Hi again everyone.


A couple of days ago I noticed a sudden change in the ride of the xkr.


Now I feel every pot hole and the smallest bumps in the road.


Nothing has happened out of the ordinary.....I haven't hit anything or any potholes etc. But the ride is really not good.


I don't have access to a code reader at the moment so does anyone have any ideas what may have occurred?


Thanks


Al.

 

have you noticed any drop in the ride height? How many miles on her? Check the upper shock mounts on the front - the foam has a tendency to disintegrate over time. But look at bushing as well


How is tire pressure and tire wear?

 

There's no noticeable drop in ride height and tyre wear etc seems fine.


It was literally an overnight change...the car has 92k miles and was a nice ride prior to this.


I've only done 3k since buying it so the difference was very obvious.

 

If you have the CATS Suspension, it may not be switching to the "Soft Mode" when it's supposed to.

 

Ignorance I'm afraid...how do I check if I have cats and how would I know its not changing.


This was my thoughts but without the knowledge to back it up!

 

Scratch the first question....leads going to both front shocks

 

Unfortunately, without a dealer scan tool you won't be able to talk to the CATS module and truly determine if it has a problem.

You might check the fuse in the boot fusebox and also clean the connector of the control module (mounted at the rear of the spare tire well).

 

on MY02 it's fuse 2 and 4 in the luggage compartment 2(20amp) 4 (5amp)

 

Thanks....same on the 98....but all in tact unfortunately!

 

I second the notion of CATS shocks. They default to the stiffer setting in event of a failure.
The entire CATS system is a standalone network, it doesn't connect to anything but the controller, 2 accelerometers, and the shocks; so you don't have to worry about anything external acting up and causing a CATS failure; if there is a failure, its in the CATS system alone.
It could be the controller rather than the shocks themselves. Or one of the two accelerometers; Im not sure how the accelerometers fail, but if one of them was sending an improper signal to the controller, I assume it could cause the controller to keep the shocks in stiff mode.
You should be able to check the shocks with an ohm meter. Infinite resistance or no resistance would mean a bad shock. I 'think' partial resistance around 6 ohms is about right. Each shock should have about the same resistance as the others, regardless.
You should be able to check the power to the controller from the red and white wire leading to it. (Its in the trunk, near the passenger taillight I believe, one of the black boxes near the battery)
Im not sure how/if you can check the controller and accelerometers for proper function, without using a scanner.

There are a few really detailed threads in the forums regarding the CATS system. That's where I got my info on the subject.

 

Hi Al,
Did you find the reason for you stiff suspension and did you find a solution?
I am having the same type of issue with my 1997 XK8 with CATS. Stiff suspension but no message on the dashboard.
BR
Daniel