Having problems with GC 450 valves......

I had a problem with my front passenger side fill valve leaking air into the bag while I drive which was making my truck sit at a pretty bad angle making it hard to stay in one lane so I bought 2 new GC 450 valves for the front passenger side(decided to play it safe and replace the fill and dump valve).I put both on,wired them up and aired my tanks up. raised the front up and then went to dump it and my front right side wouldnt drop until the front left was like all the way on the ground. I also noticed a crazy squeaking type noise when the front right did start to drop,like air escaping from a balloon. I attempted this again and again with the same result,the front right drops much slower than the front left and makes a loud squealing noise.So now Im stuck with the same problem,truck wont sit level,but instead of air leaking into the bag now I cant get air out of my front right bag.Does this just sound like a problem that is common with new valves or what??Im pretty sure my wiring is correct or the truck wouldnt raise/dump at all. I really dont want to take the valves off unless its a last resort because the way my valve bracket is mounted it is damn near impossible to get to them.

Edited: 9/20/2007 11:56:38 PM by chevylayn22s

call ekstensive metal works talk to one of their staff members and tell them your problem maybe they could help you let them know where you live and you need help 281-442-1050 if you cant give them a call send them a email ekstensive@sbcglobal.net hope it helps you dont hurt to try

blake.young@gcvalves.com

I will hit up Blake tomm. and see what he says but from what I can tell its like the dump valve sticks,which I would think would be unusual for a new valve. Any suggestions on what I can do aside from taking the valve apart??

i would have attempted cleaning the old ones first before buying new ones, that leaking air into your bags is a sign of the valve not sealing all the way probably due to dirt, debris, etc/ before you do anything else drastic just put a couple drops of compressor oil into the line before the fill valve and before the dump valve, this should fix the problem, just a few drops should suffice, the problem i believe you are having is the valve is new, and gc 450 are known for not opening and closing correctly at low psi. so i would just give it a few days and try the few drops of oil, should clear it up, the squealing you mentioned is just the air escaping through an odd shaped orifice, remember, the noise couldnt come from the soleniod, and the metal doesnt make noise on its own, so the air escaping is causing the weird sound. good luck, hope this helps.

also, people will tell you not to use compressor oil, its your perogative, i live by it and use it often.

I did attempt to clean the fill valve it didnt help starting leaking again right away. I tried squirting some WD 40 in the valve and hitting the switch a few times didnt seem to have any effect on it.The squealing noise I realize is from the air escaping thru the orifice after releasing the air but why does this valve make this sound and not the others?? I assume its because the valve is new and the diaphragm hasnt loosened up yet(just my theory). I replaced both vlaves on the front right,the dump valve I had on had a really slow leak but it didnt stick maybe I should have just left that valve on at least it was driveable with the old dump valve.

Throw them in the trash... thats where GC valves belong...

i have them on my truck but only because they came on there,i would never buy them cause i have heard alot on negative feedback on them and have a few buddies that had their trucks bagged and they were stickin........

Another reason for me to go back to SMC's....I have had the similar issues with the GC's on my Mazda.

Man its the same shit with any brand,everyone has there preferences and you hear positive and negative shit about every brand. What matters is that this has been the only situation I have run into with GC valves and they seem to take care of everyone who does have problems(sent 2 new valves to a buddy of mine free of charge) so if worse comes to worse Ill just send the bad valve back and hopefully they will switch it out and that should solve my problem. I was just wondering if there was anything I could do to trouble shoot the valve without voiding the warranty before I sent it back.