1978-79 Sevile owners

[hjlint]

I have a 1978 Seville Base. On bumpy uneven roads, the rear has a harsh,bumpy feel as thought the shock is weak or dead. Almost feels as though the rear is bottoming out. It is not hitting the bumper stops. Is this normal, has any Seville owners experienced this and if so, what was done to improve this? Standing height is OK and air shocks working.
Looking for help on this.

[TJ Hopland]

How old are the shocks?  Just because they hold air does not mean their shock action is what it should be.   Recently I have bought shocks for old car that started leaking oil after a year.  Guessing they were on the shelf a long time and the seals were a little on the dry side.

I would assume that car has some sort of rear sway bar?  Are its links and bushings alright?

[hjlint]

How old are the shocks?  Just because they hold air does not mean their shock action is what it should be.   Recently I have bought shocks for old car that started leaking oil after a year.  Guessing they were on the shelf a long time and the seals were a little on the dry side.

I would assume that car has some sort of rear sway bar?  Are its links and bushings alright?

Sway bar links new. Shocks are 5 years old with about 2,000 miles. I put on new ones because of this condition and the problem is the same. I will say that the shocks don't seem very strong. They are Monroe air shocks. Any one know of a better shock? I still feel they are bad.

[Gene Beaird]

The ride of a 76-79 Seville, while not as soft and 'wallowy' as other, larger Cadillacs, is still pretty soft.  My wife and I are used to vehicles with much stiffer suspensions, and I remember my wife laughing as we went over a bump in the road when we test drove the 79 Seville we now own.  The car went over the bump like a boat crossing a wake.  I've considered shocks with better damping capabilities, but haven't gotten that far yet. 

As others have said if the ride is harsh, I'd look at those shocks.  You might want to disconnect the shocks and try hand-bouncing the back of the car to make sure you don't have anything binding, or not.  If not, then you may want to try to replace those shocks. 

I believe another (former) Seville owner on this list used some shocks that had coil 'helper' springs on them (I think they were Monroe) and was quite pleased with the ride.  The load leveler pump on his Seville was inop, IIRC.  Do a search on Waldo DuToit's posts and see if he mentions anything. 

[hjlint]

I appreciate your information. I will test as you suggested. I did disconnect one rear shock and it doesn't seem to have the resistance as the fronts. The compressor does work but the air leaks out in less than 1/2 hour. Can't find a leak. I used soapy water and even did a smoke test, nothing. I'm about to replace the shocks again.
Hedley Lint

[waterzap]

Just replace them with socks with Springs.  Had them in my Seville.  Worked  great.  So many things can go wrong with this system,  just better to drive the car than have to worry about shocks

[waterzap]

You can probably still get them at Rock Auto.  If you intend to keep the air system you need to make sure the compressor, the lines,  the level unit and the shocks are in good condition.  With the spring shocks you don't have to worry about that at all. Unless you are building the car for show, the less things you have to go wrong,  the better

[hjlint]

I have a 1978 Seville Base. On bumpy uneven roads, the rear has a harsh,bumpy feel as thought the shock is weak or dead. Almost feels as though the rear is bottoming out. It is not hitting the bumper stops. Is this normal, has any Seville owners experienced this and if so, what was done to improve this? Standing height is OK and air shocks working.
Looking for help on this.

ected.
Hedley
I will take your advice and go with shocks with springs. Thank you all for responding. My next project is to try to get this NOISY fuel pump corr

[Gene Beaird]

A noisy external fuel pump is usually an indication that the internal lift pump has failed.  I believe certain replacement external pumps are also kind of noisy.  Some here have wrapped the external pump in some rubber to insulate and isolate the pump from the frame. 

Unless you know it's a recent replacement, I'd drop the tank and test the lift pump.

[TJ Hopland]

Didn't someone here recently replace both with a newer style in tank pump? 

[bcroe]

Didn't someone here recently replace both with a newer style in tank pump?

I looked at that, but so far the standard high pressure pump is a little too long to
fit where the low pressure in tank pump mounts.  Solutions?  Bruce Roe

[Gene Beaird]

Bruce, really?  Now that I look in my trusty FSM, indeed, they are small.  Since the internal pump only supplies fuel at 1 psi, I wonder if one could use an external FI pump and just let it suck through the in-tank unit, or would that be too much work?  I wonder if something for a Mazda RX7 GSL-SE would work:

http://www.mazdatrix.com/pictures/c-intake/84-85GSLSEPumpB.jpg

It's an external pump for a FI system that had no in-tank lift pump.  I know this example is kind of expensive, but it was the only external FI pump I could think of that didn't use an internal pump.  The 84 SVO has a similar setup, but many just replace the lift pump with an internal pump and bypass the external pump.  The size of the internal pump for the Seville is problematic. 

I went to a site that has Walbro fuel pumps.  They do show some in-line pumps, but the site kept seizing up my laptop, I killed the session. 

[bcroe]

The reason to use the single in tank pump, is to lose the noise.  And it would
nice to replace all that stuff mounted in the frame, with a simple in line filter. 
Probably use less power too.  Bruce Roe