Howard,

You're thinking along the same lines I am. The shop pulled the shocks today and Tim said they weren't great but weren't terrible either. We've ordered a new set and will install them next week.

Can the shocks really make all the difference in resistance for the system? Is there no other source of resistance? All the bushings have been changed and are tight. If it is the shocks that would be too easy!

New info on my T-L problem.

I test drove the car yesterday and we noticed something missing. The T-L system seems to be working just as it should electrically. It levels and turns on and turns off just as it should.

What's missing is any resistance whatsoever to hold the car at the level position. This lets the car constantly go unlevel while driving and the T-L system is constantly trying to level the car. However, because there's no resistance, the car will overshoot the level position.

The compensator motor turns off at the level postion but the body continues moving past level in the direction the T-L system was moving it. Then of course 7 seconds later the T-L system tries to level it again in the opposite direction and the car again over shoots level. Thus, I get a see-saw effect.

Tim at the shop took the electric motor off the compensator (an NOS unit) today and found he could turn the worm gear with his fingers. That's how little resistance there is in the system.

In the past I would push down on the rear of the car to activate the T-L system to demonstrate it. I always had to hold the rear down for the 7 seconds. If I let go it would pop back to the level position. Not so anymore. No if I push down and let go, it stays down until the T-L system kick in.

Anyone have any ideas? What normally provides the resistance in the T-L system to hold it at level?

No, we haven't verifiied that the link is tight or even still there. I'll check that tomorrow.

I have turned off the system while driving and it doesn't do any see-sawing or adjusting at all. I haven't tried turning it off in mid-see-saw but I'll try that tomorrow.

It also doesn't hold level if I turn off the T-L system. After a mile or two it settles down in the rear, even with the new bushings.

Howard,

We have looked at the wiring pretty closely. The limit switches were in bad shape which is why we replaced them. The control box is a new solid state unit which we just received from Packards International. The T-L system was doing the same thing with old original unit.

The car had a new front wiring harness installed about 8 years ago so most of the wiring is in good shape. The car also has the brake light switch replacement unit from PI which has been on the car for about 10 years.

I haven't tried to turn off the under dash switch while it's see-sawing on the interstate, but do turn off the unit when I'm cleaning or changing a tire in my driveway. The under dash switch seems to work fine.

Jed

I'll check with the shop tomorrow. The front bushings were changed a few years back when I had the front suspension re-built. No problems until recently.

OK, here's an update on my T-L problem. The shop changed the bushings as discussed earlier and the ride is improved but I'm still experiencing the see-sawing of the T-L system. Every couple of miles the system will go nose down to the limit and then nose up to the limit. After two or three gyrations it will finally level out, only to do it again in a couple of miles.

We've changed just about every part of the system (convertor, control box, bushings, limit switches) all to no avail. About the only things we haven't changed are the solenoids. Any chance they could be the problem? Could I have gotten a bad limit switch? Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks guys! And Randy the pictures help alot. I'm sure the guys at the shop can handle this project now. It seems pretty straight forward once you get into the details. Thanks!

Thanks Brian. I'll make sure those bearings are lubed before I order bushings. That would be a simple fix though so Murphy says they've been lubed.

Thanks everyone for the advice! You don't know how much I appreciate this forum.

My plan now is to replace the bushings in the rear suspension and the long torsion bar bushings midway up the frame. I'll also check the front suspension bushings to make sure they haven't deteriorated since they were replaced (less than 10K miles).

Hopefully I'll see a difference in the porpoising!