HELP!! four corner air suspension problems

[Hddiesel]

Wondering if anyone can help me because I'm at my limit here where I feel defeated.

Original owner of a 2015 ram ecodiesel with the four corner air suspension. Everything worked great up until a year ago. My suspension suddenly dropped and got the message 'immediate air suspension/service is required' I'm talking about suspension so bad that it's sitting on the axle and can no longer go over 40km/h because I can feel any crack in the road and my head would hit the roof. I had the pump replaced and within a week it dropped again. They refilled the nitrogen in the system and couldn't find no air leaks. After I got the truck back I checked under myself and put it on off road mode and sprayed the entire system and can not find anything so I let it go. It never worked the same but I let it go because at least I had comfort of the suspension.

Fast forward to two weeks ago and I have the exact same problem. Driving on the highway in aero mode I get the same suspension message and suddenly I've lost all suspension and truck drops. I drove it around for a week like that and suddenly it raised again on its own in my driveway. Once again, check everything, lines, bags, compressor, tanks, valve block and can't find a leak. I have Alfa obd and have been monitoring all levels and the left back when up would show a little less than the others and when its down the rear is well below - 66. Also, when it goes down I get the low air mass message and my air mass pressure reads between 30-70. When it randomly decides to go back up it goes back up to 170.

Ive brought it to dealerships and people I know who tried to help but nobody seems to be able to figure it out. I also can't keep changing components because they're very expensive and they don't help out, wondering if it's a computer issue. Had it up again and once again worked well for a week and went onto the highway and 10 minutes into aero mode and it malfunctioned again. I feel defeated in all this because me and others don't know how to fix it. Please if anyone has heard similar issues or knows things to try message!

 

[rule18]

@Hddiesel Welcome to RamForum. I had the same problem with my '17. They wound up replacing the bags (micro-leaks that took weeks to show up after a refill) and a valve block. It sounds like you have another problem, computer or sensor-related. There are other members here that have deleted the whole system entirely.

For me, never again with that 4 corner system.

 

[Jeepwalker]

The number of possibilities is high, it's going to require a comprehensive approach. I'm sure this isn't the answer you want to hear....but the Ram Dealer Service Manual is the best resource for de-bugging the air suspension in a step-by-step manner. I've read through the entire chapter and it's got a lot of helpful troubleshooting tables, voltage and pressure checks, etc. Armed with this info would be very helpful for you. You have the software so you're already on the right path.

Go to the bottom of THIS pg, select your yr truck pdf manual, go to the google link & download. It works. Then find the air suspension section.

Good luck

 

[Hddiesel]

Ive learned from this truck that I have now, it was a great nice truck. But I'll never buy another diesel or one with air suspension ever again. The suspension is the most annoying thing because no matter what I do it only works when it wants to and suddenly my every day vehicle becomes inoperable. I'm glad that I only work 10 minutes away from where I live so I can take roads that at slow speeds but I want a reliable vehicle and nobody seems to know

 

[Hddiesel]

And thank you, I'll definitely read up on that!

 

[Jeepwalker]

It's funny, air suspension systems haven't changed much over the years. At the end of the day it's sensors & switches, pump, valves, bladders, wiring and controls. It's simple in concept but there are many small things which can cause problems.

In northern climates where temps get cold and they use road salt, that's adds extra strain to older systems. Bladders which rub against rust scabs on the metal below can wear through. Rubber, UV and cold weather don't like each other and can cause problems. Ice chunks that build up around sensor/wires, shocks, etc. The pump/valve system is pretty serviceable. People tend to blame that out of the chute but often problems are more basic ..like bad bladders, leaky connections, sensors not working right. etc.

It's a wonderful system when it works. A headache when it doesn't. Where do you start?? Right? That's where a comprehensive level-headed approach is handy (manual). I had a few cars with air-ride, and dealt with some other people's I knew (after the dealers couldn't figure it out). Once I hunkered down and learned the systems it was a lot easier to fix. But just think: many electric cars/trucks now use air ride systems due to the weight of batteries. We haven't started hearing about them failing yet! They will. Forget about batteries, they'll have another headache for owners coming up. LOL

I like your attitude and spirit. If you learn the system you could be the master of your air-ride domain. It's hard to beat an air ride system as you say. But there's always the option of switching to straight shocks and springs.

 

[Hddiesel]

You know I've dealt with air suspension on Mercedes, bmw and cadillac and for the most part they were pretty straight forward. This 4 corner is by far the toughest. Also, the location of the compressor and valve block is just destined to fail. But I have more problems than that

 

[MSandRebel]

Have you gotten anywhere with finding your leak?

My truck after 10+ hours of sitting was on the bump stop at the left front.

If have the keys near the truck or someone tries to open it, the air pump can kick on and level out the truck essentially masking what air bag or line might be leaking.

 

[VARAM2209]

It's funny, air suspension systems haven't changed much over the years. At the end of the day it's sensors & switches, pump, valves, bladders, wiring and controls. It's simple in concept but there are many small things which can cause problems.

In northern climates where temps get cold and they use road salt, that's adds extra strain to older systems. Bladders which rub against rust scabs on the metal below can wear through. Rubber, UV and cold weather don't like each other and can cause problems. Ice chunks that build up around sensor/wires, shocks, etc. The pump/valve system is pretty serviceable. People tend to blame that out of the chute but often problems are more basic ..like bad bladders, leaky connections, sensors not working right. etc.

It's a wonderful system when it works. A headache when it doesn't. Where do you start?? Right? That's where a comprehensive level-headed approach is handy (manual). I had a few cars with air-ride, and dealt with some other people's I knew (after the dealers couldn't figure it out). Once I hunkered down and learned the systems it was a lot easier to fix. But just think: many electric cars/trucks now use air ride systems due to the weight of batteries. We haven't started hearing about them failing yet! They will. Forget about batteries, they'll have another headache for owners coming up. LOL

I like your attitude and spirit. If you learn the system you could be the master of your air-ride domain. It's hard to beat an air ride system as you say. But there's always the option of switching to straight shocks and springs.

 

[VARAM2209]

Everyone seems to very helpful. I too had minor problems and would like to have the air suspension totally removed and replaced with a regular suspension system. Can anyone provide information on if I remove the suspension. How to take care of resetting or clearing any error codes? I reached out to a few local shops in Northern Virginia area but not to helpful. Can anyone point me in the right direction here?

 

[mrack]

Everyone seems to very helpful. I too had minor problems and would like to have the air suspension totally removed and replaced with a regular suspension system. Can anyone provide information on if I remove the suspension. How to take care of resetting or clearing any error codes? I reached out to a few local shops in Northern Virginia area but not to helpful. Can anyone point me in the right direction here?

www.airdelete.com

 

[Ramulus]

Everyone seems to very helpful. I too had minor problems and would like to have the air suspension totally removed and replaced with a regular suspension system. Can anyone provide information on if I remove the suspension. How to take care of resetting or clearing any error codes? I reached out to a few local shops in Northern Virginia area but not to helpful. Can anyone point me in the right direction here?

The mechanical part is straightforward, not much different than replacing standard springs/shocks.

For the error codes, you can disable everything via AlfaOBD.

This is from another site, but these are the instructions I used to disable the air ride system and remove the options from showing up in the radio menu for tire jack mode, aero mode, etc.

You can completely disable everything with AlfaOBD, as if it was never installed. Make these settings changes:
P/T Chassis Net ASCM Air Suspension Control Module- DISABLE
VehConfig 7 ASCM contains suspension- NO
CustSetMenu 1 Tire Jack Mode CSM Present- NO
CustSetMenu 1 Air Suspension Warning CSM Present- NO
CustSetMenu 2 Transport Mode CSM Present- NO
CustSetMenu 2 Wheel Alignment CSM Present- NO

When you do this and pull 2 air ride fuses, you have a truck that gives you no error codes or warning lights.
Fuse #5: 40A
Fuse #50, 20A


IIRC you will need to connect to the P/T Chassis Net ASCM to disable it, then connect to the BCM to disable the other CustSetMenu options. Be sure to pull the fuses after you disable the system. 20A fuse for the ASCM, and 40A fuse for the compressor.

 

[Logjammin]

Once the fuses/relays are removed, your good to go operation wise. You will get a "service air suspension" alert on the dash when you start but it goes away after a few seconds. You can live with that or you have to go the Alpha OBD route to remove it from the PCM. Go to the Monroe air suspension conversion kit installation online video for an idea of what's involved. What I did was post on this site "Anyone in the twin city area have Alpha OBD" (or something close to that) as the title. I then basically asked if somebody was willing to meet with me and I'd pay them to delete all the air suspension data from my system. I lucked out and another member was more that helpful. I went to his house and in about 5 minutes it was erased out of the system. He didn't want any $ but I basically forced him to take a $20. Now I don't get the service air suspension alert on startup but for some reason, there is still something in the menu settings about jacking/tow mode or whatever but I don't care about that. You have to realize, if/when you go to sell the vehicle, it's a topic that needs to be addressed anyway. In my case, I've already had two dealers look at the trade value of the vehicle and they were both very interested in what and how I did this conversion. One of them now at a GMC dealership used to be a RAM guy. He knew all about the air suspension issues with these 4th generation Rams and actually said the truck is probably worth more without the air suspension!

 

[Ramulus]

The service air suspension message that shows at startup can be removed by connecting to the IPC (instrument panel cluster) and clearing the fault.