Hello,
On my 04 xkr, I have cats shocks installed.
Now, most of us experienced the DSC system fault warning light going on and off which, at least according to the consensus, is caused by dirty speed/abs sensors and means no abs, cats etc. Cleaning them should, most of the time, fix the warning light.
MY QUESTION:
When the warning light is on, the cats struts, abs etc are disabled. How do work the struts shocks then? Are they completely useless because of the fault or do they function like regular, non cats, struts?
In other words, is having the dsc warning light on means the cats shocks are turned off and it's like driving with completely shot or virtually no shocks, or is there some kind of fail safe that provides a bit of basic shock support?
The reason I'm asking is that when I get the light, the car feels like there's no shocks whatsoever and it handles very very poorly, but when no warning light, it drives great.

Let me know your thoughts please. THANKS A BUNCH!!!

 

Didnt know the cats damper system was effected by the ABS/DCS .
I thought it was a stand alone system...

 

alex,

Check out this 2017 thread.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...o-hard-179147/

I do not have CATs, but reading the literature there is a link between the ABS speed sensor - instrument cluster - and the Adaptive Damping Control Module (ADCM). Not sure if an intermittent DSC fault causes complete CATs suspension failure as it's a self checking intuitive system.

Also read that if there is a CATS fault, the system defaults to firm (which in my previous Audi&Porsches meant "concrete-hard" firm) which I'm sure you would have noticed by now.

 

So when you say concrete hard do you mean like you feel every bumps on the road and feels like no 'padding' ?

From what I know, abs, wheel speed, DSC are all related. If the wheel sensor fails the abs is disabled and I guess cats system too. Am I right?
But my question then was: if cats is, disabled, shut off because of the wheel sensor failure/DSC system fault, does the shock still work like regular shocks ?I understand that it defaults to stiff, sport mode, but then the question is does sport mode feel like there's no shocks? I mean the difference is enormous in my experience when warning light is off or on.
When the DSC light is on, my car feels like no shocks at all, as in, every bump feels like the shock strut will go right through the hood,i t's really really rough like there's no shocks padding at all. But when the warning light is off, ie , the cats are working fine, it feels like having shocks again..
So the question remains, does a disabled cats system in a car equipped with cats shocks feel like having no working shocks?

Thank you

 

Exactly - feels like you're sitting on a pile of rocks and you feel every bump in the road as the valves in the CATs shocks are closed ie super stiff.

 

Interesting. I always thought it was my shocks/springs being shot. Wow. When it's like that but only I feel every bump and rocks like you say but it's also a scary ride, like when you drive over a dip the car below touch the road!!!

Thank you SO MUCH!!!! I had no idea stiff / firm suspension meant that. It literally removes any padding/cushin from the ride. I always thought it was shocks being dead.
You helped a lot thanks!!

 

Keep in mind that shocks are dampeners. Failed shocks let a car bounce too much, as the suspension is controlled only by the spring. A working shock is meant to take out these extra bounces.

To my knowledge, the CATS system only adjusts the rebound, and the compression remains unchanged. So, the initial hit of a bump is always the same, CATS on or off, but the stiff rebound tends to keep the car "down" longer, while the softer rebound would allow the car to be brought back to normal height quicker. The perverse effect is that if you have a quick series of bumps, the car can be brought down, giving the stiff suspension feel.

 

Or in my case, touch the asphalt!
Thanks for your help and information. It really helps.