The Service Suspension message is a bad air compressor, behind the LR wheel. A complete dumbass in GMT900 Chassis engineering decided on that location.

 

The not starting issue seems common, especially when the truck has been sitting on the dealer lot for a while. They had to put a new battery in the first '07 we bought, and had to jumpstart the second one when they exchanged them, and I got even more worried when I saw the "second battery" sticky thread at the top of this forum. I haven't had any trouble starting it since then, though I'm in Texas and don't have cold temps anymore. It is likely that you will need a new battery if they didn't already replace it, usually discharging that far lessens the life of the battery.

As for the Service Suspension System message, this is typically related to the suspension compressor itself. Either the compressor not coming on, or the solenoid operated valve that's supposed to release the air being stuck. Unless the rear struts were left disconnected, you should not be seeing this. Turn the ignition to the "RUN" position WITHOUT starting and listen for the tell-tale "HUMMM" of the suspension compressor (it is pretty loud). If you hear complete silence, the compressor is shot.

As for the Nav, low battery voltage can result in all kinds of unusual behavior from the electronics, as they are not designed to run with voltage that low. If the problem persists after the battery issue is sorted out, I would carefully spray some compressed air inside the DVD drive to loosen up any dirt that may be attached to the lens (do NOT use cleaning discs as they are not designed for slot load systems). If all else fails, your nav drive may be on the way out.

 

The not starting issue seems common, especially when the truck has been sitting on the dealer lot for a while. They had to put a new battery in the first '07 we bought, and had to jumpstart the second one when they exchanged them, and I got even more worried when I saw the "second battery" sticky thread at the top of this forum. I haven't had any trouble starting it since then, though I'm in Texas and don't have cold temps anymore. It is likely that you will need a new battery if they didn't already replace it, usually discharging that far lessens the life of the battery.

As for the Service Suspension System message, this is typically related to the suspension compressor itself. Either the compressor not coming on, or the solenoid operated valve that's supposed to release the air being stuck. Unless the rear struts were left disconnected, you should not be seeing this. Turn the ignition to the "RUN" position WITHOUT starting and listen for the tell-tale "HUMMM" of the suspension compressor (it is pretty loud). If you hear complete silence, the compressor is shot.
As for the Nav, low battery voltage can result in all kinds of unusual behavior from the electronics, as they are not designed to run with voltage that low. If the problem persists after the battery issue is sorted out, I would carefully spray some compressed air inside the DVD drive to loosen up any dirt that may be attached to the lens (do NOT use cleaning discs as they are not designed for slot load systems). If all else fails, your nav drive may be on the way out.

I couldnt hear anything until my gf got in the truck and turned in on and i sat by the rear wheels and then heard a buzz or hummm for about 1 second. Is that the noise im looking for? It wasnt all that loud. But it was something that sounded unique. WHat is the compressor? what is it used for? THe dealer told me they had to spend $1100 on the rear struts in order to certify the vehicle. With a repair in that price range is that a compressor/struts fix or is it one problem fixed and leaving another? I just wanna make sure this dealer fixes every problem within the 30 days grace period or i'll be on the hook after that.

Also, the low voltage sounds like itd be a likely reason for the problems with the nav, After the battery died, everything was reset on the nav, the clock, etc. The funny thing was, after the reset, the service suspension was gone for a little bit. But the next day it came back.

 

Low battery voltage can cause "service suspension system" and another suspension warning which I cannot remember right now. What happens is the reference voltage used by the XBCM goes out of range setting the DTC...Have the service department look at DTC history for the actual cause and if it is "out of range" it probably is a battery/charging/ground problem. Usually this is an intermittent problem, I actually had this happen to me and it was most aggravating. But changing the rear shocks provides additional area that could be suspect. The actual DTC is the clue to finding it because it may or may not be suspension related.

 

So I took the ext into the dealer and they switched up the battery, said the voltage was too low and the battery was just cooked. He also ensured me that they fixex the service susp. system. He said it was all taken care of and I wouldnt have a problem anymore. Low and behold, a couple hours later, the service susp. system comes on again. Are you kidding me. Any ideas guys? I wanna be able to tell the mechanic what it is so he can fix it and i can stop driving back and fourth to this dealer. Its embarassing going back and fourth to the service dept in a dealer 2 days after you buy a truck from them lol. feels like theyre all looking at me like im the sucker that bought a lemon lol

 

There is a suspension system fault, plain and simple. If you hear the compressor, the problem is somewhere else. If you don't hear the compressor, that's the problem. They can read the DTCs being thrown to figure out exactly what it is. My guess is they replaced the battery, didn't see the message afterward, and assumed that was it.

 

There is a suspension system fault, plain and simple. If you hear the compressor, the problem is somewhere else. If you don't hear the compressor, that's the problem. They can read the DTCs being thrown to figure out exactly what it is. My guess is they replaced the battery, didn't see the message afterward, and assumed that was it.

I was thinking that, because when i fired up the truck when i got it from the dealer, it was clean of messages, i noticed it a couple hours later, after turning the truck on and off a few times in between. So when he told me about a simple relearn for the computer, he was lying? or just telling me what i wanted to hear, without actually looking into the issue. With gas costing this much, im getting close to making a scene at the dealer next time i make the drive out there lol

As for the compressor maybe im hearing something else besides the compressor, This could be a dumb question, but is it possible my ext doesnt have this compressor/air suspension thing that esv's have? i hear a light buz, but I dont know what this thing does exactly so im kinda lost with it

 

Here, it sounds almost identical to the beginning of this video:

 

wow i definately dont have that noise, I cant hear anything when im in the cabin with door shut, and when im outside the truck, my ear is right at the rear tire and my gf turns the key, i hear a very quiet noise that sounds kinda the same as a hood antenna rising or something like that.

 

That's your fuel pump. Compressor's dead or not receiving power (maybe blown fuse, check manual).

 

The compressor can malfunction intermittently, mine does this about every other time I start it. I took it down and took it apart about a year ago...that fixed it for a few months but then it started doing the same thing. The whole thing was so rusty that one of the mounting bolts snapped off in the frame bracket (hence my comment about the person who selected that location, where it gets near-constant salt spray and road grime splashed on it from the rear wheel). I'm wondering if this problem is driven by corrosion. It'd be interesting to see if there are more compressor failures on trucks that live in places where road salt is used in winter....

 

thismakes sense, i havent heard that compressor, but after i dropped it off the dealer called my cell and told me he just turned the key and the compressor did its cycling fine. Im guessing it works itermittently. But the dealer told me the compressor wont alway work, it will only cycle if there is weight in the back, or if the truck is on a non level ground, where the truck suspension would have to be reset, something along those lines. either way, it sounds like a real pain in my ass already

 

got the word from the dealer, its one of the struts, $740 part, thank god the dealer is paying for it.

 

Is this hard to get to and difficult to change? My service suspension system is on and I don't hear the compressor running. I found the part for $129 so I'd like to just replace it. Anything special I need to know? Any special tools needed since it's a pressurized system or anything?

 

what part did u find for 130? as ar as i was told this strut had a computer encased into it, and you couldnt change one or the other. it had to be a full change. i dont know much about this stuff but 130 instead of 740 is quite the steal.

btw this fix has nothing to do with the compressor, my compressor comes on once in a while or if there is weight in the back it will come on at startup.

 

The compressor is $129.

 

Here's a video of my truck. You can hear the compressor coming on at the 0:51 mark:

 

yep thats the sound im getting. When is this compressor really supposed to come on, just random times or when there is an unbalanbce in the suspension? Mine doesnt always come on, bnut it does for sure when i have weight in the box and if after i drive fdor a while, turn off and on again it will too

 

it turns on when you start up to do a 'self test' to make sure that it is operating correctly... if it doesn't pass the 'self test' then (i think) it will throw a code and you'll get the 'service suspension' message

it should then only turn on again if you load the truck down to the point where it feels like it should pump up the rear to level the truck out

if it comes on again without and load then there's a leak

 

What if you only hear a "click" sound when the compressor tries to turn on? What would that be, a shot compressor or something electrical? Because I haven't got a "service suspension" message on my DIC.

 

hmmm... not sure... might be worth it to try and load down the back and see if it comes on (use at least 300 lbs)

if it doesn't come on with that weight on the rear then there's got to be a code stored (at least i would think so) even though there's no DIC message
so go to one of the parts stores where you can get your codes scanned for free (autozone, etc)
make sure you get the code from them and then thank them for their time (often the will try to just give you the code's definition, and sometimes it will be incorrect)
so make sure you get the actual code then come back and let us know if there were any codes and what they were

 

I don't ever recall seeing that message on my DIC, I would assume it would keep coming on until it was cleared? I was told that it could possibly be that one or two of my rear shocks have leaked and the compressor ran steadily until it finally died?!?!...Could this be true?

 

Yes it is. That was the case with mine anyway. I did not have a dic msg either.

Sent from Android.

 

it would be sitting low in the back if you had a leak and the compressor was dead

and because you had not seen a DIC message that's why i recommended you get the codes scanned/pulled to see if there are any
not all codes will command a DIC message to display

 

It doesn't sit too low but, Iv'e seen much higher riding lades, tahoes and yukons. I measured between the tires and wheel wells front and back. The front distance is around 5 inches and the rear is almost 7 inches. Is this low?

 

I recently got the "Service Suspension System" after I took mine in for an oil change...

Keep in mind, if your driving an ESV, it WILL sit lower then tahoe's, normal Escalades, etc... when it's working properly. I think this is just because of the body, frame, I think it's design...

In my case, self-test isn't kicking in... Fuse is good, etc... I hit the onstar button, they put me through to diagnostics division...

Dude at onstar looked at the diag codes, asked a few questions and said:
1) The compressor could be dead
2) The wiring could be pooched, he mentioned with Escalade's sometimes the wiring gets pushed in between something and causes this...

Got a call out to my dealership, will post results.

 

Just a followup,

Took to dealer thismorning, compressor was dead. Replaced.

In and out in 60 minutes

 

The rear wheels/tires of my escalade started to rub yesterday and I believe it is because my rear suspension is acting up. The compressor turns on, but the escalade seems to be sitting lower in the back and is a little rougher on the road. What could be the problem?

 

Merc,

I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing issues with your Escalade. How long has your rear suspension been giving you issues? Did you speak with your dealership once you started experiencing the issue with your suspension?


Thank you,

Elizabeth, Cadillac Customer Service

 

Elizabeth,
Thank you for your response. The issue with my rear suspension became obvious this past Saturday, July 2nd. I contacted the dealer that day, but their service department was closed. I took it to a Cadillac dealer here in Houston this morning. I am waiting to see what the diagnosis is. I hope they can help.

 

Merc,

Thank you for your update. I look forward to hearing what they have to say and if they can help you.

Thank you,

Elizabeth, Cadillac Customer Service

 

I had this, my compressor was cracked in half, replaced it. Now how to I reset the message I get on the info panel? It's still showing up intermittently (as it was before the repair).

Thanks

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I had this, my compressor was cracked in half, replaced it. Now how to I reset the message I get on the info panel? It's still showing up intermittently (as it was before the repair).

Thanks