What a day! I went outside this morning to drive my 05 XJ8L and the front left fender was sitting on the tire. Luckily, I have an awesome mechanic who quickly said the air shock
was leaking. In fact, I knew he was right because I could hear the air gushing out. I had an extra shock. He installed it rather quickly without any problems. When we started the
car, the pump did not work. He turned the ignition on/off about 3 times & drove the car for about 5 minutes. The pump quickly started working perfectly as did the "new" shock. My
question is this normal procedure to reprogram the system? Secondly, does an air shock suddenly go bad like this? Lastly, I noticed there was a hole in the outer rubber part of
the air shock. Is the leak from this hole or is it from the bladder or whatever within the shock?

Thanks!

Richard

 

Based on what you wrote you had a good day indeed.

To answer your questions. Yes, yes and the leak could be from the hole or bladder, probably from the hole.

Good thing you had a spare ready to go and a competent mechanic.

 

Is there any way to repair the hole...on the outside rubber? It's about the size of a pencil eraser.

 

Hi Richard,

From your description the hole you can see is in the corrugated dust cover and it does not hold any air pressure, it simply protects the air spring bladder inside, which is where the pressure is stored. I think the short answer to your question about repairing the air bladder is no, for a couple of reasons. First, in operation the air bladder moves significantly and rolls over on itself. Trying to plug or patch the bladder would be akin to plugging or patching the sidewall of a tire - it won't hold. Second, the pressures in the air suspension are far higher than those in a tire, so a plug would be very unlikely to hold. A patch might, until it peeled off due to the way the bladder rolls up on itself.

You can download the Air Suspension & ECATS section of the Dealer Training Manual from this forum at the link below:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/7r...on_Section.pdf

P.S. To explain why your compressor wouldn't start, check out the section on "Jacking Mode."

Cheers,

Don

 

Don,

This EXACTLY what I was looking!
I have permanently filed the manual and study it extensively.

I did notice this morning the car did drop some. The compressor did run 5 seconds to return car to level. There are no warnings if any kind. Is this acceptable or somewhat normal with most systems with age?

Richard

 

Hi Richard,

If the car is parked on a non-level surface, the Air Suspension Control Module (ASM) will release some air from the higher end or corner to make the car more level.

If your car drops when parked on a level surface, that may indicate an air leak somewhere in the system. That is very common on these older cars. You can check for leaks at the air hose fittings by spritzing soapy water on the fitting and watching for bubbles that indicate a leak. There's a fitting at the compressor, at the top of each air spring/shock unit, and around seven fittings at the valve body and reservoir, which are in the trunk under the spare wheel and a sound-deadening cover.

Air leaks are also known at the top seals of one or more air springs, around the electrical connector for the ECATS solenoid. Spritz some soapy water around that seal, but take care not to wet the electrical connector.

To answer your question about the compressor raising the car to level in 5 seconds, that is very good. It is actually air pressure from the reservoir that is used to level the car, and the compressor runs to re-pressurize the reservoir. The ASM will run the compressor for up to 120 seconds if necessary, then disable the compressor to cool for 45 seconds before allowing it to run again. If your compressor only runs for 5 seconds, then any leak you may still have is probably small, perhaps at an air hose fitting or possibly at an air spring top seal.

Cheers,

Don

 

Thanks Don for nicely explaining the system. Well written! I now understand the system. Appreciate your time!

Richard