firm ride light blinking...making noise

HappyHourHero

Registered User
ok, my firm ride light has been blinking for a few weeks now, only when its in auto mode, in firm ride mode it just stays on as normal. recently i have been hearing a loud clicking noise at start up and every now and then when i am driving. i just figured out today that its from the ride control. when i turn it to firm its fine but when i turn it back thats when the clicking noise happens (it sound like an electric antenna going up or down) and it seems it get louder every time or maybe just more annoying. is this just a sensor? or something that needs attention?
thanks
 
I'll jump in here and maybe someone will elaborate further. From what little I have learned about the ARC system so far, I am guessing it may be one or more of your actuators. When your firm light blinks, does it blink a number of times then pause then blink again? the number of blinks tells you which sensor may be bad. My personal suggestion would be to remove all four of the actuators from the tops of the shocks and then one by one replace them until you get the blinking light again. This will help you find a potentially bad actuator. Just my thoughts anyway.

Good luck to you.
 
I have noticed this as well on my SC. it blinks once & then there is a pause and then it blinks again, at least this is what mine is doing.

Will reading the codes pin-point which one of the actuators may be the bad one, i.e. the left front?

I have approx. 171,xxx miles on the car and this is the first time I have seen this.

Jeff Bratton
 
Don't go dropping good $ into actuators.

Most of the time, from what most owners have experienced, the problem is with binding in the ARC shock. There is a flat headed pin inside the tip of the shock. The actuator twists that pin about 30 degrees clockwise whenever you go into firm mode. Firm mode is chosen either by moving the switch from auto to firm, or whenever the ARC computer senses brake pressure, speed, or sufficient steering change.

When you hear the clickety-clickety noise from the trunk, that is the ARC computer "jiggling" the actuators back and forth a few times because one of them said that it didn't get to where it was supposed to be. [Technial term is position feedback]

The number of flashes (in auto mode) tells you which shock to look at. 1 and 2 are the rear and I don't know which is which, 3 and 4 are the front. Which it is isn't really significant because you can easily determine it. Unhook the suspected actuator from the top of the shock one at a time until you find the one which causes the flashing to stop. Leave it plugged in though. To do this for the front shocks, you pull the plastic cover off, push the 2 plastic tabs towards the center and pull up. For the rear, pull the trunk carpet back and same thing. Then turn the key on and try the switch.

When you find the problem shock, squirt a few drops of oil in the tip and twist the pin back and forth a few times with needle nose pliers. Put the actuator back on and see if the problem is fixed.

If that doesn't fix it, you may need to replace the shock or just ignore it. This doesn't rule out other problems such as the relays or even the actuator, but this is fairly common. :)
 
I copied this from a previous post.


1 blinky - Driver side rear
2 blinky - Passenger side rear
3 blinky - Passenger side front
4 blinky - Driver side front

Not only check the actuator but use a needle nose pliers to try and turn the pin on the top of the shock. It should turn smoothly with minimal effort. If it's stiff, get some WD/40 or penetrating oil down in there and try to Loosen it up.


__________________
 
update...

i took off the actuator today (front drivers) when i pulled it off the light stopped blinking and there was no extra clicking noises going from firm to auto. i used pliers to move that pin and it seemed very easy to move, i was going to oil it anyway but didn't have any on hand. so i guess the problem is the actuator itself, right? thanks for all your help.

-chris
 
Mine blinks 3 times so i took off the passenger front and started the car and put it in auto and it blinks 4 times now. What could be the problem?
 
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