I am a (female) newbie and have written about this in the past. My Air Suspension Fault light only comes on when I leave my 2005 VDP outside and the temperature is below 50 degrees F. I cannot garage my vehicle any longer because of a move and this week, when I went to leave early in the morning, I got the "Vehicle too low" message, pulled over, turned the car off, waited a few minutes and continued on. On the highway, the light came on again, so I pulled over and the front of the car was really low.

It only happens when left over night in the cold night air. Because of pending divorce, I cannot afford any expensive repairs. I have read all the other Air Suspension Fault suggestions and am hoping that it is Relay #4. ;-) Is it a clue that just the front is low? Would that be leaking front shocks?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

 

Just curious, did this fix your problem? I have the same make/model as you and the exact same problem.

Thank you.
Wonder Jagwoman

 

when the front or rear is down you have a leak. Leave it too long and the air compressor is worked to death and gets weak. If you think the relay(or you hope) is bad swap it and another around. Ive seen relay contacts get burned and keep the compressor from running. But useally a leaking spring is the start of the problem.

 

It is not down all the time, just when I leave it out in the cold overnight and I start it the next morning and get the "Vehicle Too Low" message.

Thank you for your response, though.

 

I had the same exact identical problem as I live in New York City and the winter that just passed was blistering cold! I would come out after leaving it overnight and BAM there was the front left on the floor. After much research and going nuts I finally replaced the 2 front shocks from an aftermarket place I can't remember . I found it here in the forums . I can check my jaguar folder for the name. After that my problem was gone. But I must tell you shock replacement is the only solution . In the real world that's what fixed my problem. Now I know you don't know me from a hole in the wall but trust me I wouldn't take the time out to write a whole paragraph to try and help you. I also love my new Jaguar family so that may also be part of it. Best of luck to you any way ma'am and let us know what happens. I will pray that I am wrong and it's just a cheap relay or whatever ...

 

Same thing w me it would only happen under 40 f and it would be the front left . I decided to replace both of them because they were cheap with a lifetime warranty and a mechanic recommended I change them both as the right one was leaking just a bit. I had these things tested over and over again I went to like 4 different places and did multiple hours of research ...

 

It may also have to do with something call a leveler? Is there something like that? I hadn't had the problem for a long time (it's summer, after all) and I parked it on an incline (rear side up) at a friend's cabin. Intuitively, I think it is the relay causing the compressor to work harder, as described by the posting above. Also, I had the car completely checked out when I got an oil change before going on the road trip and they said everything was fine. (This was not at an authorized Jag shop, however.)

 

I saw in another post that the Relay #4 part can be as cheap as $7! I'd like to try that first, as I have been fortunate to be able to take care of the car myself this past year by reading this forum and doing things myself like topping off fluids and using good oil filters. I read that the Relay can be found behind the rear seats. Does anyone have a diagram of that fuse box (or whatever it is) so that I can make sure I replace the correct part?

 

The relay wont make the compressor work harder. It makes it not work, a air leak makes it work harder. if a ride height sensor that bolts to the lower control arms front and rear is broken it can do the same thing. If it thinks its higher than it is it will lower the car.
The air suspension relay is in the engine compartment fuse box in front of the passenger shock tower

 

Emediex,
As you undoubtedly have a leak, be sure to only replace the culprit part. Some shops try to replace parts that don't need replacing. At jaguarforums I noticed this:
Remanufactured Front Air Suspension Shock (comfort suspension) for 2004-2010 XJ Series XJ Series
However, I know nothing about these guys or their product. Perhaps someone else cares to comment?

 

i sell cores to them, theyre a good compny, and i also have a new front airspring and 1 used $625 and $200 shipped respectively

 

Incidentally, as you look at the car on the road and identify yourself that it is too low:
Do not turn the ignition off. Leave The Car Running, in Park.
It is in this running state that the compressor will work and raise the car to the correct level... if possible.

 

Brutal,
Nice prices! Emediex, there is nothing wrong with Used, should that suit your problem and budget.

 

Always a great read! Bump

 

Hi All,

Last week I got what I considered to be a GREAT deal on a 2005 VDP - only 21,000 miles on it, and it looks in almost showroom condition.

A couple of mornings this week when the temps dropped to near freezing, I got the "Air Suspension Fault" warning, and a few miles down the road, "Vehicle Too Low". After pulling over, turning the car off, and restarting it after a minute or so, everything seemed back to normal.

Just looking at the car, I don't see anything abnormal-looking about the ride height or anything, but it did seem that the ride suddenly got pretty rough when the warnings showed up (maybe all in my head). I did not have the opportunity to measure the height while the warnings were showing.

Had the car parked for about the last 20 hours, and I went out and measured it. From pavement to the fender lip at the mid-point of the wheel was 28" +/- 1/4" on all four wheels. Started it up and let it run for ~5 minutes, and saw no change.

Can anyone tell me what the nominal height should be??? Tyres (j/k, I'm American) are 235/50 R18 Michelins.

Thanks in advance!

 

I wouldn't worry about air suspension warnings in cold weather.As the air is colder it is denser.The suspension must rise by a set amount in the first few minutes or so. If it doesn't you get the warnings. Even with the compressor working at max in cold temps it sometimes isn't enough to raise the car enough in the short time to avoid the warnings with the air being more dense and therefore having to work harder to raise the car.
Happened on mine during cold weather last year and never came back once the temp rose.

 

Unfortunately you will find that the front air shocks on the X350 and X358 have a nasty habit of being very temperature sensitive. As you have all found out as the temperature drops the front shocks loose air. If not looked after expeditiously your will burn out your compressor.

When it happened to my car I did not waste time. I purchased the modified shocks from Arnotts at around $370 each and fitted them to find that my problem was completely solved. Unlike the Jaguar ones these do not seem to be effected by the lower temperatures at all.

Hope this helps.

 

Air Spring suspensions do not do well in cold weather. I have two ford products with air spring suspensions, one is my 2004 Vanden Plas the other is my Navigator. I first experienced the cold issue with the Navigator in the snow, when I go sking. The suspension would freeze and not raise until it warmed up. So I finally got sick of it and bought a spring shock aftermarket kit and no problems since. I have been looking for the same fix for the Jaguar, since 1300 a shock installed is not my idea of fun.

Looking at the previous post, I wonder if the arnot is a spring shock modification or just another air spring shock...

Also unfortunately the Jag is not fond of cold weather on other issues, you may also experience a navigation screen scroll problem when it gets cold. have not been able to get any information on it through this site.

 

^^^ arnot sells remanned air spring, their own version with new tops/shock/and air spring. And then they also sell a conversion kit with new shocks and coils. But you do have to send back your old airsprings for cores for the remanned factory airsprings

 

Hello again, fellows,

I'm bumping this thread in hopes someone can respond to my question regarding the nominal ride height. I don't really see any variation in the height of my car whether it's running, sitting, or has been sitting for a while.

Any insights appreciated.