffed then i will probably change to coilovers

Only thing you can do is have the car running, operate the switch and wait by the drivers side front wheel to see if you hear teh pump come on. Oh and the obvious thing, check that the system is turned on at the switch in the boot!

i have checked, and as stated, 3 sides work apart from front drivers
where is this "switch in the boot?"
wheres the compressor??

Failing that there is probably some diagnostic jumper setting you can try but will need the Japanese service manual for this

hmm.. ive never heard of this. i assume toyota can do a test like so?

Only adjust the rods if everything appears to be working, do not touch them otherwise or if you plan to get a suspension controller!

too late! lol! already mucked around with em, but nothing changed so i set it back to stock

[Jezzza]

edit: according to this thread, the height computer is found underneath the passenger seat
**important note: when i took the tyres home, i took my rear seats out and just chucked the tyres on all the crap underneath the seat, is it possible that i damaged the computer??**
http://soarercentral.com/sc-forum/me...04/277613.html

im now 100% sure my suspnesion was working before i put on my new rims!
so i must have hit something, ripped.. or have very bad luck with coincidence

does anyone have a diagram/anything to help me to diagnose issue?
i know about <--> this much of how the airbag system works
anyone shed some light?? ive tried searchnig but my net is capped!! and i cant find anything!

[Sciflyer]

could be a stuck solenoid then, or broken air pipe

both are fixable, if its the airbag itself i would just grab a 2ndhand one, should be able to grab one for less than $200. If you buy new ones you really should replace both fronts at once.

Personally i would not replace the system with coilovers unless the problem is serious and expensive to fix (and chances are coilovers will be just as costly anyway)

[Sciflyer]

^ the suspension computer is not under the seat its at the side, under the passengers armrest panel.

There is a ton of wiring that runs across where the seat would be so its possible you could damage that though (youd have to be unlucky...)

[Jezzza]

yup cheers mate

i figured it out, had a lok and noticed it was on the side
form memory there was a box under the seats and thought it was that.. but its not! phew!

ye, last resort i guess. im hoping its just a stuck solenoid/sensor. my airbag hasnt "sunk" and it still feels "stuff" not spongey like a boat

[woggin]

did you switch the airbag switch in the boot to off before you jacked the car up??? if you didnt, the car now thinks that the high setting is actually you normal setting...you have to switch the system off and release the air out of the system (forgot how, lookin into it as i am also having problems with my airbag suspension on my uzz31)

[Sciflyer]

Nah dont have to release any air, just switch it off before you jack it up


I actually think you only really need to turn teh system off if you plan to have the engine running while its jacked up or on a hoist, so it isnt constantly trying to compensate for the suspension being at full droop

Again, a suspension controller is really handy as setting the rods manually to get a nice ride height is a tedious process, and its nice to be able to just put the car up to max so you can get a jack under it or crawl under for whatever reason (or cross a flooded road as i had to do recently!)

[woggin]

Nah dont have to release any air, just switch it off before you jack it up


I actually think you only really need to turn teh system off if you plan to have the engine running while its jacked up or on a hoist, so it isnt constantly trying to compensate for the suspension being at full droop

Again, a suspension controller is really handy as setting the rods manually to get a nice ride height is a tedious process, and its nice to be able to just put the car up to max so you can get a jack under it or crawl under for whatever reason (or cross a flooded road as i had to do recently!)

i thought if it was stuck up high, you have to release the air to lower it??

[Jezzza]

well thats one thing i definately did not do
i didnt "flick" the switch to off.. didnt even know!
well anyways, sciflyer will hopefully be able to give me a hand on the weekend
kudos to him!!

i plan on getting a controller (in secret of course) missus doesnt even realise i have new rims yet lol

[v8soarer]

The pump & solenids to control the air are located in front of the driver side front wheel. Have a poke around in there & see if any thing is loose.

[AndyTTR]

I remember reading a huge thread about this on soarercentral or planet soarer a long long time ago! The guy did the same thing, changed his wheels without turning the Suspension ECU off in the boot causing it to crap its pants.

Under certain (but unknown) circumstances this happens when the car is jacked up with the Sus. ECU turned on. Apparently the ECU stays on for a few minutes after turning the power off too, if you turn the key to ON with one or more wheels off the ground the Sus. ECU gets confused. Resetting the power didn't help cos the bag was still inflated, thus it sets super high as its default position or something....

IIRC they found the way to fix it, they had to bridge some connections at the solenoid to deflate the bag then reset the ECU while standing on one leg and patting their heads at the same time... such is the black magic inside UZZ31 electronics.

Search on soarercentral, the info is definitely on there.

[woggin]

IIRC they found the way to fix it, they had to bridge some connections at the solenoid to deflate the bag then reset the ECU while standing on one leg and patting their heads at the same time... such is the black magic inside UZZ31 electronics.

Search on soarercentral, the info is definitely on there.

thats wat i thought, coz i remember reading that on there (soarercentral) just recently, you have to bridge the 1/6 pin on the air suspension diagnostics port in the boot (underneath the switch, behind the trim, black connecter with 10pins or so!

look up 'vent solenoid soarer' in google and look through a few of the links, forgot which one it is but it has pics and such, i have the info at home on my other pc, so if u need more info pm me!

ot, where you getting this aftermarket controller from, i want one too.

cheers wog

[Jezzza]

thanks to all that helped
a BIG thanks to sciflyer (phil) who basically fixed my car!!

note to all: turned the switch off in the boot (passenger side on the side wall) to OFF when jacking car up, even if the car is off!!
my car is now dumped and looking the part

cheers

[AndyTTR]

That's good news! How did you guys fix it?

[Sciflyer]

The airbag was fine, we took teh sensor rod off, started the car and moved the rod around, maybe a bit of dirt or shit was in the sensor stopping it from reading the height because as soon as we did that the bag started working again

Measured the length of the rods on my car and Jezza went home and adjusted his to teh same length and its all good

Jezza: got your txt, i do have a spare EMV that works, not sure how well though. i need to work out how to test it out of the car to see as its a PITA to remove them from the car