Hi all,

So on the heels of my Mercedes needing a gear shifter repair, Mrs BoxxMann's VDP gets this god forsaken warning pulling into the drive.

She said it sounded like she ran over a plastic bottle in the street and then the front end is on the ground. "Vehicle Too Low" is what we have now.

My MB has a hydraulic suspension, so this is a sensitive thing this air suspension business. Since I don't know the layout of the Jag's, I am fishing for any help.

The back end of the car is fine, and the both wheels on the front end have sunk. If anyone has any suggestions, please post them. Thank you in advance!

Boxx

 

I am afraid you have caught the American disease and may have a failed front strut.

Jags in America seem particularly prone to this and we don't know why however I am sure many

of your countrymen will be along soon with help.

Good luck.

 

Thank you, meirion - I'm trying to find a diagram of the air suspension system. So if one strut goes kaput that end of the car drops I'm hoping it's a line or a junction valve/block (if that exists). If anyone has a diagram of the lines and the air system, I'd appreciate it

 

Hi BoxxMann,

While the symptoms of your wife's car could indicate a ruptured air bladder in one of the front shocks, which is not unheard of, they could also point to something less serious, such as a failed height sensor (two on earlier cars, only one from VIN G26872 onwards), a failed pressure valve in a front air shock, a leaking O-ring at a air hose-to-shock fitting, etc. However, the sudden onset is of concern.

As a very basic test, I would suggest that you raise the hood of the car, then have your wife start the engine. After a brief pause, the air compressor in the front left bumper will begin to run. Listen for leaking air at each of the front two shock towers and wheels. If you hear air leaking at the top of one of the shocks, you may be able to feel air escaping. If so, that would point to an O-ring or possibly the pressure valve.

If you can't sense any air leaking from the top of a shock, you might try carefully reaching into the wheel well at the corner where you hear air leaking to feel for escaping air from the body of the shock itself, which would tend to indicate some sort of failure of the air bladder. I don't know for certain that you will be able to feel anything but you may be able to hear air hissing in the wheel well.

Soapy water in a spray bottle is often used to wet air suspension components to watch for bubbles that indicate an air leak. Just be sure to dry off the soapy water when you're done to prevent corrosion or water ingress into the air suspension after it loses its pressure when shut off.

Below is a link to the Chassis section of the X350 Workshop Manual, which includes information on the air suspension, and links to other documents available in the "X350 'HOW TO' quick links" of this forum. The Air Schematic file is just a basic map of the system copied directly from the Wabco ECAS manual, but it identifies the major components. A diagram in the Workshop manual shows where the components are located in the car. The Jaguar CATS system appears to be a minor adaptation of the Wabco ECAS system. The air compressor and Air Suspension Control Module, or ASM, are made by Wabco, which supplies air suspensions to many of the major European automakers as well as GM. The air shocks are made by Bilstein.

Please let us know if you are able to find a source of leaking air. Others may have additional tests you can conduct without special tools.

Cheers,

Don

http://www.mediafire.com/download/n3...2.+Chassis.pdf

http://www.mediafire.com/download/0z...rschematic.pdf

http://www.mediafire.com/download/gs...Suspension.pdf

http://www.mediafire.com/download/h8...Suspension.pdf

http://www.mediafire.com/download/7f...iagnostics.pdf

 

Thank you, Don B - went out to the drive and fired up the Cat...let it run for a tick or two and the ride height came up ever so slightly, but nothing to write home about. Then I was able to hear a pronounced hissing sound of escaping air from inside the right front wheel well (behind the tire). If there are no air lines down there - I'm doubting there are - then I'd guess we'd be looking at a strut failure.

There's a big, black junction block of some sort with 5? lines running into it located under the bonnet at the right front section. I'm presuming that's the valve block indicated in the schematic, Part E. I don't hear hissing there. The hissing is in the wheel well and not in the engine bay somewhere. We're not hiding snakes there, either :P

 

Hi BoxxMann,

That valve block in the front right engine bay is the ABS modulator. The air suspension valve block is in the trunk/boot next to the air reservoir cylinder.

From your description, it sounds as though the air bladder on the shock has either ruptured, or the clamp at one end has given way. To date, we don't know of a source of replacement air bladders. Arnott Industries can rebuild your shock (just the one that has failed), or sell you their own "upgraded" versions (you would presumably want to buy a pair so both corners would perform identically, but check with Arnott). If it's just the clamp on the air bladder that failed, it may be possible to replace the clamp somehow, but I don't know of anyone who has successfully attempted that feat. You can be sure that if the same thing happens to our '04, I will seriously consider disassembling the shock to see if there's anything I can do, but I tend to rush in where angels fear to tread, so I can't recommend the same to you. Here's a link to Arnott Industries:

https://www.arnottindustries.com/

Cheers,

Don

 

Thank you, Don - yes, Arnott has the hookups...so replacing both struts is the "better" option. Is this a necessity or can one be installed?

I'd expect that a strut repair would be something the shop would not wish to do; I'd bet a tenacious DIY man may make progress. I'm going to try to locate a good independent Jag shop in town (St Pete/Largo/Clw, Fla). My Mercedes mechanic may have a suggestion or our other mechanic might, too. Will know more tomorrow - this dropped into my lap after hours...grr!

As far as dynamic suspensions go, my CL500 has a hydraulic one, and it's uber $$$ to repair, so, unfortunately, I have two cars with potential "time bombs" (I plan to do a Strutmaster coil over conversion to it when that bomb goes off). I'm hoping to replace just one strut on the Jag instead of both. I'd consider an Arnott coil over, but that's even more effort and moo-lah. Since it's my wife's, I want to keep it care free and not have her think about this crap.

EDIT: Arnott has a remanu strut to replace Jag p/n C2C41349 / C2C41339:

https://www.arnottindustries.com/par...36_gid567.html

If the strut is the culprit, then I'm going to get that one.

UGH!

The metal lines on that block should have told me it was not air in there

 

My first Jaguar saloon, an '88, had a hydraulic Self-Leveling Suspension, notorious for leaks and other failures. Almost all surviving cars have had the SLS replaced with conventional shocks.

My understanding is that if you have Arnott rebuild your failed air shock (assuming that's the problem), you can address the one shock only. If you go with Arnott's own upgraded shocks, my assumption is that you would need to replace both front shocks so they would perform identically, but Arnott may tell you differently.

Please keep us informed!

Don

 

Incredible. The very same thing happened to me today. I thought I had lost a tire, and I'm getting a shrill, high-pitched "EEEE!!" sound from the wheel. Looks like a new (er, replacement) shock is order. Has anyone ever gone the pre-owned route?

 

@naterator - lightening hits twice! I feel your pain

@Don B - the car went off on the flat bed this morning and off to our mechanic. I'm pretty certain it's the strut. If it is, I'm "over-nighting" the AS-2395 from Arnott - their technicians tell me it's a direct replacement and the other side isn't necessary.

I'd really like to do the coil conversion on both of my cars which is why I want to spend the least I can now. Here's the re manufactured arnott part:

https://www.arnottindustries.com/par...36_gid567.html

More soon :/

 

Hi naterator,

Sorry to hear that you're also having problems. Did your suspension lower at one or more corners, or is your issue just the high pitched squeal? If it's just the noise, then you may have an issue with the brakes or the wheel bearings. You may need to do some more investigation.

Don

 

ok - here's another update - RF strut is dead. I ordered a remanufactured strut from Arnott to be delivered tomorrow. Our mechinic tells me it's an hour of labor to install it, so hopefully we can have this thing back tomorrow.

Another report will follow once I get it back - thanks for the guidance!

 

Hi BoxxMann,

Sounds like you just about have this issue resolved. If you're seriously thinking of the coil-over conversion, then you may not want to take the time to rebuild your air compressor, but if it's going to be a while before you do the conversion, it might be worth the effort and minimal cost. Let me know if you're interested and I'll post links to photos of the process (which is surprisingly easy). One of our forum members, bagpipingandy, manufactures direct replacement piston rings for the air compressor that dramatically improved our system's rate of pressurization at startup. Price was under $50.00 including postage from Scotland to Tennessee, but I understand from Andy that he now has a U.S. distributor, so the pricing may be different now.

Looking forward to your next update!

Cheers,

Don

 

Is a compressor rebuild something needed should a strut fail? The car was driven less than a mile when the bag popped. The previous owner also installed a new compressor in the car a few years ago.

 

Make sure to check air lines for cracks. The gentleman i bought my xjr off of spend $$ at jaguar having both front struts replaced only to find out teh very next day that wasnt it. It was a crack in the air line

 

I would say no. The air bag diaphragm has let go, that's all. So the Arnott unit, with its new diaphragm should get you back up and running. One good thing about air springs rather than steel coils is one can replace just one unit, because they don't sack-out like steel coils. This assumes the damper part is OK, but this lasts almost for ever.

This seems to be a problem peculiar to the US, because my local indie says he has never seen a failed air spring, and he is one of the leading indies in the UK.

 

Hi BoxxMann,

I was not implying a "cause and effect" relationship between the failed strut and the air compressor. I was just noting that now that these cars have some age, the wear on the compressor piston rings is affecting the compressor's ability to properly pressurize the suspension, and if it is going to be a while before you do the coil-over conversion, it would be worth replacing the piston ring. But since the PO installed a new compressor, you shouldn't have to worry about it.

Let us know how it goes with the new shock!

Cheers,

Don

 

Hey Don! Yeah, it's definitely the RF bag. After the "pop", the "Air Suspension Fault" light came on, followed by "Vehicle Too Low" a few minutes later. The front end is resting on the stops now. That "squeal" after the pop sounded like when you hold a balloon so as to let the air out slowly. My 4 year old thought it was hilarious. I guess it sort-of was.

Question for you - how did you find out if you have the "comfort" or "sport" suspension in your XJ? I'm also going to go the re-manufactured Arnott route but don't want to order the wrong unit. I had the driver's front and rear struts replaced about a year ago, so I'm glad to hear that I don't have to replace both sides on the front.

And please - let me know how it goes! Thanks again!

Nathan

 

Hi Nathan,

There are apparently color-coded paint marks or "dots" on the upper shock bodies that indicate whether the shock is the Comfort or Sport version. Use the forum search function - I've seen lots of posts with the specifics but can't keep the colors straight in my memory. You may also be able to find out by calling a Jag dealer and giving them your VIN.

Cheers, Don

 

Green spot = Comfort
Red spot = Sport

All XJRs have Sport units. There may also be a bar-code label with the description, incl. the word "Comfort" or "Sport".

It is important you have the correct one from Arnott