[03heritagerider]

Sorry I didn't get back sooner.

Shortly after posting on this forum on Tuesday morning, I called the Freightliner hotline...those folks have helped me on several occasions.

They gave me the order in which I should look, and it didn't take long to identify the culprit.

First he told me how to identify the air dryer. He explained in detail where it was and what it looked like, and told me to send him a picture to verify (He specifically stated that Freightliner DOES NOT recommend customers crawl under their rig to do repairs). I sent the photo and he verified it.

He said, with the engine running, start with the heavier line going into the top of the dryer housing and disconnect it (this line comes from the compressor). If there was air coming out of the line, then the compressor was working. There was air coming out, so onto the next step.

Next he said to run my hand around the dryer housing, filter and the other line to feel for air escaping. When I ran my hand around the bottom of the filter and could feel the air coming out. I was able to twist off the filter using a rigged ratchet strap. Upon inspection, I found a crack near the bottom where the filter makes contact with the unit. It was small, but I hoped it was the cause. Once the issue was identified, it was a simple matter of getting the filter. No one locally had it in stock, but the nearby NAPA dealer said they could have it for me the next morning

Wednesday I picked it up, and bought a strap wrench to tighten it. It was the same process as changing an oil filter. Clean around the mounting threads and base, lubricate the "O"rings (2 of them) and screw it onto the mounting post and tighten (Manufacturer recommendation-hand tight).

I started her up and both the front and rear air gauges began to move and the bags began to inflate (neither happened previously). It took about two minutes and everything was at maximum pressure and I could hear the check valve spurt out the excess air. I turned it off and then checked the gauges every two hours, without starting, to see how much air was lost. After 4 hours it was only down about 15 pounds and was still 30 pounds above the 65 pound warning buzzer limit. This morning I checked again before starting and it was still around 75 pounds and it took about a minute to reach the 110 pound max level.

Afterward, I drove the rig for about 50 miles on city streets and highways with western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia hills with no issue.

Thanks to all for the info, advice and concern.

RayChez1 - I was getting ready to pull the rig out Tuesday to take it to a consignment dealer when it wouldn't inflate. Fixed it yesterday and took it today...that's the 50 mile drive I made.