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Airlift Compressor Comes on Constantly

17K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  jameswinn1 
#1 ·
I have had my Airlift airbags for almost two years. The compressor comes on every time I start the truck and then about every 5 minutes after that. I have had it back to the shop that installed it four times to check for leaks. They swear there are no leaks I called Airlift last year and they sent me an inline check valve which the shop installed. That did nothing. I just called Airlift again and they told me that there has to be a leak somewhere in the system. It only seems to do this when I have my camper on the truck. I am at my wit's end. I am about ready to yank everything out and put a Firestone system on. I had Firestone on my last truck and never had any problems. Has anybody else had a problem with Airlift? Any advice?
 
#2 ·
I had the Firestone Ride-Rite airbags on my '11. It always gave a shot of air on startup, and occasionally during trips. I never got around to checking for a lead, though I suspect there was one somewhere. I have to believe there is a leak somewhere. I can't imaging any other reason for the compressor to kick in.
 
#3 ·
Plain and simple there is a leak somewhere.

Get yourself a spray bottle and mix up some liquid dish detergent and water in it. Then just go along and check all the fittings on the system. Just spray a good amount of liquid on it and look for bubbles. It might help to do then when the compressor is running.

When you find the bubbles you found your leak.

Just as a FYI my brother in law has had some Firestone air bags on his truck and they have held air since they were installed a few years ago, but he didn't go with a compressor just one set pressure since he has a slide in camper on the truck full time.
 
#5 ·
I had something similar on my 2012 F250. Firestone bags with an Airlift compressor and it cycled frequently, we could not find a leak. I ran the power wire to one of my upfitter switches and about once a week I turned it on for a few minutes.

I had no issues with the bags and found switching it was the simplest solution.


First thing you might do is air up the bags like they should be and pull the fuse for a few days and see if they leak out. That's where I started.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Mustang, I see this is an old post, but I just saw it. I have the same setup as you: 2012 F350 6.7 with Airlift 5000 and on board compressor. I had the bags for a few years before I added the compressor (last year). Yes, it cycles infrequently; sometimes every 5 minutes or so, sometimes not for half an hour, sometimes 2-3 times in 5 minutes. I went over every connection with soap spray and found no leaks. I contacted Air Lift and they sent me a new manifold. I installed it and it made no difference. So, I soap sprayed again; no leaks. I noticed the cycling was more prominent when the 5th wheel was hooked up and have now deduced that the cycling is normal. When the remote is set at a specific psi, temperature fluctuations will play with pressure and the automatic system will try to maintain the set pressure. Sometimes, mine will kick on and add air, sometimes when I pull into a parking lot, I can hear it releasing air. Weight of the 5 also plays with pressure. Road movements, will compress and expand the bag, making the pressure monitor activate. Finally, to wrap this up, for my purposes, the cycling compressor is normal operation and has worked, for me, with no problems, for about a year. If you have found different solutions, I'd like to read about them.
 
#7 ·
2015 F350 Dually airlift same symptoms on and off every once and a while, at least I know its working to maintain the set pressure.
just bought another Airlift set up for the 2019
 
#9 ·
Are you going to install these yourself? If so, let me know how it goes. I may not even need them on this truck. I pulled my camper out for inspection yesterday, and took it for a short, but decent test up the road a bit. With the camper package (adding the extra leaf), with the camper on, the truck levels out perfect. It still bounces a bit, but nothing like my two previous trucks. It still needs a real world camping trip (coming soon), but for now, I don't think I will need them.

However, just in case...
 
#10 ·
My trailer has a tongue weight of 2500 lbs empty and 400 lbs full as it Tree chipper trailer combo, if i dont level the truck when is empty the front tires only last 15 to 20k and they round off and wear the edges down to the cords
 
#11 ·
To me a limit switch or pressure switch going bad/highly sensitive in my book. As above ..yes, air temp, barometric pressure, etc etc etc could be variables. As many stated while the "physical leak inspections" deem no leaks present, that leads me to a hardware issue tripping the system.
Not that it's the answer but I didn't see anyone address the hardware functionality is good to go.
 
#12 ·
The only hardware that I've replaced was the manifold. The explanation that I gave earlier makes sense to me, and except for being startled occasionally when it kicks on, LOL, I'm ok with it.
 
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#14 ·
I’m having the same issue. No leaks that I can find, and I pulled the whole system out and checked it. My problem started this winter. It was cold and the truck was parked in the driveway not even running and the compressor kicked on and wouldn’t shut off. I had to pull the fuse. I think the issue is in the compression itself.
 
#15 ·
Are you sure it’s wired correctly? It’s supposed to run to the fuse box under the hood and connected only to a fuse that’s on the accessory… meaning the key has to be at least in the run position for it to get voltage. I would break out a multimeter and check it. Even if the pump is bad, there should be no way for it to get power without the key being in run.
 
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