Can I not just use something to pull out a few drops of fluid from the engine bay? The 14 tics thing. Should I worry about that? I will be inspecting lines for rust etc., Moreover this vehicle is a true mall cruiser so the AHC has not been stressed really. Its just the age (150,000 miles)It's not a 100, so there are different metrics.
1) The raise and lower time should be reasonable (like 15 seconds)
2) the reservoir is behind the right side rear tire. You'll need a flashlight in by the spare tire shining toward the right rear tire to illuminate. Verify fluid level. To pull a sample you'll have to open a bleed valve at an accumulator. Make sure you know this will collapse the suspension due to pressure release, so don't hurt yourself.
3) Shocks could weep at the seals, otherwise they don't have a failure mode. springs get old with time, so they might be due. If you decide to refresh the entire AHC you are looking at $2k or so for accumulators, shocks, and springs, excluding labor. only a couple of people have needed to do this so far.
4) yep