Found your article on air suspension summary, and loved getting more info on my 05 X350 XJR .... but every now and then I get a fully raised air strut locked in the full up position,
First time it did this was about a year ago and both rear bags were locked up with the rear end stuck up in the air. Took it to a local shop that only works on jags and he told me that he just released the air from the vent solenoids under the spare tire and to just see if it does it again. No more problems till now. Now only front passenger side is locked in fully raised position.
How do I release the air through the vent solenoids or air block under spare tire????
I do have Arnot aftermarket air struts that just have the load resistors on top, but this has not been an issue so far.
I just want to release the air so I can continue to troubleshoot.

 

Hi dwdooley,

It's easy to release the air to the air springs. With the engine off, just loosen the brass nut at the valve block for the air spring you want to empty. The only risk is that the more you disturb a fitting and the "olive" or brass ferrule around the hose, the more likely a leak will develop there and need to be addressed. It's usually easy to correct a leak at a fitting by trimming 12 mm of the plastic hose and installing a new olive.

Have you had your car scanned with a good diagnostic scan tool like a high-end Autel or the Jaguar SDD system to see what suspension codes are stored? That might point to a problem with a height sensor, for example. It would be worth examining the height sensor at the problem rear corner to be sure it is properly connected to the suspension, that its arms are undamaged, and that its electrical connector is clean and secure.

Cheers,

Don

 

Dwdoolley2312214 it has been my experience that the level sensor has been the culprit 8 out of 10 times. However for your education "Don B" made a extremely thorough explanation of the air system with AWESOME reference information included, See date 1-06-2017.
Default Air Suspension & ECATS System Summary: Components & Operation

 

Thanks , but if I just manually release the nut for air line, I can just do that at the strut on top and not under the spare tire.
Most mechanical distribution blocks or solenoids have a manual over-ride or release lever near or on the valve.
That's what I thought it would be????

 

that is the manual way of releasing air. The actual cause is still there unsolved. If you are willing to do that then you are ok, however realize that there is an actual problem in the system that will be causing the shock to stay inflated. You should pull the codes and address the root cause. Just a thought, but you can handle the way you choose.

 

There is no release lever or override on your Jaguar air suspension. There is an exhaust valve on the compressor controlled by the ASM. The reason I suggested loosening the fitting at the valve block instead of the rear air spring is that it requires less disassembly. To access the tops of the rear air springs requires removal of the trunk/boot floor panel (two Torx screws at the hold-down/hinge points), removal of one or more plastic rivets on the carpeted panel under the parcel shelf, and removal of the carpeted side trim panel.

Cheers,

Don

 

UPDATE: been several months and everything is fine until last week.
Wife and I had Covid since January 4,2021 and stayed quarantined for 3 weeks. Mild case and we're all good now.
Wife went out and started her jag and rear end shot up and maxed out air struts.

Well as before when I took it to a local jag shop, he told me back then that there were no codes in CATS so again I did same: went to valve block under spare tire and just released air out of the two rear struts. (Saved myself $100.) Closed off the two nuts and then restarted car. Took about a minute then the rears pumped up to NORMAL Height.

Reading up on this it just seems that the CATS system gets a scrambled brain every now and then. I plan on cleaning the connector and reinstalling.

Thanks for this forum and all the help to keep this classic running good!

 

Hi dwdooley,

Thank you for posting an update. Always appreciated!

I'm glad to hear that you and your wife survived Covid without too much distress. My wife and I had a similar experience before Thanksgiving.

I have moved your posts to your own thread. Thanks again for the update!

Cheers,

Don

 

Just thought I'd point out that CATS is separate from air suspension. CATS is computer-controlled valving in the shocks, but has nothing to to with ride height in the air suspension. They're both part of the suspension, but two separate systems, nothing to do with each other.

Air suspension controls ride height and vehicle leveling, and CATS controls shock valving. More to the point, your Arnott struts do not have the CATS system, they use that load resistor to lie to the CATS controller and say that they've responded to CATS commands; no valve changes can actually occur.

 

Well, new issue. (Front Right Strut)
After wife drove for a while, rear struts stabilized fine but right front aired up to max height.
I again went to valve block and disconnected line to right front strut ..... BUT NO AIR CAME OUT????
Is there a check valve some where for the front struts?
I also disconnected the left front and same issue. I little bit of air bleed out of line but strut stayed aired up.

I thought off of valve block in trunk, lines were run straight to strut with No Valving in between?

Any help here to continue to trouble shoot. I started to try to remove compression nut directly on top of strut but the whole adapter fitting is turning and only has to pin holes in it like a special spanner tool is needed to hold adapter while trying to loosen compression nut? This adapter is down inside tower so I am not able to get any type of holding tool or plyers on it?

 

There are no check valves. Do you know which color is which corner of the car? Left rear is blue, left front brown, right rear red, and right front yellow. There's an obvious line to the reservoir, and the other one is from the compressor.

Also, the front strut air lines are easily accessible under the hood. Same type of fitting on top of the strut that you see on the valve block.

 

Yes , I did the Brown(R.F.) first and then Yellow (L.F.) second.

I am a mechanic, so pretty good with tools but as I stated earlier on this ..... I started to try to remove compression nut directly on top of strut (R.F.) but the whole adapter fitting is turning and only has to pin holes in it like a special spanner tool is needed to hold adapter while trying to loosen compression nut? This adapter is down inside tower so I am not able to get any type of holding tool or pliers on it?

FYI, all my struts are now Arrnott's, so they use a resistor pack on top. But this whole fitting is turning so I don't want to screw up the ferrule ring under the compression nut.

Thanks for feed back.

 

OK, that part is the residual valve for the strut. You ought to be able to grab it with vice-grips while you loosen the upper fitting for the air line. That valve keeps a minimum amount of air in the strut, even if the air line is broken or missing, to keep from possibly damaging the air bag. If you keep turning that valve with the air line still connected, you'll probably break the air line.

 

Yes, that is what I am going to try to do, but the nut is the only thing above the tower strut brace in the car fender.

I am going to try to see if I can find some needle nose type vise grips tomorrow or Friday, but there is only about 1/8" clearance around this fitting through the strut brace.

I probably wont work on it till next Monday.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks

 

Small needle-nose Vise Grips may do the trick. Worst case, you can raise the vehicle, remove the front wheel, loosen the four air spring/damper mounting nuts and lower the unit just enough to get your Vice Grips on the pressure-retaining valve from the underside of the wheel well so you can twist the hose fitting off.

It's a good idea to replace the pressure-retaining valve O-ring and to have new olives (compression fittings) on hand whenever you open an air hose fitting, just in case upon retightening the fitting you discover that it won't seal. In that event, Jaguar instructs to cut 12mm off the end of the air hose and install a new olive.

Cheers,

Don

 

Well .... Wife got home last night and told me the car seem to be riding better again.
I looked at wheel well height and YEA, everything's back to normal.

I guess it just needed several drive cycles to work itself out.

 

Have you tried the Knipex adjustable pliers?
The smallest one, grabbed onto one in the trunk.
When the Oring needed changed out.
Forgot to change it when i replaced the rear shocks.

 

One would think that your residual air valves are randomly sticking, since they are the only thing stopping the air releasing with the hose disconnected.