Just finished Arnott conversion on wife's 06 xj vdp with 104K. The reason for replacement was a leaking right front air spring. After many months of waiting for air system to recharge before driving and the anxiety of wondering if it would recharge we decided to try the Arnott coil overs. Driving on concrete Southern CA freeways the notable differences are, a bit more road noise from rain grooves, botts dots, and expansion joints. Four adults caused bottoming at 70mph through moderate dips. best way to describe it is the feeling is a bit more harsh. The handling is very close to original with a little more body roll at freeway entrances etc. These are initial impressions with about 300mi on the conversion. All things considered I am pleased with the conversion.

 

Update:

My wife has driven the car a couple of hundred miles now and is very happy; no complaints. The coldest night we've had was in the mid to upper 40s and the car didn't sink any, but it's really below 40 F that will be the true test. Given the timing of this repair and the region in which we live it may be many months before we experience temperatures below 40 F again!

The return label for the core refund was not included in the packaging as it was supposed to be. I am now working to get someone at RMT to help me arrange the core return. The shipping was fast but I get the impression the office staff is stretched a bit thin. I had two requests for return phone calls that I never received and their response to email is not reliable either. They seem to be good people with a good product but perhaps a bit overwhelmed by demand? I don't know. Hopefully they will help me get the core return issue resolved quickly.

 

They emailed the shipping label to me. It was hard to print both times. It also will disable after printing.

 

The car is still doing fine, no suspension faults and it drives great. There may still be a small leak somewhere but I'm not sure, I don't know what is "normal" behavior for the air suspension system. Let me explain:

The car was in the garage for four days last week without being started. Two of those nights hit the upper 30s F. At the end of four days the car was definitely sitting lower, but certainly not all the way down. In fact the "low vehicle" warning did not come on and it rose right up and worked great when started. But, it did go down (maybe an inch) during the four days. I have noticed if the kids go to get books etc out of the car that when they open the doors or trunk the air system lets out air. You can hear it leveling. I don't know if that contributes to lowering when not being driven? I guess my question is: is a certain amount of drop normal? Does this small drop tell me there is still a small leak somewhere? Did I perhaps not get the upper air connection secure? Obviously it is VASTLY improved over the way it was dropping before, should I be concerned?

Thanks all!

 

Keep us updated, as RMT may be the affordable solution we all have been looking for.
Mark

 

Hi Jeff,

The most common cause of leaks is overtightening the brass fitting, so before you put a wrench on it again it would be a good idea to spritz it with soapy water and watch for bubbles. Do this after the engine has been running and the suspension has been fully charged so the pressure will be high.

To answer your other question, yes, some lowering is designed into the system to level the car. The manual explains it something like this: "...research has shown that customers prefer to enter a vehicle that is level...." So if you park on an incline, the system will lower the higher end or side to match the other one to whatever degree is possible.

Cheers,

Don

 

Thanks Don,

You always have helpful feedback. The weather has been warm since my last post and the suspension has performed flawlessly, before it would even sink down in warm weather! The new air strut has re-energized my wife's love for the car. She went online and ordered a new Burl wood shift knob and new wheel center caps. We also had it completely detailed. She loves the way that car drives. I work in the rental car business and I have a new car in our driveway 24/7. I switch cars anywhere from every day to once a week, depending on what we need. With a 2017 model car in the driveway (usually less than 5,000 miles on it) she never wants to drive it! She will move it out of the way so she can drive her 13 year old Jaguar.

I feel the same way about my XJR. They get in your system...

 

FYI - The core refund from RMT was credited to my card 3 days after they received the old air strut.

Not too bad.

 

That is good info. When the time comes, as I am sure it will, I will go with RMT.

 

The car still drives great and the only time it drops any is if it sits 4 days or more, and then only about 3/4 inch. Not low enough to cause a "vehicle low" error.

But, twice now she has gotten the "Air Suspension Fault" message, the second time it was accompanied by a traction control error. Goes away on restart, of course. No other symptoms, just the error message.

 

I bought Arnott's coilover conversion kit (C-2290) in Dec 2014 and was happy with the results as I needed not worry anymore about air suspension faults, and the ride quality was by and large similar. However, the ride heights of the front and the rear were somewhat different and looked weird (front was taller than the rear by 1.25"). I was waiting for the shocks to settle but after months of use the front was still taller than the rear, and the rear would sag by 2.5 inches when three average-built adults sat at the back. Then a few weeks later, the mounting studs on top of the suspension towers broke one after another. I was horrified and took issue with Arnott. It transpired that my mechanic re-used the original mounting nuts rather than those which came with the kit. However, Arnott generously agreed to replace the full kit but claimed they never heard of complaints about the ride height of the coilover kit. I told them I was happy they agreed to replace but would not like the ride height - this was basically an appearance issue that just did not look right. Eventually, I proposed and Arnott agreed to pay them the price difference of the coilover and air suspension kits and get the air suspension kit (AS-2710 & 2711) as replacement instead.

The Arnott air suspension kit was installed and car drove like a dream; was very happy with the product, although I had to ask the workshop that installed the kit to fool the computer to lower the car by about an inch, as otherwise the car looked somewhat tall. All was well until a few months later when suddenly the rear of the car rose to maximum and car lost all shock absorption function. Told Arnott and they immediately recognized that it could be the senor issue. In some two days only the shock sensors (one for fix one as spare) arrived (sent to Hong Kong) with full DIY instructions. The sensor was fitted and all was well, and the suspension system has been running well with no error messages ever since April 2016. Overall, I am very happy with Arnott's customer service and commitment to back up their products. The coilover kit I received was probably just an exception.

P.S. I also replaced the air pump after installing the Arnott air shocks, for the peace of mind.

 

Hi Jeff,

Have you scanned for stored diagnostic trouble codes for clues to the cause of the ASF and traction control fault? The pertinent codes will likely be related to the Chassis (C-prefix), Body (B) and/or Network (U), so you need SDD or another system capable of reading the proprietary Jaguar codes.

Don

 

I connected with a fellow Jaguar enthusiast that I met on this forum who lives about an hour from me. He has volunteered to let me use his scanner. The logistics of finding time to make that happen could be challenging, but I hope to do that soon. If not, then I'll order one for myself. The problem there is combing through threads to figure out which one to buy!! That's the reason I don't own one yet; I don't want to sift through the "scanner" threads.

 

I decided to test the battery, even though I just tested it a few months ago. The results were 12.2 volts and 63% charged! Ding Ding Ding....

I put in a spare battery I've kept topped off (came out of my parts car) and the error codes got worse. So, I took the original battery to O'Reilly's to get tested. He said it passed with flying colors, no need to replace just charge it up. I was confused, but I put a good charge on it and put it back in the car. No codes and all is great.

I discovered that the garage door button was stuck up inside the console, essentially being "pushed" continuously. I fixed the button and had to re-program it to open our garage door. Could that have been why a perfectly good battery was so poorly charged?

My wife has driven it around town today and just texted me that it's still driving perfectly with no codes.

Also, according to my UltraGuage the alternator is putting out a steady 14 volts, like always.

 

Good to see that your reappearing ASF's don't come back anymore.
I was surprised to see that with new air springs these faults were back.
They may well have been caused (also with the traction control issue) by a low battery due to a current drain.

 

Well, after about 30 miles the suspension fault warning came back on, and is staying on. Either the battery has drained again or there is truly a suspension fault. I am off tomorrow, I guess I have another project. That car......sheesh.

 

I was having a similar problem with the rear end of my car. In the end the fix was to replace the air compressor. Since then it has sagged once, over a long weekend. I don't know if that's your issue, but it's an area to check.

 

I feel your frustration, Jeff.

Unfortunately, without codes you're just guessing. I can't remember if you've replaced the piston ring in the compressor but if not, at this age it's virtually certain that the original piston ring is too worn for the compressor to keep the system properly charged. The ASM expects the compressor to be able to charge the system within an allotted time and if the target pressure isn't reached the ASF is flagged.

If you've replaced the piston ring, another easy thing you can do is clean all the ground points associated with the air suspension.

Cheers,

Don

 

I suspect the same thing Don and garethashenden. The compressor has been working for 153,000 miles and for at least the last few thousand miles it's been working overtime due to a leaking strut. But, I will not start repairing/replacing the compressor without verification (codes). Codes then are the next step....

I know I saw some threads on that compressor repair though, and the associated parts kit. I may do some searching just to get familiar with what I may be in for.

Tomorrow morning I have someone coming to install a new windshield on my 2002 XJR (rock from a dump truck) and another guy coming to steam clean and condition the leather seats, also in the XJR. While they are working on that car I will try to put some time into the X350 issues.

 

Our forum member Andy manufactures an excellent replacement piston ring/seal of the correct PTFE (Teflon) material. His website is bagpipingandy.com.

I don't know if the Jag-Lovers forum large photos are still in the process of being migrated to a new server, but at the very least you should be able to see my thumbnails and descriptions at the links below. Most owners don't bother to replace the desiccant beads in the air dryer, but it would be worth putting them in a 500F oven overnight to partially reactivate them and also to clean any corrosion in the check valve, exhaust valve and high pressure relief valve.

Air Suspension Compressor Rebuild Part 1 of 7
Air Suspension Compressor Rebuild Part 2 of 7
Air Suspension Compressor Rebuild Part 3 of 7
Air Suspension Compressor Rebuild Part 4 of 7
Air Suspension Compressor Rebuild Part 5 of 7
Air Suspension Compressor Rebuild Part 6 of 7
Air Suspension Compressor Rebuild Part 7 of 7

Cheers,

Don