Rear shock air issues

[infinityisfive]

Hi all, car is new to me, working thru the stuff. Deferred maintenance and cosmetic things.

I pulled the car into the garage the other day and heard air hissing from the drivers rear wheel well. I'm guessing the shock air line.

Also, I can hear the air compressor running from time to time in the back of the car. It does it about once every time I drive the car to the store.

The car has 80k miles, shocks are original, and telling from the ride quality, need to be replaced.

How does the air ride on these cars work? Is there a sensor? Does it adjust by weight in the rear?

The car is empty, nothing in the trunk. Just looking to see if I need to replace only the shocks or other stuff as well. Or really, where should I start when troubleshooting the air ride?

Thanks,
Brian

[CMNTMXR57]

It uses a ride height sensor in the rear. Basically a load level switch mechanism like this;



It will then trigger a small air compressor to pump them up. There is also a schrader valve to manually pump the shocks (with say your shop air compressor), as well as a button next to it to manually cycle the onboard compressor, in the trunk by the latch mechanism.

It may cycle every drive after sitting for awhile, especially if one of the lines is dry rotted/damaged/etc. Mine did, especially after sitting for a longer period of time.

[infinityisfive]

^ Thanks, I bought a pair of KYB shocks and will put them in this weekend and see what I see