I just bought a 2005 VDP for my son. My wife has a 2005 VDP, and sitting in the driveway there is at least 1.5 inches above her wheels. I know her air suspension system works perfectly because we had a lot of the components replaced under warranty about a year ago. When hers started giving us problems, we'd get "air suspension fault" in the message center.

The VDP I just bought does not have the clearance above the wheels and looks like it is too low. When I have jacked my wife's VDP up before and the air went out of the suspension billows (such as when changing oil and such) I'd get a message stating "car too low" and it would eventually go away when the air was pumped back up.

I'm not getting any messages displayed in the message center of any kind.

Could it be that the system was turned off? Is this possible? Does the computer record codes without displaying fault messages in the message center?

I will try and hook up my code reader to see if there are any stored codes.

TIA

 

rscultho,
Someone may have played with the ride height sensor located in the LH wheel well to change the stance. If so and the car thinks its somewhere else you wont get the message.

 

Forgive, but I don't know much about the air suspension system. Is the sensor adjustable?

EDIT: I searched the forums and found a bunch of info on this. I bought a warranty with the car and am gonna take it to my mechanic and have them go over it with a fine toothed comb. I will post what they find.

 

rscultho,

The sensor is can be adjusted using diagnostic tools @ the dealer. No mechanical adjustments. In other words no its not adjustable.

Having said that people have been know to remove the sensor and shim it with washers or bend the linkage a bit to get the results they are looking for. Let us know what you find!

Good luck

 

I've been lurking and reading here and have been looking at XJ8s. Is there a way to tell if the shock/struts have been replaced? What kind of mileage or time will they last before replacement is expected?

 

The editor of the JEC magazine here in England has an XJ8 and it is now on around 150k on original air spring units. Main failure component is the compressor, which doesn't last long, but is not a huge cost to replace with a service exchange item, at around £300 plus about 30 minutes labour. My own car has had a compressor at 7 years old.

You will see on this forum, many members have had trouble with air springs, but it is rare in the UK. My local independent shop has never replaced an air spring. Suspension bushes are a far more common repair.

BT the shock is part of the spring unit, and not separately replaceable, that's why they are so expensive, but internet ones are now cheaper than Jaguar.