1978 Eldorado load leveller repair?

[xcaret]

My newly aquired 1978 eldorado has a non working load leveller that is suposed to tell the air compressor when to inflate the rear shocks. The compressor works fine but the leveller doesnt. has anyone repaired these ? Or know where to get one.Or what besides 1978 eldo may fit. the GM number says 78 eldo only.
Thanks , Neil

[TJ Hopland]

I have been tempted to crack one open but on the last car I had there were other leaks and issues with the system so I just ended up hooking up the manual fill and that has worked so well I just have forgot about getting the auto system working.

[R Schroeder]

You didn't say if the system held air pressure or not. I would start by putting about 25 pounds of air pressure in the unit and measure the fender height. Check it the next morning to see if it held.
Mine would bleed down over night, and I found that the rear shocks were leaking. I replaced those and the system held.
Then you can go through the wiring check at the rear plug. There is a procedure in the repair manual for checking if the wires are bad to the rear. If those check out , then the switch is bad.
The switch has a timer in it, so moving the arm up and down real fast will not be a good way to check it. It takes about 20 seconds for the timer to run out before the switch is made. These switches are impossible to find.
Third the arm is adjustable on the rear switch. It could be out of adjustment.
There is also a relay up front that tells the compressor to come on. If that is bad then it wont come on. Relay comes on when rear switch goes to ground, after the time out.
The air release just has a ground on it to open the system to lower the car, so if that don't work you just have a bad ground wire.
The best thing I can tell you is to get the repair manuals for all of the testing. It is quite involved.
Or ,do like TJ said, and just run a fill port someplace to fill shocks.
Roy

Any questions you can e-mail me. Email is in my profile.

[xcaret]

Thanks guys , The car has new shocks so instead of all the fuss I just installed the valve you fill yourself.  Works good now ..
Neil

[Gene Beaird]

I'll start off by saying I haven't looked at all, but where do you find Cadillac-load-leveler-compatible shocks? 

I have a 79 Seville, and although I haven't tested it yet, it seems to always have that 'full load' look.  I did measure the wheel arch height with the car sitting in the garage, but havn't had a chance to do the testing.  The shocks look OEM.

[xcaret]

my 78 eldo is a totally different car . My shocks are monroe ,they came in a package still new when I bought the car . The previous owner left them there.  Just call around to the parts jobbers , Someone must be masking them.
Neil

[R Schroeder]

Gene,
I bought my load level shocks from Amazon.com. They also sell an adapter to adapt the air line to the modern shocks of today. I believe mine were Gabriel shocks. Made for the car. I'm sure that they sell them for yours too.
Adapter should fit all of them.
Roy

[Gene Beaird]

Okay, so as I thought, they're basically air shocks with a compressor attached.  Good to know.  I'm still on the fence on replacing them with replacement air shocks, or getting something with a little more bounce and rebound resistence.  Thank you.

[R Schroeder]

Gene if you mean you want to control the float on your ride , the air shocks normally run with 5 pounds of air in them, until there is a load in the back. Compressor then would kick in.  They give you a nice firm ride. After replacing my rears , I bought some Gabriel Ultra shocks for the front. The car had a float to it in the front, while the back was more controlled.
Makes a big difference on handling.
If your talking about shocks with a helper spring , thats a different ball game.
Roy

[Joe Gildea #3736]

Hi -
The leveling wasn't working on my 76 Fleetwood.  Upon checking I found that the rear axle connecion to the leveling arm was broken.  Double check yours. - Joe

[Gene Beaird]

Gene if you mean you want to control the float on your ride , the air shocks normally run with 5 pounds of air in them, until there is a load in the back. Compressor then would kick in.  They give you a nice firm ride. After replacing my rears , I bought some Gabriel Ultra shocks for the front. The car had a float to it in the front, while the back was more controlled.
Makes a big difference on handling.
If your talking about shocks with a helper spring , thats a different ball game.
Roy

Roy,  no, I'm thinking of something more like Koni Reds all the way around.  I find the wallowy ride to be a little disconcerting. I like more control.  We'll see how things go with more mileage under my belt with it. I'm installing larger sway bars, that may help considerably.  We'll see. 

I was wondering what my options were regarding rear shocks, in case; 1. the compressor still works, and, 2. I decide to keep that feature.