Hello to all,

I have a 2005 XJR in very good condition, with 49k miles on it. I have it stored in an unheated garage, and I live in a suburb NW of Chicago. When it gets below 32 degrees F, the car will sink down, the yellow air suspension fault light will come on, then the red "car too low" warning light will come on, and I can't drive it. I do have occasional access to a heated garage (60 degrees F) and if I park it in there for a few hours the suspension works fine again once it warms up. Any thought or suggestions would be appreciated as to how to cold weather proof my XJR. Thanks!

 

Welcome to the forum cljagfan,

I've moved your question from General Tech Help to X350 forum. This is the place to post technical questions about your model.

Graham

 

Cold will make the seals shrink. That would make the compressor run constantly. That's probably why your having trouble. The fix would be to find the leak and replace the seal or component. Perhaps a scan tool would tell which component is at fault. I'm not that familiar with these cars. Mine only has the air in the back axle. I think yours has the air shocks on all four corners. I would expect you have a bad shock but I can't say for sure from here.

 

Really cold weather does exacerbate leakage in the system, and if a car is left for some time in such temperatures, the car will sink down.

What happens is that when the car is left in your garage the air suspension system wakes up every 24 hours and tries to keep the car level using the air in the reservoir, but does not run the compressor. So with a leak, eventually it gets too low. This means that when you come along to start the car, you'll get the fault display immediately, but the compressor should get the car up to correct height in a very short time, (like a few minutes), then the fault should disappear. You can, of course, spend a few hours going around looking for leaks, there are plenty of threads on this subject on this forum. Slight leaks are almost inevitable as the car ages, and most people just put up with them if the car is OK when used. Big leaks need immediate attention, of course.

A heated garage will alleviate the problem !

 

Fraser is right on it, as usual. It's the cold, and age of the air shocks. My well cared for VDP was fine in florida until I brought it home to the midwest...first cold days it started doing the same.
Your options are to get new ones by the dealer ($$$$) or bilsteins ($$$) by an indy mechanic, or go Arnott aftermarket air shocks ($$, or switch to coilovers all around ($$).

 

Colder it gets the worse it will be. Mine will stay level for a week of 20F weather without starting. Once I'm into single digits it sinks when parked overnight and once below zero it will not inflate (leaks are faster than the compressor pumps).

I just ordered Arnotts for the front, some front bushings and a compressor ring kit. Once I get a nice weekend I'll change them out. Its a 2004 with 76K miles.