As per another post, I replaced my air suspension with inexpensive coil springs as my bags were leaky and the compressor wasn't pumping things up anymore plus the compressor was very noisy lately. So here's a report of what I found after taking my compressor apart.
The first picture shows the only serviceable part of the compressor. It's called the check valve service kit. As you can see I had to grind off the Torx screw heads. This type of head should never have been invented along with the Philips head, totally useless when things are corroded. Anyways, the gasket was virtually gone and salt had gotten inside. I would suggest if your compressor still works that it wouldn't be a bad idea to spend the money and at least get the new gasket on there, especially if you drive on salty roads and as long as you can get the screws out in one piece. I don't know what damage the salt did in there but it can't be good. Here is a link on how to replace the kit and the parts you get: http://www.justanswer.com/chevy/1jyix-envoy-senor-nothing-axle-overload.html
The second picture shows what my old parts of the kit looks like. You don't get much for $32.
The third picture is what the inside guts of the piston area looks like. I had to drill the rivets out to get this apart. Now if you can see in the rectangle hole is the piston, piston connecting rod connected to the crankshaft and the crankshaft connected to the compressor motor. There is some sort of sleeve between the connecting rod and the crankshaft that I guess holds the connecting rod in the proper aligned position while it pumps up and down. My sleeve, which you can't see in the photo, is cracked and loose which allows the connecting rod to travel left to right and also has some play in it up and down. This would be why my compressor got noisy, like a rattling sound. This whole area was full of fine metal and plastic debris. This may still pump but the misalignment may have caused a slight gap between the piston and wall causing a leak.
The fourth picture just shows the opposite side of the piston area where all the electrical is located.
I was going to take the compressor pump off but again it has the Torx screw heads and they won't budge so I didn't bother grinding them off. I don't think there's much to see there anyway but a person would have to remove it to get the piston out.
I hope you now understand a little more as to why the compressors fail. Thanks for looking.
The first picture shows the only serviceable part of the compressor. It's called the check valve service kit. As you can see I had to grind off the Torx screw heads. This type of head should never have been invented along with the Philips head, totally useless when things are corroded. Anyways, the gasket was virtually gone and salt had gotten inside. I would suggest if your compressor still works that it wouldn't be a bad idea to spend the money and at least get the new gasket on there, especially if you drive on salty roads and as long as you can get the screws out in one piece. I don't know what damage the salt did in there but it can't be good. Here is a link on how to replace the kit and the parts you get: http://www.justanswer.com/chevy/1jyix-envoy-senor-nothing-axle-overload.html
The second picture shows what my old parts of the kit looks like. You don't get much for $32.
The third picture is what the inside guts of the piston area looks like. I had to drill the rivets out to get this apart. Now if you can see in the rectangle hole is the piston, piston connecting rod connected to the crankshaft and the crankshaft connected to the compressor motor. There is some sort of sleeve between the connecting rod and the crankshaft that I guess holds the connecting rod in the proper aligned position while it pumps up and down. My sleeve, which you can't see in the photo, is cracked and loose which allows the connecting rod to travel left to right and also has some play in it up and down. This would be why my compressor got noisy, like a rattling sound. This whole area was full of fine metal and plastic debris. This may still pump but the misalignment may have caused a slight gap between the piston and wall causing a leak.
The fourth picture just shows the opposite side of the piston area where all the electrical is located.
I was going to take the compressor pump off but again it has the Torx screw heads and they won't budge so I didn't bother grinding them off. I don't think there's much to see there anyway but a person would have to remove it to get the piston out.
I hope you now understand a little more as to why the compressors fail. Thanks for looking.
