I took my '04 XJ8 to the dealership for the typical suspension faults last month. I should have trouble shot it myself to figure it needed an air compressor, but the weather here has been horrible, so just figured "f*-it" and let the dealer take care of it... they charged $900 for everything, so I didn't feel screwed knowing it could have been worse...

but here's my problem-- after the repair, the yellow light is still on in the dash with "air suspension fault" showing on the display. The dealer stated "well, you apparently have an aftermarket air shock on the drivers side, so there's nothing we can do about the code" -- "you can either pay to have it replaced with a genuine Jaguar shock, or you can just live with the code on the dash".

None of this adds up to me... first off, although I bought the car used, there is no indication that the shock was previously replaced. It looks identical to the opposing side, and to the best of my knowledge, even if it had been replaced, isn't Abbott the only one out there making these things (and they are compatible). Secondly, assuming they are right in that one shock actually has been replaced, why would it trip a code? I was under the impression that there are no sensors immediately attached to the shock (just the internal solenoid and air fitting)? It seems to me that I either have a bad sensor, or they just didn't bother to clear the code following the compressor replacement?

Any thoughts before I go back and complain to the service manager?

 

I have had an Arnott shock on my car for about 3k miles and never got a code until the extreme cold.......As we all know these 04 suspensions hate the cold.

 

I can relate to that... whenever the temp drops below 40, so does my car's front end. It takes a minute or two in the driveway to clear the "too low" warning, but the generic fault code is always there, regardless of temperature, or initial ride height (which seldom changes during nice weather).

 

Hmmm... I wonder how much more $$$ the genuine Jaguar shock costs versus the Arnott.

 

$1400 +/- each

 

The dealer is fanning you, the system does not know what kind of airspring it has. I just installed a new Arnott spring, all codes cleared on their own as soon as the shock filled.
Ignorant service folks are the bane of all dealers, believe me, they want knowlegeable people too. If the pump was the only thing wrong and they changed it correctly, the fault light will go out. They either installed it wrong (leaking supply pipe, bad pump or damaged connector) or there is soemthing else wrong and they either diagnosed it wrong or there was just more than one problem at once , which is possible since a leak can overwork a marignal pump and destroy it early. This is a case of where you need to know as much as they do to keep your wallet under control. This site might teach you to deal with them under even terms.

 

The greedy bar*****s are lying in their teeth! IMO.
Go back and give them hell.

 

My 05 has been giving the yellow light as ASF warning intermittently on very cold mornings for two winters now. It doesn't both me much as it never does it during warmer temperatures, and the ride height/quality has never changed.

 

"if" I have a leak, its a very slow one... the old pump did wear out, and wouldn't keep the car up ("ride height too low"), but once the compressor was replaced, all seemed to go back to normal. It doesn't lower much over night, even after sitting for 3 days, there's still plenty of air in the tank to raise it up to normal height when I hit the unlock button. Sometimes I wonder if I have a leak, but it only seems to be on cold days that I'm annoyed.

The yellow light is on constantly, not just on cold days. I am going to take it back to the dealer... they actually printed on my invoice about the aftermarket shock claim. I'm unsure if they are lying, or if they are just ignorant to the situation.

 

If the shocks look the same, with a galvanized metal jacket over the airbag and worm type hose clamps on it with a tapered bellows at the lower end, those are the original springs. The Arnott Springs have the black airbag exposed with no metal jacket over it, they also use heavy metal compression clamps to hold the bag, not worm hose clamps.
If the car drops overnight and rises up when you unlock each day, you probably have a leak. My car has never done that until the spring popped. The light you are getting is probably trying to tell you this. You can make an adapter for the spring that will let you screw it into the air fitting and pressurize the spring and watch a guage to see if it loses pressure. Look up Brutal in the archives, he shows the adapters he has made.

 

Also, Arnott uses Jag cores for their rebuild. Why would they add expense and change out the upper sensor if it isn't bad? So, to the system it should be a factory part.

 

Glad you asked this question. Just bought an 04 XJ8 and no problems on way home (45 mile trip). Next day was colder and I had a message about the air suspension. I did a 120 point check on the car and we checked air suspension and found nothing. Went away after driving a little more after the check. Next day a little warmer day and no readout.
Bill