Here's an errorthat just happened to me (2004 XJ8)...

Put key in ignition and started the car. After everything settles down, a message in the Message Center says "Air suspension fault". Naturally, I start to become anxious, but drive home anyway since it's Friday night and my dealer is closed so there isn't much I can do.

On the drive home, "Air suspension fault" remains on the Message Center. The ride feels a bit more rough (but don't know if it was just all in my head).

Get home and park in garage. Then I just leave it alone for about 3 hours.
After 3 hours, I decide to start the car again for no reason at all (just to see if the message is still there). But the message has cleared! Seems that everything is fine. Take it for a short drive around the block and everything seems normal. Get back home and park it in the garage again.

So what do I do?

Is it possible that the problem has "healed itself"? Or maybe the error was just a random event?

If I go and have the dealer check it out, would the tech believe my story? (Is there a history of error messages "saved" somewhere in memory so that a tech would know the error really did display?) Should I even bother to have it looked at? Or just keep driving it until it happens again? (Is it safe to drive with the "air suspension fault" message appearing?)

David

 

yeah it will save a code.. C2302 plausibility fault under air suspension.. it can need a relay #4 under the hood in the fuse box p/side or may need a compressor.. which is very common.

 

Thank you, genius, for the quick reply! In a way, I'm glad to hear that it's a common problem...at least there's a good chance it can be fixed and not come back again at random.

Knowing that the error code is saved to an "event log" (sorry, I'm a computer tech myself so these are the only terms that I know to use for now), I'll feel better about taking it in and having it looked at. At least the tech who works on it will know I wasn't just seeing things.

Only one more thing if I can ask...is it OK to drive it with "Air suspension fault" displaying (not that it currently is but in case it comes back)? I have to go pretty far ('bout 20 miles) to get to my dealer and was wonder if I should have it towed instead?

 

It is fine to drive. There are specific parameters in the air suspension module with regards to the time for compressor to fill the reservoir.
Something like 3 minutes to hit 14.4 bar. If it takes longer, the asm will store code C2302. Easy to diagnose. C2303 is more of a problem as it is for air leak. If you come out and see the car sitting on the ground, you may want to tow it. As long as suspension is up, ok to drive. Either way, take it in soon .

 

but they look so cool sitting on the ground lol and i think it was 2 min .. as perFAQ

 

definitly a car to put a lowering kit onto!

 

Thank you, too, FJT for the added info! I'm going to take it in next week. I'll let everyone know what they find and what the eventual fix was.

I don't know if this is correct troubleshooting procedure or not, but I went out and just used my hand to feel the distance between each tire and it's wheel well and noticed that one of them (the rear passenger tire) was noticablymore tucked intoits well than the others.

I know the manual says that the air canleak out(slowly) and that the car will lower itself overtime if just left there for a long period, butis it normal for the 4 wheels toallow the car to sink down at different rates? (For some reason, that justseems a bit odd that it does sink down equally on all 4 wheels over time.)

 

You need to rive the car around for a few minutes, park it and let it sit overnight. When you park it, leave the battery disconnected so the air suspension module doesnt tell the car what to do. Measure the height when parked.....then check again in the morning. If one corner is much lower than it was the night before, then likely you have a leaking shock.

You light may be from a leaky shock. It is a hard thing to diagnose without scanning it.

 

I too have a 2004 XJ8 and I'm having this issue again as well and I know I have no height issues. So I might just try the relay so I just want to verify it's position: No. 4 relay in the under-hood fuse/relay box and that thier is only one relay for the air suspension system. Just want to be sure what I'm checking, thanks

 

yes

 

I took it in and here's what my dealer said!

The Air Suspension Fault was (they claim) caused by low battery charge. Apparently, if the battery is low on juice, it can cause the car to throw all kinds of seemingly random error codes. I don't know enough to believe this statement at face value, so I accepted it as a reasonable explanation.

They said they tested it and everything was fine, so they aren't going to do anything with the suspension.

They did find, however, an Air bag error with the air bag in the steering wheel. Something about the "cassette reel" (?). The error codes they gave me were: B1318 and B1671 (which mean nothing to me, but I was hoping they'd ring a bell here).

 

off the top of my head, the 1318 is low voltage.
The codes from the Air Suspension module would have been nice. The low voltage does not set air suspension faults normally. I suppose theoretically it could happen if your car was sittng for months. However you were driving yours. You dealer is full of ****. I would definitly get the codes from them and repost.

 

I'll ask for the Air Suspension codes when I go and pick up the car...I hope they'll give them to me. If I can get them to divulge the codes, I'll repost.

FJT: I'm not defending them, but just want to point out (in case my original post wasn't sufficiently clear) my Air Suspension Fault message appeared right after starting the car while it was still parked. The error did not display suddenly while the car was in motion.

Thanks for all your advice! Like I said in one my previous posts, I'm a computer tech myself. And while there's plenty of voodoo in computers (lots of stuff I don't know still), if I can return the favor on any computer questions, I will certainly try.

 

I apologise if I was abrasive. I am sick and off work.
I just meant to say that the Air Suspension Fault light doesn't come on for no reason.
Let us know what codes it stored in the ASM.

 

2nd that ..

 

OK, car is still in the shop (waiting for the correct "cassette reel"...whatever that is), but I got all the codes from the service manager. Here they are:

Restraints control module: B1318 and B2293
Air suspension module: B1671
Climate control module: B2514

Seems to me that there's an SRS (air bag) problem that was a lot more serious than Irealized. I had seen the air bag light flicker on and off, but just assumed it was intermittent.

FJT and Genius: If these codes mean anything to you guys, I'm all ears.

 

B1318 is low voltage. The B2293 should have a number in brackets, ie B2293(21). Without that, there is too many variables.
B1671 is low voltage.
B2514 is blower motor drive signal fault. Did your blower motor quit at some point?

Anyway, the cassette reel is behind the airbag. Electrical part that allows the electrics to get to airbag detonators, audio controls and cruise switches. The code for that though if I remember correctly is B2291 not B2293. 2293 is for driver or passenger airbag.

Anyway, hard to know for sure without having car here. If you get it back, if the airbag light comes on again....count the blinks.

 

>The B2293 should have a number in brackets, ie B2293(21). Without that, there is too many variables.

Yes, there is another number!

The full code is: B2293(29)

>B2514 is blower motor drive signal fault. Did your blower motor quit at some point?

No, but come to think of it, I did have to have the car jump started over a month ago. Maybe this the cause of the "low voltage" error codes?

 

LOL....that little tidbit of info always comes in handy. Have them test the battery while it is there.

19 B2293 (21) Driver Air Bag Front - Stage2 Open Circuit - this is definitly for the cassette reel.

 

The jump start was quite a while ago (much morethan a month), so I didn't think it was related to anything that had happened recently. After the car was jump-started, things worked fine for weeks. (Well, except for the air-bag light which occassionally came on but for only for a few seconds at a time and even then, it wasn't every day or week that it happened.)

So, a weak battery from 6-7 weeks ago, might just cause "Air suspension fault" a week ago when I saw it,huh...well, I won't worry about it if they tell me there's nothing wrong. (I'll just hope they're right this time.)

And it sounds likethat the codes from that incident are still stored in there for that long (I don't suppose these codes have time stamp like computer log files I'm used to seeing)?

I think I heard my service manager say that they tested the battery...I'll ask him again when I pick up it. Thanks for the reminder!