I replaced the front suspension units with Arnott air type 20,000 miles ago and now the rears have failed. Interestingly only the shock absorbing feature (not the air portion) of the originals failed. I was thinking of replacing only the rears with coil spring/strut units (no air). Has anyone done this hybrid/mixed conversion. I wonder if it will confuse and overwhelm the ECATS. 2004 XJ8 105,000 miles.

 

The price difference at this point, would not be worth the issues involved for me.
Imagine some electrical whizz kids here could figure out a way.
Seems i read some cars are now built this way

 

Hi granted,

Welcome to the Jaguar Forums! It's great to have you with us.

I have moved your post to start your own thread.

The short answer to your question is yes, the Air Suspension Control Module would trigger diagnostic trouble codes that would cause it to disable the remaining air springs, and you would have persistent warning lamps illuminated on the instrument cluster. That doesn't mean this wouldn't be possible if you addressed some of the technical challenges. But as wingrider mentioned, it's probably not worth the trouble given the low cost of replacement air springs or coil conversion kits from Arnott, Suncore and others.

Please visit the New Member Area - Intro a MUST and post a required introduction so we can learn something about you and your Jaguar and give you a proper welcome.

Cheers,

Don

 

I am battling a similar dilemma on my 08 X358 with 95k on the clock. Previous owner replaced fronts with Arnot units 20,000 miles ago. I have had zero air ride problems in the 8,000 miles I have driven the car so far. The last cold weather that came through caused the rear shocks to leak air and sag. The fronts held air fine. I researched the idea of changing all 4 corners out to a coil over conversion (roughly the same cost as a set of rear Arnot air replacements) The BC Racing coil over kit peaked my interest the most with the adjustable ride height and damping for slightly more at $1300 for a set vs $900 for a set of rear Arnots.air

The weather is warmer and the car is riding smooth again with no air leaks out of the factory rear shocks. For now I am leaning towards keeping the air ride and replace the rear shocks with the Arnot replacements. I think the air ride system is very cool and rides excellent when everything is working properly and for me its worth keeping.

 

My concern with replacing the rears with air units is reliability and cost over time. I keep my Jags for a long time. ( I still have my first that I purchased in 1970). I suspect that the fronts may fail again and the compressor could also fail. I will do a bit more research. This could prove to be an entertaining project. Thanks

 

If you haven't already found this post, it will help you understand the air suspension more fully:

Air Suspension & ECATS System Summary: Components & Operation

I personally prefer the original air suspension and recommend replacing leaking pairs with new Bilstein B4 air spring/shock absorber units, but they are expensive. With new Bilsteins, the X350/X358 suspension is world class even by today's standards.

Suncore now offers affordable air spring/damper units that have inductor coils or resistors to fool the ASM/ECATS control module so it won't trigger the CATS FAULT warning. I have also installed about a dozen Arnott Industries coil conversion kits and one Suncore coil conversion kit and the owners are all happy with those.

Cheers,

Don

 

go to the junkyard and pull some gen2 stype struts, slap some new mounts on them drill out the holes and you’re good to go. don’t buy the expensive 4x4 stance kits