Hi, is it normal for these to bounce and wallow about like a sailboat? Kids love it they say it's just like their bouncy castle but it feels a bit vague and weird to me.
The mother inlaw was lifting off the seat, I opened her window but couldn't get her to bounce out .
The rear of the car looks higher than others I've seen on the road (I'll take measurements later).
Now and then I get the 'Air Suspension Fault' and the offside rear corner drops way down but that's temporary and usually only when raining.
Just wondered if this amount of bounce is a fault or not. I may but spring on it if this is normal.

Took measurement from centre of wheel up to wheel arches..... 45.5cm both rears, 42.5 both fronts. Is that normal?

I'm gonna guess at seized compressor vent. Anyone know if they are fixable?

Steve

 

Steve,
I've moved your post to the XJ6 section where I'm sure someone will advise you.

 

Hey guys, we have some one here desperate for help.........can anyone offer some good advice ASAP please?

see below as posted........

Originally Posted by JagX350
Hi, I wonder if you could advise please? I'm new not sure where to look for the info I need. My '03 XJ6 X300 V6 3.0 SE is becoming unsafe to drive bouncing all over the road. It's got air suspension and each corner is now 8cm higher than it should be. It looks like it's holding too much pressure. I'm trying to find out how the system releases air to lower itself. There is one on the compressor to avoid over pressure, but is there any others? Like on the reservoir? Or on the struts? Any help very much appreciated. Or if you can tell me where to look in the posts?

I've been searching posts for days, going cross eyed! All faults I've seen mentioned are with low suspension. It does look like the only release is on the compressor. So it's down to 3 possibilities, dodgy rear right height sensor (putting it into jacking mode), blocked vent, are faulty controller. Problem is now I can't drive it!

 

Jim

I responded today.

 

I have the same problem with my Jaguar XJR. the suspension is loose and it's turning dangerous because the tire is bouncing on the fwy curve the tires are not grabbing the road because are like a basketball. I purchased the front airbags and does the same thing. I purchased a new compressor and the same thing, changed all bushings, and the same thing, it's really bad because my jag looks like new but it feels like I'm driving an old car with just springs. I wanna sell it but who wants to buy a JAGUAR YONKE XJR WITH A BOUNCY SUSPENSION, AND EVEN IN THIS FORUMS NOBODY KNOWS.. I don't know and I'm giving up. at least I can get 1800 at the pick-a-part, sad that Jaguar became an XJR YONKE to die in one of those places for sale in parts.
I also purchased the valve that is on top of the strut between the hose and strut, a one-way valve I think its called, I have also been asking for the program to use my laptop, sdd JLR, AND everybody is talking about it, and it looks like fun, but when I asked for it, all of a sudden nobody has it, I was gonna pay for it but nobody helped, in this forum and the other one too... just disappointed. for last thing I'm gonna buy the block valve if it doesn't work, I'm going to change to FORD FOCUS OR CHEVY BOLT.IM SURE is gonna be less stressful than this....

 

I would just replace the air suspension with the spring kit and be done with it.

Yes SDD is a big subject and there is no answer? It was never released to the public and is ONLY for use inside factory Jaguar workshops. So no help from Jaguar at all and all of us had to learn on our own like you. It takes days and days to get SDD up and working.

Many threads on SDD? Have you taken a look?
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Your car is sitting way too low in the pic. Is this before you changed the air springs etc.? Usually a bouncy ride is because the air springs have too much air and are overinflated. This can be a ride height sensor that is broken or needs to be reset/adjusted using sdd. Think someone here had a download. Not exactly sure.

Do you know if any work was done to the suspension before you purchased? I knew someone who bought a xj8 that had front suspension work and the front bounced up and down really bad. Air springs were overinflated. Put it up on a lift and saw the problem. The ride-height sensor bracket that attaches the bracket to the frame was bent. Obviously from jacking the passenger side way up in the air while the front air springs were down. Fixed the bracket and everything was back to normal.

How about posting a pick after you have started the car to see the actual drive height.

If you really don't want to fool with it send me some picks and mileage and I would certainly give you more than pick-a-part

 

Wait a second I got to read first

 

Hi back again.
first I need some more info on how the car behaves
1. Does it stay high fo a day or two
2 Does it do a pffft when you unlock the door and goes down a tiny bit . ( for comfort whem climbing in)
3. When you drive around then stop , put it in neutral without braking nor hand brake , looking over the hood after a couple of seconds( like 10-15s) does it regulate height.
4. Normal height would be 386mm front
373 rear
mine went up last winter 460 rear and 420 front. With air suspension fault on the dash and super stiff . Here the height sensors were shot right side front and back .
left side on my x350 xj8 of 2003 ( with the 4 heightsensors) were still good. Changed them all getting new ones from Jaguar . Improvement back to comfort + 15% better than it was before . Davenport on wheels.
5 Do you have access to Sdd ?

There is also Transport ( Stiff) mode over Sdd you can switch over to customer mode. Wich is the correct one.

If your compressor is working correctly a couple of seconds after starting the engine, location is in the front left in front of the wheel hidden behind the bumper shroud / wheel well liner , manages to raise all the airstruts, you could let the air out over each airline connector front and back . Wich is a good thing also to let out humidety . You might get damp to humid hands .
did you install a brand new compressor? so it has new desiccant beads (silica *****) in it. They can be dried in an oven or exchanged Wabco oem (but possible purchase over amazon )
over the years of driving some tend to get an awfull amount of humidety into that drying component and rust especially the big spring inside.
yes the only release of air pressure is on the compressor itself ( can be tested with a 9Volt battery should be clicking then).
height sensors eithe 4 on early x350 till about Vin G24000 with hight regulating motor in the headlights.
or 3 x350 with washerliquid container near radiator ,x356 washer radiator near window and x358 facelift.
The height sensors short Arms in the front ,longer 4 inches in the rear with their turning points can let lose. If not spray the a couple of times to get dirt out in between the turning point The height sensors can also be faulty. Exchange is a must then 80 € for the front ones 160€ for the rear .
I BOUGHT FRONT ONES AND CHANGED THE ARMS OVER.
THE ELECTRICAL PLUG RELEASED SPRAY CLEAN PUT BACK ON. THE attachment on the rear is either metal brace on the upper suspension arm or with a zip tie.
the bracket where the height sensor box is attached can be bent deteriorated by rust. The box itself is attached to that bracket by 2 tiny screws and tend to fissure the boxes plastic housing at that spot .

 

We also have one of the cars here a 2007 Diesel that jumps into transport mode again and again . New compressor . Second hand airstruts . New heightsensors . Valvebody changed .New seals on every airline conector . Second hand Wabco Cats from behind rear seat. Second hand rear controle module with same code on it.
we could nit resolve problem yet.
Also on this car when heightsensors got exchanged achieved a general improvement of about 20% . Did'nt last long . Next morning after driving with a couple of intermediate stops , stiff mode is back and super uncomfortable again. But it comes and goes.

 

If you really have enough of those problems. Coilover suspension is a solution . If you have early x350 unplugging Cats would be enough. For later ones you would need a special plugg to inhibid an amber light on the dash .
in both cases would have to adjust headlights manually so sray the reguleting screws before trying to.
arnott should have Coilovers. a very good reputation is the brand Bc Racing adjustable in height and stiffness /comfort for a reasonable price.

 

For @kabu XJR , I would seriously simply abandon the air suspension and go with coilovers. You can't fix it with guesswork, you have to have a code reader to get the diag codes, and even then you'll be chasing rabbits down the hole for a long time.

Keep in mind that these things are well beyond their design life-span. The air suspension might be good for 10 years, with proper maintenance, and proper maintenance mean replacing the desiccant beads every so often, which nobody does because it's not actually a scheduled maintenance item. Once water gets into the system after the desiccant gets saturated, you get corrosion in all the valves and in the compressor. Also, simple leaks develop over time which can be very difficult to track down. Corrosion can cause solenoids to stop operating, the air bags on the struts themselves can fail, and even if you spend the $$$ to get the system perfect, you're going to have to keep it maintained. That money spent will be a significant portion of the car's actual value, even on an XJR, which means it simply doesn't make sense economically.

Put coilovers on it and be done with it. They'll last forever, and Arnott includes the module with their coilover set to remove the CATS warning that comes when you disconnect the Air Suspension Module (although I see you have a 2004, which won't need the module - simply disconnect the the power from the air suspension module behind the rear seatback when you have the coilovers installed.)

 

The module was provided in the Motorcars LTD coil over kit for my 04 XJR. Now, I can't say I had to have it because the instructions were to install it and I did. No warning lights. And I agree with your advice to @kabu XJR . Don't give up on the XJR especially for the cars mentioned. Replace the air bags with coil overs and enjoy the XJR the way it was meant to be. I have one car still on air and the 04 XJR on coil overs. I can tell the difference, but I doubt anyone else could If I didn't tell them. Not a lot of money and well spent to save the XJR.