Hello Guys,

i'm not an active member, sorry for that, but i found out an interesting info which i cannot not share with you .

Just a brief summary of the issue i had :

- 2013 i bought an XJ6 2004
- i replaced front suspension with arnott air springs everything was fine
- since 8 months i had a cats system fault issue
- tried everything without success to remove this orange warning light since that time.

So finaly i decided to go to the dealer to get proper code reading and diagnostic .
Local dealer detected solenoid open circuit on right front air spring.
i had already this info and i checked all wiring, connections etc without success before.

then the dealer proposed me to replace the 2 front air spring with jaguar original for 5000$ ... which i rejected .

i contacted Arnott even the 2 years warranty was over and explained i was really disappointed with their quality .
Arnott came back to me immediately by email, suggesting the solenoid within the top of the air spring may be gone.
The Next day a UPS shipment was sent to me with 2 spares solenoids, and installation manual for free as a warranty !

yesterday i replaced the right one, it took me 10 minutes .
turned the contact key... and YES !!! problem solved .

So thanks to Arnott, they are really professional Bravo !
for those who have this cats issue, you can search this way it may be the solution .
i attached a picture of the faulty solenoid



struggling so much time for a little part like this ... hope it may help others
regards

TB

 

nice to hear of things like this helps other members and also companies that do care about customer satisfaction

 

I had the same issue with the Arnott new front struts 2 days out of the box--on 2 separate sets even. In my case, the CATS fault came on because the left front coil was shorted to ground.

The inductors that Arnott uses in these to simulate the CATS coil are wound with magnet wire directly against a metal bobbin. Apparently the insulation is breaking down under normal operation. In my case, I just used insulating tape to wrap the entire coil and keep it from touching the metal housing of the shock body.

I work with switch mode power supplies every day--magnet wire is only considered functional insulation. They really need to be using a Triple Insulated wire or wrapping the coil with transformer tape.

 

I also have Arnott air shocks, and the same experience Jagfrenchie described above. I actually read about an earlier thread where another forum member approached Arnott and got the problem fixed. I solved mine the same way by approaching Arnott. Indeed, Arnott responded very quickly - parts arrived Hong Kong from the US practically in two days. The problem has been sorted and the car on air shocks drives like silky smooth. Credit to Arnott for excellent customer service, technical support and after-sales service, but product design and QC would be an areas they might look into in the future.

 

You really don't need to spend 5 grand for replacement originals. You can get a pair of Bilstein B4's (the folks who made the OE) for about $1700, retaining the original eCATS system operations.

 

better to s[end 1000 usd with arnott.

TB

 

I have the Bilsteins on two cars. They seem reliable.
The eCAT system and reliability of the Bilstein product make it an easy decision. I have read about many Arrnott air holding failures in the first year. Even with a lifetime warrenty the hassle and expense to swap out the shocks is costly. The solenoid failure is just a very poor implementation.
The Bilstein manufactured shocks on my XJR and A8 are 12 years old. Still holding air. Still dampening too.