I can’t get my Autoride compressor to kick on.

I noticed a while back my shock air bags were bad and the compressor was locked up. I replaced the compressor, the shocks and the relay under the hood hanging off a harness under the master cylinder. I’m not getting any lights on my dash or anything, what else am I missing? The shocks are new BWI 2348782 original equipment, the relay is ACdelco and the compressor is a Dorman.

Well, turns out there are two fuses under the hood for the suspension. One is fuse number 2 that I had already checked. Fuse number 58 was blown. I replaced that and all is good now.

Thanks for sharing. I messed with mine a while back and never got it to come on. I only replaced one fuse, but I don't recall which one it was. I'll check #2 and #58.

This is the type of fuse that was blown. https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Strai...TF8&qid=1485177570&sr=1-49&keywords=car+fuses

What I was happy with, was I got new original equipment shocks on amazon, for a better price than the Arnott shocks that they call rebuilt, but they only replace the air bags. Then I sold my old shocks to Arnott for $25 a piece. That got the shocks down to about $180 a piece shipped.

Thanks for narrowing that down. I don't believe I checked out anything like that when I was messing with it.

If I can get my compressor working, I'm not so sure I want to get OEM replacement shocks after I lower it. I'll use shock extenders and adjust the sensor arms so that it won't always try to air up to "unlower" it. I'm thinking of getting whatever regular-but-good shocks of the appropriate length for the amount of drop I end up with, but that ride as good or better. Right now the shocks are stiff, which seems to be how these magnetic shocks fail which is opposite of how normal shocks get when they're worn/blown. As for the compressor, I wanna see if I can use it to fill AirLift bags instead of the factory shock bags. I don't see why not.

Did yours ride softer after replacing the shocks?

I didn’t notice much difference in the ride, my dampers didn’t fail, just the airbags were the parts that failed. Then, I’m sure the compressor failed after that, trying to keep it pressurized, then the fuse on a locked up motor. Whatever shocks you go with, I would just steer clear of the Arnott “rebuilt” shocks. They put the used shock on a dyno and test them, the ones that fail they discard. The ones that pass, they paint and put new airbags on them, then call them rebuilt. No rebuilding of the actual dampener happens. I don't see why that compressor wouldn't run airbags either, other than larger volume of air. I think the compressor is on a timer, so it may not air them all the way up the first time before cutting off.

Yeah, after reading many reports of their not rebuilt "rebuilt" shocks, I decided against them. Maybe I'm being too picky, but I would think that my Tahoe shouldn't ride so similar to my S10 that had the lowered sport suspension. It handled like a go kart, but also sometimes felt like it was a go kart on the highway. I unplugged all four of my shocks one day and it rode so much better, like how I think it should. I didn't feel every crack and irregularity in the road. The problem was that it felt very top-heavy and had bad body roll. So, maybe they haven't "failed" in the sense that regular shocks do. They just seem to be overly stiff as if they've defaulted to their firmest state.

I'm not in a bind to do anything about it right this second. But I will go out to the shop today and see if I can make my compressor run. Say I find both fuses blown and replace them. What would I do to make the compressor kick on? Load down the back an inch or two then turn the key on?

#2 was good, #58 is blown. #58 was also a 30A when the schematic calls for a 40A. I turned the key on and shorted the terminals with a piece of .030 wire from my MIG welder. It sparked and glowed red as soon as I touched it and the compressor did not kick on or make any sound as if it were trying to. I'd say it's locked up.

From what I've read, every time you start the car, the compressor should go into a test mode. Air up, then vent. I would say your compressor is locked up. Pull the compressor and put it on a bench, connect the heavy red and black wires to battery on the plug, see if it kicks on. You can trace the wires back to the compressor pretty easy to check your self.

Also, these should be Bi-state shocks (not the magnaride), and I think the only time the valve inside kicks on is in tow mode (making a stiffer ride).

That's cool about the test mode. That really helps cuz I didn't wanna have to hitch up a heavy trailer or anything to squat it just to test. I'll have to investigate the Bi-state shock thing. All I know is it was a night and day difference with them unplugged. I didn't get any suspension error messages or anything the ~5 mins or so they were unplugged. I'm wondering if the system was turned off at a dealer before I bought it. Someone had definitely messed with it since the fuse wasn't original.