I found the problem. It was the air ride control module. I had thought
this was the case for some time and I was able to find a compatible
unit on ebay. The system had been acting very flaky before it went
dead completely and at no point did the message center signal "Check
Air Ride" as if the computer though everything was peachy. I should
have mentioned that the car is located away from my main residence
at a condo. I haven't been able to get there for about a year and the
car had sunk down quite a bit over that year. I think this is probably a
normal leak rate for over a year. I found a website that has a lot of
information on the electrical part of the air ride system.
"http://www.markviii.org/LOD2/airsuspension2.htm" Even though I
was pretty sure that the air ride computer was the problem, I was
concerned that some other electrical issue may have knocked it out,
so with the old module out, I did several tests. First I used a
multimeter at the plugs to confirm that the module had good power and
ground, then to verify that all the solenoids and relays worked I simply
used jumpers to the appropriate pins to fire the compressor and each
of the four air bag solenoids. Doing this I was able to raise the car
manually, one wheel at a time and get it at least drivable in case the
module was not actually the problem. After doing my tests I plugged
the new module in and tried it. To my relief the air ride system
immediately activated and raised the car a bit more and re-leveled it. I
now plan to replace the noisy air compressor and dryer assembly and
I'm hoping that this will be the end of problems for awhile. Thanks to
Ronc258 for responding.
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