Self levelling suspension warning light

[teetoo]

Hi

The SLS warning light came on the other night whilst driving down a hill and has come on a few times since (again seems to be whilst driving on a hill usually after about 15 miles). If I turn the car off and on again the light resets itself but will come on again at some point.

I've checked the SLS switch in the boot (turned it off and on) - the warning light comes on if switched off and then disappears once back on which is good.

I've heard the compressor working since the light problem started but don't know if it's working all the time. I've tried adding a bit of weight to the back of the car - sometimes you can hear the compressor kick in.

I spoke to the local Ford garage who have always been pretty helpful but they said as they hadn't worked SLS of an explorer before and so suggested I call around to see if any other Ford garages have fixed this problem - they said it might get a bit pricey if they have to investigate the problem.

So, I thought I'd see if anyone has run into this problem before, or does anyone have any suggestions on how I might track down the problem.

Thanks,
Shariff

 

[SB98UKexplorer]

i think i had a similer problem with my 96 one, i pulled the ladder off the axel then push it in and out to loosen it up, it probably cleaned up the contact inside the tube, seem to be allright after that, espacilly carrying the fridge and oven in it.

 

[kevin p]

My light sometimes comes on but only whilst towing. I know the compressor has jacked the back end up because I can hear it running when I open the tailgate.
There dosen't seem to be any pattern to it doing it and most times the light dosen't come on at all. Very random and annoying.

 

[Terry876]

Hi
My light would come on after filling the tank of petrol and driving approx 10 miles after reading about the workings of the suspension i crawled under and worked everything loose and WD 40 it, now my light comes on after about 15 miles, an improvement, waiting while we have a dry weekend so i can do it all again.

 

[Terry876]

Hi, found a dry hour dropped out the spare tyre and checked all the suspension, is the compressor on rubber mounts? Because mine is fixed but moves up and down on like some rubber bushes, took off the ladder connector and greased the arm and all pivot points. Now after a run my compressor runs on closing the door and stops after a few seconds where before it would cycle on and off for 15 minutes or more, have not tried it with a full tank of juice and 30 minutes down motorway, hopefully this may have cured it LOL.

 

[BIGHVM]

Yeah That ladder sticks if its not lubed a little..I do mine in summer with anti seize,it was bad when Ifirst got it_I had to dremmel it out to get rid of the rust around the ball and socket ends...... try that when its dry and slap some anti seize in and work those joints to loosen it all...Good luck!

 

[teetoo]

My SLS has decided to work again. I had a look underneath and the ball joint seemed to be fine and have plenty of movement but lubed it up a bit anyway. Didn't seem to make any difference as the light still came on after 20 mins of driving. Then, after a day or two the light didn't come on until 60 mins and now it's stopped all together - I did 6 hrs of driving on Friday and the warning light hasn't appeared and the compressor is working much more frequently now.

I can only assume all the salt and grit on the roads the other week had ceased it up a bit.

cheers,
Shariff