Electronic Ride

Ok i did what the forum notes told me to and i got a code of 1 flash every ten sec, (of course when i switched back to firm it flashed 2) either way bad LH (or RH) activater circuit. Now What? no one in town here is sure they can work on it due to lack of equipment for working on a vehicle this old hmmm. Suggestions and comments welcome!

Bye the way i jumped the terminal connector underneath the ash tray to get the codes just in case anyones curious.

I found that the actuators get stuck internally. The actuator is a small reversible motor. When the programmed ride control calls for firm or soft settings voltage is applied to spin a rotor about 90 degrees. This happens so quickly they put little rubber bumpers inside the actuators to stop the rotor movement and absorb the shock of it turning. The little rubber bumpers turn to goo inside and the rotor gets stuck at the firm or soft setting.

You have to remver the actuator from the top of the shock by squeezing the white plastic retainer. Once off and disconnected carefully pry up the two metal tabs on the wire retaining clip and remove the clip. Next, pry up the tabs holding the case of the actuator together and separate the case.

Inside you will find the rotor, a wire wound disk. Remove this and clean the black goo off the rotor and inside the case uner the magnets. Throughly clean the contacts on the underside of the rotor and the semi circular contact in the case. These may be burned at one end or the other, so get that all off.

The two dissolved rubber bumpers have to be replaced with firm rubber 5/16 inch long. I cut pieces of vacuum hose that length, and cutting that piece into thirds along the length. The whole idea is to get the proper length bumper in place. When you take the actuator apart, the problem and the solution will be more obvious than i can describe.

Hope this helps.

GREAT answer, DonH. Haven't heard of anyone else taking the fix to that level. Another DIY triumph over the dealership mechanics (as if that's really hard.)

Dan, Pete, Nate.... how about taking Don H's answer and putting it in the FAQ? I never knew you could fix those activators!!!

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Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 20 psi, forced air intercooler, water injection, bypass valve, Ranger roller cam, subframes, etc., etc.. // 86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP nitrous, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.... // 91 Escort: Bone stock winter car // 00 Windstar (wifes vehicle)

Great writeup Don. Hope you don't mind if we add it to the FAQs. Do you have any pictures? If somebody does this, yould you take some pictures and send them to Nate so we can add them to the FAQ.

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NATO Member. it's not a vice, it's an obsession
"The nice thing about each new day is nobody ever used it before" Barnaby Jones
88 TC X 2, 86 SVO, mods list at
http://www.turbotbird.com/showroom/pd_88tc.htm

It's good to see another MA resident on the boards.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures. I forgot to mention that the black goo sticks on everything and won't wash off. WD-40 is a good choice for a solvent for it and Q Tips for getting it out.

Vacuum hose is a really useful item. I've used it to repair non functioning headlight door motors on Pontiac F bodies, but thats another forum.

I thank you for your response and have printed it to give to the person that will replace all my shocks at the ford dealer this month, hes a good mechanic and since hes at a loss for answers himself am sure would do this part of the job with no problems. Thank you again.

Yes, they come apart quite easily. i've had all 4 of mine apart about 5 years ago on one of the TCs. Here's a picture of the inside.

Click on the picture to view the original (big) size.

<a href="http://tbirdheritage.home.mchsi.com/misc/prcact.jpg">[Image: smallact.jpg]</a>

JT


[This message has been edited by JT (edited 08-29-2002).]