About 5 years ago at about 110K miles I replaced my front shocks with units from Rebuild Master Tech. Everything went great and a few years later I started getting the "Air Suspension Fault" light. I figured correctly that it was a worn compressor ring and replaced it with one from Bagpiping Andy on eBay. Everything worked great until early this year when the rears seemed to be coming to the end of their life span so I ordered and installed a pair from RMT. About a week later the whole car was riding low and I found that one of the new rears totally blew apart - the band had broken and the bag was exposed and punctured. I still had the originals so put one back on and notified RMT. Another week went by and the other new rear shock suffered the exact same fate, I even heard this one blow going over a very minor dip at low speed. Now, despite a good experience with the fronts, I lost confidence with RMT so I sent the pair back for a full refund.
I bought a pair of new Chinese made rears with a 2 year warranty on eBay. Installed them and everything was fine for a good few weeks but got the occasional "Air suspension Fault" light. I figured the compressor had been working overtime through all this and maybe the ring had worn out again. Ordered another one and installed it. Everything was perfect for about 2 weeks until I noticed the car riding way high and frequent warning light again.
This is where I'm at. I've seen photos of similar Jags riding higher than mine so I don't think it's totally maxed out height wise but mine is definitely nor right, particularly the rear. The system seems to have no leaks and it doesn't drop overnight.
Ride height sensor? I think I also read somewhere that a valve that releases air can fail and cause this. I like to think I am past throwing parts at a problem and hoping for a fix. I really want to get to the cause. I will scan tomorrow. I also feel ike if I open the system and allow it to drop, it might fix itself, maybe being very optimistic here.

Any similar experiences of ideas?

TIA

 

I had a similar issue with RMT shocks and the band coming off. In fact, right after I installed them upfront the right one blew. I wrote a post about my whole ordeal. If your rears are not losing air and the car is not dropping overnight then there probably is no issue with valve body, lines, compressor, or front ride height sensor. First thing I would do is release all the air from the rears. Disconnect the battery, tough the cables together for a hard reset, hook the battery back up and start the car. The rears should rise to the right level. If not, I would check the ride height sensors in the rear next. It could be that simple depending on how you jacked the car up and if the battery was connected or disconnected when doing so.

 

Thanks. I will release all air from the system and disconnect the battery today. I don't know what to think about RMT now. My experience with the front shocks was great, they are still working just fine. With the rears, when I called them to explain, it was like they were not surprised at all and said send them back. They supplied a shipping label and issued the refund with no problems.

Update: I disconnected the battery and then removed the air lines to the rear shocks. To my surprise next to no air was expelled and the height of the car didn't change one bit. With one electrical connection and one air line being the only lines to the shock, shouldn't air release from the shock when the air line is open? Could there be a fault in my $220 (each) eBay shocks? A relief valve perhaps?
I haven't driven the car yet but will later today to see if things don't change.

 

Disconnecting the air lines from the shocks should have released enough air to lower the rear. On a typical shock there may still be some air retained after removing the line but not enough to make the rear higher than the front if the front is sitting at normal height. Not sure about the brand of shock you purchased but you should be able to unscrew the air line fitting from the shock and all the air would be released.

 

From the Stickys above
"Pressure-retaining valves (PRVs) in each air spring ensure that a minimum of 3 bar / 43.5 psi remain in the air bladder to prevent folding or creasing of the rubber bladder that could cause damage."

As to brand, the originals are Bilstein and expensive. I'm following with interest "other brands", we seem to have bad reports of Arnott, RMT, "some Chinese brand", but this doesn't make it certain whether those makes are reliable or not. Depends on the poster, or whether they got a "Monday" one I s'pose.

 

I used to think RMT was as good or better than Arnott. They later worked very hard to convince me otherwise.
BUT, these Bilstein air struts must be the cheapest crap Bilstein makes. Think after 16 - 18 years these Jaguar struts are toast.
I have an Audi A8. RMT rebuilt both fronts. Work great. I hear to people getting 250,000 miles out of the original struts. True active dampening to boot. Computer has infinite dampening adjustment on the fly.
Whoever cheated out and specced these struts did us a huge disservice.
I was going to slap a set of new Arnott struts on mine. But decided the minimal active dampening is better than none. Not sure options for new struts and two setting dampening.
I see the new Bilstein struts listed as discontinued on some reseller websites. Between price, expiration date, and only comfort they are easy to resist.
Hang in there. Mine is sitting, got an appointment for valley hose in 11 days. Been parked for 10 days and still standing tall. Feel fortunate.

 

RMT left a bad taste in my mouth over my ordeal. Even though I purchased from CarID, which I do not recommend on larger purchases for the following, neither wanted to take responsibility and pointed the finger back and fourth as to the delay in a refund or replacement. RMT literally told me it's CarID's problem and they are selling at a discount and if I bought directly from RMT this wouldn't have happened. After numerous calls and emails to both CarID and RMT (who reads this forum and mocked me for posting) I finally got a refund and happy to never deal with those two ever again. RMT essentially takes old cores, cleans them up, replaces the bladder, replaces the ring band, and slaps a heavy amount of thick sealant in the top to prevent leaking. They do not replace the tube shock itself so there are plenty of reports of knocking and banging after replacing. They do not rebuild the entire shock.

Arnott is their own design so it's an overall new shock with a lifetime warranty for the original purchaser. You are more likely to have a longer lasting shock with Arnott compared to RMT who rebuilds the core. Without knowing the mileage of the core the inner tube could be on it's last few miles. And I have yet to tell a difference of having ecats vs no ecats. I don't road race, drive a bunch of switchbacks or find myself in ice or snow so I will probably never get the full benefit of a ecat system.

I am guessing thegreenjaguar's car is either a ride height sensor issue or valve block issue. Guessing because one really needs to read the codes it's throwing. My original thought was it being stuck in jack mode but further reading states it was fine but after 2 weeks of driving both rears raised up high on their own.

Bilstein's durability comes down to the poor rubber seal design on the top of the unit. Over time it expands and shrinks due to weather changes eventually cracking and leaking. How long they last depends a lot on where in the country you live, if you drive your car year round and where you store your car. Weather is more of an issue than mileage with these Bilstein's.

 

RMT has two problems. They sell products that have disproportionately high reported complaints of failed or defective parts (I speak from experience) and they have a Fawlty Towers approach to customer support (again, I speak from experience). When you have a problem with them, try to salvage your purchase with a refund ASAP, buy from someone else, and post a negative review at the Better Business Bureau (https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/fort-laude...-0633-90369509) and Yelp (https://www.yelp.com/biz/rebuild-mas...-ft-lauderdale) to warn off others.

Rebuilding air struts seems to be a challenge. They carry sufficiently high pressure to ensure something will go wrong. This is one of those cases where it should be viewed as a consumable, like tyres or brakes. If you are the kind of person who buys used tyres to keep your ride going, try rebuilt air struts. If you don't like stress, buy new.

Rock Auto sells Arnott air struts for $480 (April 2022) and FCP Euro for $588. Arnott offers a lifetime warranty to the original purchaser, and FCP offers a lifetime warranty on all parts to the original customer that in this case is somewhat redundant.

For someone who plans to keep their X350 long term, it makes sense to replace all four air struts with Arnott and rebuild the compressor at the same time - just bite the bullet, spend the $2,000 and be done with it. At the same time, you might as well replace all the suspension bits that wear out. Do it all at once, and you will have a wonderful ride as the rest of the car tends to be Ford reliable.

For someone planning to get rid of the car soon, buy a used strut from a wrecking yard, replace and pray.

As for made-in-China, the jury is out. We need brave owners to buy, install and provide annual updates.

 

A potential issue with rebuilds is what happens right before the original strut becomes a core. This may explain why even diy struts can begin to clunk and bang.
If the struts are swapped as the leakage gets worse the cores may be reliable after rebuild. If the car is driven with deflated struts the bumper and hydraulic damper get pounded quickly. These struts are not designed to be driven deflated.
I have seen several XJ’s driven in my area slammed to the pavement. If you end up with one of these struts as a core it may fail fast.

 

I haven't been able to devote any time to this but just to update, no change.
The car is totally drivable, I just constantly get the "Air Suspension Fault" light. I thought I read on prior air suspension adventures that this was only triggered by the compressor running for too long. Now I am thinking other situations such as my current one where perhaps one or more sensors are detecting a ride height too high but the system will not release air to correct it. Could this cause the fault light?
I plan to get the scanner on it this weekend and hopefully narrow it down.

Also for future reference, I bought the rear shocks from eBay seller "perfectmatch-autoparts" https://www.ebay.com/itm/31387516804...906%7Ciid%3A14

I have alerted them to my situation to see if similar failures have occurred