Auto-Level Rear Suspension Compressor Replacement

[vhmike73]

Has anyone who's had the compressor in the Auto Level Rear Suspension system fail made the swap of the compressor on their own, or had it done at an independent shop?

MY 2015 2500 Limited Crew is giving me the "Service Air Suspension System Immediately" error in the cluster, and AlfaOBD pulls 3 codes: C1556 is the code (but AlfaOBD doesn't show the -XX part of the code)- the description matches the C1556-96 "Component Internal Failure" issue. The other two errors are C15D9 "Low air mass" and C15A1 "Unable to obtain desired ride height", which given the compressor doesn't seem to be working are to be expected.

To rectify it, I've ordered a rebuilt compressor, and may also replace the air lines to the air springs as one line got damaged, and is repaired with the MOPAR line repair kit. (I should ping Benny to get a price from him, come to think of it) BUT...I have a feeling that none of the CJDR dealers around here (Albany, NY area) would even consider using 'my' part in the replacement process; the service manual states the process needs their computer to depressurize the system properly, then nitrogen is needed to repressurize the system and purge it. I have a call in to a local well-reviewed independent shop, but any threads I've seen on this error end up at a dealership that has seemingly minimal experience repairing it, and the fix taking a long time and a ton of cash. Moreover, a lot of the threads I CAN find are in reference to 5th gen trucks, and a lot are 'in warranty', so a dealer was the only option considered.

Any ideas?

 

[BossHogg]

The rear air leveling system on the HDs and the half-ton's four-corner air suspension system seem cloaked in mystery regarding how they work. There is certainly no shortage of rumors floating around about both systems and often both are confused with each other and morphed into the same system.

This is what I found out when my 3500 rear air leveling system failed. I can't remember the DTCs but I lost the compressor and the driver's side position sensor. After an exhaustive investigation that resulted in confusion, I took it to my dealer and paid the $1,800 for a new compressor, sensor, programming, and labor to get the system fixed. Sometimes the best option is the most painful.

 

[vhmike73]

The rear air leveling system on the HDs and the half-ton's four-corner air suspension system seem cloaked in mystery regarding how they work. There is certainly no shortage of rumors floating around about both systems and often both are confused with each other and morphed into the same system.

This is what I found out when my 3500 rear air leveling system failed. I can't remember the DTCs but I lost the compressor and the driver's side position sensor. After an exhaustive investigation that resulted in confusion, I took it to my dealer and paid the $1,800 for a new compressor, sensor, programming, and labor to get the system fixed. Sometimes the best option is the most painful.

Thanks for the response!

I KNOW my level-sensors are both good; I replaced them when I removed the front too-tall springs because the ones on the truck (original?) didn't seem like I would be able to adjust them due to corrosion. Following that swap, I had to have the dealer do some programming to reset the proper ride-height, but I don't recall if I got errors. But at least those shouldn't need to be bothered with. I do wonder if the air line I repaired is actually holding pressure without a leak- or if the other line (which looked abraded, but didn't seem to leak at all 2 years ago) finally decided to fail? I love the system when it's working right, but man- you aren't kidding that there's a lot of "FM" involved! (A buddy explained "FM" thusly: an old mechanic he worked with said the newer vehicles all work on "FM"- "F'n Magic"!)