Anyone else get owned by the A.A.S. ?
 

First off, mine actually does still work decently. Problem is, it's screwing me over for other things I'm doing to the car. You can't use the front end lowering mounts from MT for whatever reason(this would or maybe will be as far as I drop the entire car). Then, they are a PITA for messing with a front strut bar with the stupid plugs and crap that don't want to let go of the plastic top caps so you have to squeeze them through the strut bar ends. Now I find that the new rear tower bar won't fit because it smacks right into the little AAS mount with the end brackets it uses. :wtf1: Apparently I'll have to fab up a new mount for the AAS actuators.
Anyone else having trouble with their slightly over engineered 2nd gen lately? :doh:
Ok, done complaining for the time being.

bump for this i want to know i just got a 86 gxl and will prob come across the same issues

AAS sucks ass. Even when it "works properly" it doesnt do much. I strongly advise all ASS (I mean AAS) owners who desire a decent amount of performance from their car to go with a regular suspension setup like everyone else.

Yeah, my AAS really started to piss me off, so I sold my GXL and bought a Sport. Now I have the "sport tuned" suspension and I'm 100x happier.

You should convert it.

if you relaly want to be happy w/ ur handling performance, you'd want to go w/ some aftermarket stuff ;)

Yeah, just remove the "stock system" and go with an aftermarket company. When they say "cant be used with AAS that means you just have to have aftermarket shocks installed.

-Markus

"Like my tokico blues!!!! and Eibach 1" lowerd. mmmm"

how hard is it to remove the AAS is it bout the same as swapping out regular stock components for aftermarket ones?

AAS is no biggie. Hell, set it the way you want it (sport), remove the actuators from the tops of the shocks, and throw in trash. Done.

It's kinda neat when the car was new, but on 100,000+ mile cars with blown shocks, there's no sense in keeping it. Pitch it, get good aftermarket shocks, and you're done.

Dale

What is AAS for. I have it on my GXL it seem to works(Can not tell the different between normal and sport)

you can make the shocks much tigher than the 'sport' settings. pop the cap, and use needle nose pliars and turn them the same direction that going from normal to sport is.

is it sturdy enough to not break easyly?

Didn't think anyone would reply to this thread. Nifty :cool: Anyway, derek1987, if you don't notice a difference between normal and sport settings, it doesn't work. I plan to change to adjustables when mine go poop, probably illuminas I found for $387 shipped. This however, is not a current project and shall be saved till next year at the earliest(barring the poop part). I just got some grinding bits for my drill to take some material off the actuator bracket which I hope will be strong enough to cut without dulling immediately. This is my current project, but it's getting put on hold since I developed a coolant leak since last night. I'm hoping it's just a gasket but looks like it might be from the weep hole :mad: .


But really, honestly you know what I think? My car is alive, and it knows when I'm going to upgrade parts, so it decides to break somewhere, something and cost twice as much as I had planned on spending to upgrade in the first place. AAARRGGHH. This is probably the 3rd or fourth time its done that too.:devil: <- he's in my car!

if you ever want an aas type of suspension i think tein has coilovers that can be electronically controled from a dash mounted controller. now im sure the tein suspension works great but its close to 2000 bucks for the whole setup i think.

something else here---if any of you decide to just replace with stock shocks and struts, you will pay almost the same amount of money for ONE strut for AAS than you would for ALL FOUR without it. Suspension is one of my upcoming projects and I have been looking around trying to weigh options. I found that I could order all four from Autozone for arould $200(65 each for fronts, 37 each for rears), but these are only stock and not performance parts. Just one of the rears for the AAS was over 200.....just some info for anyone who can use it. Think I will be dropping mine a little but not sure which brand would be the best for the money

Is it impossible to rebuild the AAS parts?

If I have AAS, can I just upgrade to coilovers and forget about the whole system? what do I have to remove? Do I have to swap out any other parts (besides the obvious)?

The best thing about the AAS system? The plugs for the strut tops are a great source of ignition switched 12V power in the engine bay... Other than that? Ditch the system.

Impossible--probably not.


worth doing?? nope......

the AAS system was a novelty at best when it was new. It never really made that much of a difference in the car's handling. You would get better handling by simply removing the AAS components and replacing with aftermarket shocks. There are the modules on each strut tower, and the AAS computer box is at the back of the car where your spare tire goes.

From what I understand, you could just disconnect and remove the modules at each strut tower, and then you could use the "standard" struts. They mount the same way. The better way would be to remove all the wiring and the computer too, but if you are looking for the quick way, you can leave that stuff in.

Most people on this forum have not driven an Rx-7 with good working A.A.S. A strut with little to no damping left will not see any change due to switching the valving. Therefore eveyone says their A.A.S. doesn't do anything. However when it was in good condition it did.

Is A.A.S expensive to repair/replace...Yes. Does it weigh more...Yes. Will it still be working after 10-20 years....Not if it wasn't replaced. Did it work when new....Yes.

Basically it is getting too expensive to maintain. Mine still works but I replaced the rear struts with OEM new ones 4-5 years ago. The fronts are now starting to go flat and the costs of replacements have SKY ROCKETED over the last 4-5 years.

Automatically adjustable damping is nice but just not practical to maintain.

Oh, When my front struts were good on the SOFTEST setting I could barely get the front of the car to move up and down at all by putting my full weight on it.

anyone know which direction to turn them to for harder/softer. Also, how would you go about getting them all set approx. the same. I've messed with mine some since, gee shock, it's broken.

Yes, when it worked it was great. (not on mine, by brother had a working system)

yes....but all it did was thread the shaft down for the sport setting.....all you hafta do is thread it yourself when installing your shocks. Besides, even the cars without AAS handle better than most(so long as the maintenance is done), so all you need to do is decide if you want/need stiffer handling or not. I am sure it made a difference, but it can't be that much of one.....you wouldnt be able to switch from the ride of a race car to that of a Lincoln with the push of a button. Like you said, on the softest setting they were still pretty hard, so what exactly would be the point of keeping the AAS? Just go with some good coilovers and you will be fine. Besides, no one today buys a FC for it's soft, comfortable ride, and I doubt that anyone did that when they were new either

haha,bringing this back...sorry guys.was removing the aas hard?i wanna rip this crap out.

Unbolt ass equipped struts and bolt non ass struts and mounts in.

i want to take out all traces off ass tho..that part will prob be easy,but tracking down the wiring to the switches and such

No, you don't want to do that.
Every FC has the wiring for the system, you can just unplug yours and have dangling connectors like the rest of us.
Otherwise, prepare to remove the entire chassis harness because the switch is in the center console, the computer is in the spare tire well and control wires go to all four corners of the car.
Removing "all traces" would be stupidly extensive.

ok.thanks for the input.i figured it would be pretty extensive,but i figured if i was gonna tear into my interior,i may as well take all of it out..if theres no point tho,ill just let it dangle.thanks clokker and john

Trying to extract all of the wiring for the AAS system would mean disassembling the entire driver's side of the interior as nearly everything runs through Connector FR-01 except the rear actuators' signals. The switch itself is R-06, which runs through FR-01 as well. Those are S4 connector names, but would most likely be the same for S5.

The quick & dirty way would be to de-pin the front actuators at FR-01 (on the Front Harness side) and the rear ones at R-07 (AAS CPU Connector). Might come in handy to leave the power wires in place for other ignition-switched items. They are Black/Red.

Front actuators signal wires:
White/Red
White/Blue
White/Black

Rear actuator signal wires:
Yellow/Red
Yellow/Green
Yellow/Blue

ok,sick.im eventually gonna take out all of my interior,this is when ill remove it all.thanks for all this info.it will be alot of help soon!!

All that "extra" wiring can be very handy.
I used the AAS harness and switch as a manual override to the efan's low speed relay. Should the fan trigger fail, I can use the console mounted switch to activate the fan.
Which I thought was pretty fuckin clever.

dude,that is genius!i was just askin akagis about his efan and if it effectively cools the car like the stock shrouds...i hate the shroud setup,and if the efan works great,im gonna go with it.so i may keep that wiring in and do what you have done

Just like Clokkar, my fan setup will have a manual override but not using the stock AAS switches as I'm running a Taurus Fan. Will have to build a custom switch panel to fit the location but that should be cake to do using the AAS switches as a template. That panel will house the Sequential/Non-Sequential Turbo switch, Low and High-speed fan overrides and still have space for one more switch.

Manual override switches should be wired parallel to the thermoswitch it is supposed to override. Mine are on the ground side of the circuit

The 2-speed Taurus fan is downright EVIL in how much air it can move. On the stock radiator, the fan's shroud fits pretty well and covers almost all of the core area. My car has a large gap at the top thanks to the 26x19 Jegs double pass radiator. Easy fix with some sheet metal though.

i figure my first REAL post (#11) should be a noob one :D
my ride seems to be amazing with the aas. And i know all the actuators work.. but the look of the car is in complete off-road status.(beat up body doesnt help)... I think i might just cut the springs till the 1st.... not use to this soft of a ride.

just wanted to see how bad/different it is removing than the stock, but from what yall have said seems pretty normal.

Even cars without AAS still have the wiring in it.
take the actuators out,take the switch out and live with a pound of wiring left on the car.You don't have to remove the shocks.
Unless you plan to switch them.

That is pretty clever. I considered using the AAS console switch for my secondary headlights for my custom headlight set-up on my FC2000 bumper. Instead I removed the cruise control arm that wasn't being used, and installed a small switch there. Looks pretty clean. I'm wondering what to use the old AAS console switch for now... I plan to go e-fan... I'll consider this. Thanks clokker.

Just buy new struts and springs. Removing AAS also benefits you with 10 pounds or so of weight reduction. The struts are heavier and the motors weigh half a pound or so each. Plus you can remove the computer in the spare tire well.

Traditional suspension is more predictable and simpler.

In the back of the car- by the spare tire well- is where the AAS computer would have been and you'll have the connector for it tied back onto the harness (probably with blue tape). Four of these wires go to the strut/shock towers (one to each) and one goes up to the stock console switch. I didn't pay attention to the others. The console switch, when engaged, goes to ground. If you jumper the switch to any of the strut wires (whichever is convenient for the project you're attempting), you have a switched ground controlled from the cabin.
Use it to ground a relay and you can trigger lights, fans...whatever strikes your fancy.
It'd even make a pretty stealthy fuel pump cut if you wanted.

You're welcome.