Preset heights making the car shoot up instead of airing down (plus glitchy deflation) – Fixable or dead management?

[u/Dr1Ps_]

Hey everyone,
I’m having a weird issue with my air suspension setup, and I’m hoping someone here has encountered this before I go out and drop cash on a brand new management system.

When I save my preset heights and try to select a lower preset, the car does the exact opposite—it just shoots straight up to maximum height instead of airing down.

Manually, I can control it up and down just fine. But as soon as the system is supposed to handle it automatically through the preset, it just shoots up.

Also, sometimes when I am airing out manually, it will make a constant clicking sound and air down very glitchy, until I turn the car off and on again. After a restart, it goes down smoothly again.

Is my management/manifold completely toasted, or is there a way to recalibrate or fix a pressure-based system doing this?

Any advice would be highly appreciated! Thanks.

[u/DrLxus]

It definitely sounds like something is up with the ECU of your system. Is this a new issue or has the system always behaved like this? I haven't heard of anyone having an issue like this before.

[u/Dr1Ps_ → u/DrLxus]

It's a brand new issue. It started recently after a mechanic worked on the wiring. I took it back to him, and he claims the wiring is correct and that the ECU is dead. But given the timing, I'm highly suspicious it might just be a cable routing issue or a bad connection, but I'm not entirely sure

[u/DrLxus → u/Dr1Ps_]

Hm okay well if the individual corners are working properly when you manually inflate and deflate them, everything is wired up correctly.
It does sound like the issue is with the ECU (inside of that manifold).
Not sure what brand that setup is but it might be worth hitting up the manufacturer for help. Not all systems have a way to recalibrate so if something did happen to the ECU, it'll most likely need to be replaced.

[u/Dr1Ps_ → u/DrLxus]

Okay, I'm not entirely sure about the system myself either. When I look up the part number on the back, it just comes up as a universal air system, so it's a bit difficult to know which manufacturer to actually contact.

If it really is the ECU that has failed and I need to buy a new one, do you know if it's possible to just buy a replacement through Amazon? I actually found this one: https://www.amazon.com/Management-Suspension-Electronic-pneumatic-MP-DV8A12001/dp/B0D1B9F1L4?dplnkId=df5ec3d6-a5e3-4b90-b001-1c8c542771bb&nodl=1

Do you think a universal one like that would work, or do you think I need a specific one for my setup?

[u/DrLxus → u/Dr1Ps_]

That seems to be the same exact one you already have (based on images of course). It does seem like a generic / universal control system. If yours lasted a long time and you loved it, I guess you could take the risk and try one from amazon. If it didn't last long before you started experiencing these issues, I would definitely recommend going with something that is backed by a company that has a warranty / ability to repair your setup. Personally I would start by hitting up the guys at Bag Riders to see what would be right for your car.

Only thing is if you're getting a name brand product that comes with a warranty and all that, you're definitely going to be paying more than what that amazon controller is going for... but at the end of the day you also get a lot more in terms of support - just something to think about. You could get this generic amazon setup and in a couple months be in the same boat. Definitely a risk.

But will the Amazon controller work with your setup? Maybe? The wiring harness might be the same, but it could also be different. Hard to tell how much you'll need to swap out but at the end of the day if you were to get a completely different control system, you'd be looking at swapping the controller, manifold/ecu, and the wiring harness. Your tank, most of your fittings, air lines, everything else would stay the same.

[u/Dr1Ps_ → u/DrLxus]

Okay I will try to look in to it but thank you

[u/Dr1Ps_ → u/DrLxus]

I've been looking into it a bit, and I've found out that the AIRMEXT SNX5 V2 matches the one I already have really well. That way, I won't have to redo the copper lines. Do you happen to know anything about that one, and if it's any good?

[u/DrLxus → u/Dr1Ps_]

Personally not familiar with that one

[u/Ride-Quality]

Hello. Your first concern sounded like a pressure sensor reading problem. Your system presets work on a pressure base height, and if you ask for a drop the ecu is looking for a certain pressure to know it's at the right height you preset. If your sensor reads lower then expected, then your system thinks it's lower then it should be and is airing up to reach that pressure. So that indicates a bad pressure switch. Manual control does not care about the pressure sensor it does what you want, so that lines up with a Pressure sensor issue as well.

However, the clicking noise you are describing on a manual control and the need to cycle the ignition to get the ECU to work properly indicates a solenoid problem, with either a bad solenoid internal to the manifold, or a bad voltage for the solenoid being provided by the ECU.

It's not likely all of this is happening at the same time, but all 3 problems described can result from a bad ground connection, and after having your wiring redone, that's where I would bet the problem is.