I just replaced the entire suspension (not including the air struts) in front. Was feeling pretty good about it until I took the car to the dealer this morning for alignment. He looked at the car and told me he couldn’t align it because the front end is sitting too low. I looked at it (for the first time seriously since working on it) and was surprised to see he was right.

I am certain that before I worked on it the front was sitting higher than that. In fact before I began the work I measured from the center of the wheel to the fender arch and measured 15 3/4 inches. This appears to have lowered at least 2-3 inches from that.

since both front struts appear to be lower than normal, I’m not thinking it’s a strut issue. But it could be the compressor or the ride height sensors. Any thoughts from anyone out there?

 

And I wanted to add I have no faults at all on the dash.

 

Have you tried to do the recalibration using SDD?

 

I’m afraid I don’t know what that is. Could you elaborate, or possibly point me in the right direction?

 

i’m afraid I don’t know what that is. Could you elaborate, or possibly point me in the right direction?

 

SDD is a dealer software that runs in a browser and requires you to connect to the OBD2 port under the dash of your car.
You can obtain and read more about it here: https://www.jaguarforum.com/threads/...ost_id=1101712
One of its many features is the air-suspension height calibration.

How to do it (don't let the mention about lowering your car deter you)

Another how-to (see the chapter *3. Re-calibrate with a WDS, IDS or SDD diagnostic kit*)
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ur-x350-75369/

 

thank you so much for the information!

 

Cornponius: There is someone within range of my Facebook marketplace page selling SDD software or offering to come to solve problems within 100 miles of his location. I have no interest in this but I am posting the link in case it is of.use to you https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/594506553438262/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks

 

thank you for the information.

 

I found the problem. It didn’t matter what I tried, nothing could make the compressor kick on and inflate the struts.

but the whole time I’ve been diagnosing it, something has been nagging at me to check the ride height sensors. I recently replaced all control arms and tie rod ends in front. I did reattach both sensors, but it is possible I had done something wrong.

So, I jacked up the car and took the wheels off. The attached photo shows what I found. The articulating arm of the LH height sensor had come apart. So no information was being sent to the computer.

I put the arm back in the hole securely and put the wheels back on the car. I then lowered the car to a height of 380mm, started the engine, and let it run for two minutes. I then lowered the car to 340mm. As soon as I did that the compressor kicked on and began inflating the struts to ride height. All is well now.

 

Congratulations for finding the fault and thanks for sharing!

Best regards,

Thomas