Hey all, so I know we've all read the air suspension nightmare posts. I have been reading them and prepping for the worst as the temps drop colder and colder. Well last week it happened the front got low and I got a Air Suspension Fault on my XJR. But it was just a bit low and came right back up, no problem. It warmed up over the weekend and it was fine. Well, today it hit 4 degrees again. It was fine all day, but here is where it seems to spin off compared to other's stories. I got in the car this evening which was sitting at proper height as I left the house. Within a couple of miles the fault popped up. As always I just assumed it was cold. But, this time within about 2 more miles the too low error pops up. But this time, its not the front, which has been the issue every other time! Its the rear end that has dropped to the stops within 3 or 4 miles. To make it even weirder I pulled the codes and it only had a U3003. None of the usual air suspension related codes that everyone had written about. What I found is as follows.

Trouble Code: U3003 - (ASE)
System: Network Communication
Subsystem: Fuel & Air metering, Auxiliary emission controls
DTC Description: Battery Voltage

Here are my thoughts / assumptions.
1. Since this happened so quickly it probably has little to do with the sagging front end that I had last week. Especially since the front end is even now still sitting at the proper height.
2. Since it dumped out both of the rear shocks at exactly the same time in such a short amount of time, its probably not the shocks failing. But a leak that only affected the back end?

Do those sound like logical jumps in deductive reasoning or am I missing some other bit of info?

I am ready to dive in and fix this but, of course, I have to figure out just what to start wrenching on! So if anyone has any helpful suggestions please shoot them my way.

D.J.

 

Have u considered the Arnot coil spring conversion?

 

In Milwaukee, the apex of the polar vortex, I have experienced the similar issues.

With temperatures ranging from -10 F to about 20 F, The front will some times lose air when sitting overnight in extreme cold (for a Jag), on one occasion the rear also deflated while driving. Stopped the car restarted and the compressor kicked in and then the car raised to normal height. When I'm in the 25 F and above everything works fine.

Obviously since Wisconsin winters suck and it's too cold to work on it, I'll have to just wait until spring or a rise in temperature. It would appear that in extreme cold, that some point in the air system contracts enough to allow air to escape, but is not a catastrophic failure or possibly the mechanism that senses ride height freezes up and causes air to dump or not activate the compressor to raise. It could be a combination of both.

I like the air ride and in spring, I will probably change out the front air struts. I wish there was a more definitive way to test what is going on, so it would be easier to locate the problem and determine the fix.

 

I thought about the Arnott conversion for about 10 seconds... until my wife read that it changed the ride a bit and she was not having that! She doesn't ever wanna give up that "land yacht" feel no matter how much money it saves.

So this morning I started the car and the rear end popped right back up. But I could clearly hear air hissing from out of the front passenger shock. So I am assuming that it's leak is what caused the car to try to level itself after the compressor shut down. So I ordered a couple Arnott replacements and I'm putting them in on Saturday. I'm also doing a rebuild on the compressor and hoping to make it a couple more years before I have to do it again.

DJ

 

Hey Ed, I also am in Milwaukee!

The cold has been awful here this year. My 2006 Super V8 'Portfolio' has been getting the 'ride too low' fault all month. This is my 4th winter with the car and it will happen every year going forward. As a result I finally went ahead and just today ordered the Arnott Coil spring conversion kit (C 2290).
No more air suspension for me....it's just not worth being stranded somewhere.

BTW, I called the local Jag dealership yesterday and the service coordinator guy told me they had 8 Jags in there for the same air suspension issues. When I asked him what they are doing to fix the problem, he responded "there is nothing we can do. We are telling the clients to come and pick up there cars and to wait until warms up" !! I almost fell out of my chair! I figured if they can't help me, and they are the "experts", why would I NOT order the conversion kit??

 

Aloha! Jaguar's are a rare breed in Milwaukee. The Milwaukee dealer would have 2 cars in stock and the suburban dealer maybe 6. Don't have any confidence in them since they don't seem to have the experience in servicing with such a small inventory. I drive 50 miles south on I-94 to Imperial Jag in Lake Bluff or Wilmette, Illinois when there is an issue I can't fix. They have Jaguars in stock like a Ford dealer has F-150's around here. They're are very customer orientated.

Wednesday mine was grounded, started it up after a while the compressor kicked in and it didn't raise, drove it to Doctor Dawg for lunch, came out, surprise the car leveled itself, then took mine to the car wash. So it's been sitting for three days. Temperatures in the 10's and 20's F. Friday I look at the car and the ride height is perfect hasn't changed, it's 12 F. WTF

Solution must be: Get an Italian beef sandwich for lunch and a car wash!

Love the car and the air ride. Absent of hearing air blowing out of a corner, I wish there was a definitive way to localize the problem. I will probably check the o-rings for leaks, but since this is intermittent it would seem there's a valve or level control arm that freezes up or it would continuously leak down.

Any Technicians with clues would be nice.

 

They can replace the shocks, Fittings, or the O-rings, apparently they don't want to bother.
I found a loose fitting on my right shock and a torn O-ring on my leftshock. Tightened and replaced as needed and took the Cat out for a trot in temp of 22 degrees F. The front shocks performed as should and are still at the normal ride height.
Back at the first end of 2012, I found that the top section of the right shock was leaking air, replaced it with an Arnett and have had no problems other then the loose fitting.

 

My Cat went on an 11 mile prowl this morning in 10 degree (F) temps with no effects to her suspension. Would suggest anyone that is having problems with the front suspension to first check the fittings for leaks, it only takes a minute with a Leak Detector or soapy water solution.

 

"torn O ring"

Would that be a small o ring on the air supply connection to the top of the strut?

Thanks

 

Regarding the O-ring, is it one that can be purchased at a hardware store or is it a jaguar dealer only part due it it's dimensions. Anyone with specific advise in sourcing this part.

 

I purchased a small kit from Auto Zone.

 

Yes it is.

 

"Yes it is." Cheers!

 

This should help:

 

So, I replaced both of the front shocks with the new Arnotte replacements. And it has performed perfectly. Lifetime warrantee doesn't hurt either. Now hopefully I can make it a couple of years before the rear ones go out!!

D.J.

 

The O-ring replacement has worked thus far, my Cat has been prowling the country side in 20+ (F) degree temps with no problems.

 

Sure is amazing to me that Auto air suspension systems are so faulty. Commercial Air suspension systems on Trucks ,Busses, Big Motorhomes work everywhere, everyday along with Air brakes. Seems like the auto industry could take some lessons from them. Commercial systems have been around for years, and not having these troubles.

 

Hi psales264,

You raise an interesting line of thought. But most of the X350 air suspension was made by Wabco, a German company that not only supplies Audi, BMW, Mercedes and many other premium automakers, but through Meritor Wabco, its joint venture with Arvin Meritor, is also one of the world's largest suppliers of air suspensions and air brakes for trucks and other commercial vehicles. Problems with Wabco's X350 components are not really that common, the most frequent being a worn piston ring in the air compressor, which is easily replaced at low cost. I would assume that piston rings or seals in truck air compressors wear out too.

The most common "expensive" problem with the X350 system is probably a leak in one or more of the combined air spring/damper assemblies, which were made by Bilstein, a company famous for its shock absorbers but perhaps less so for its air springs.

In commercial trucks and some autos, the air springs and dampers are separate units, so if an air bladder develops a leak, it can be replaced individually, usually at a very reasonable cost. But in our Jags the complexity of the combined air spring and damper and the very high cost of replacement seems to be the worst problem for owners.

I assume the combined unit was the best solution the engineers from Jaguar, Ford and Bilstein could come up with to preserve the desired suspension geometry. Unfortunately, the same part was not used by other manufacturers, and the relatively low volume of Jaguar sales and resulting lack of manufacturing economies of scale probably contributes to the high cost of replacement units.

Cheers,

Don

 

I think its worth pointing out that when Bilstein developed the single unit air spring/damper unit for the X350, Ford owned Jaguar. The XJ suspension is broadly similar to the XF, XK and also the new XJ. Also some Ford cars use the same suspension, so could have had these air springs too,

So maybe Bilstein and Ford anticipated fitting these air suspension units on more than just the XJ thus justifying its unique, (and rather clever), design with Bilstein making far more than were ever used on the XJ (X350) saloon. If these units had been fitted, for instance on the XF, mass production would have brought costs down. Of course, as we all know, the cost of air springing means it will never be mainstream, and not being mainstream condemns it to expensive parts.