As the temperature continues to drop here in Michigan, I knew this project was going to need to be done sooner than later. I was getting the dreaded amber warning light for the Air Suspension, and decided to try and rebuild the compressor with the kit from BagPipingAndy (write up to come). The rebuild was successful, however if the XJR sat out overnight and the temp was below 30 degrees F, the passenger side front was noticeably lower than the driver side. Finally when the day time temp hit a high of only 25, I could hear the sound of escaping air from the strut. Not wanting to burn out my newly rebuilt compressor, I purchased a used air strut replacement with a 90 guarantee and had it shipped, with the thought being that if any of the other struts are bad or the compressor fails again, I will be doing a complete coil conversion.

My adventure began on Thursday night, when I couldn’t get the bottom strut bolt loose. I soaked it with penetrating oil, and decided to let it sit overnight. Still couldn’t budge it the next morning, even using my AirCat 1000 ft-lb impact wrench. I called a local shop that had helped on some of my previous projects, and they agreed to give it a try. They were able to get it loose, so I had them tighten it back to spec and drove home.

Saturday morning I begin to take things apart, loosening the strut bolt, when after numerous turns of the ratchet, I realize it’s not unscrewing. It only backed out about a ¼ inch. I decide to tighten it back up, but it won’t thread in either. I try loosening again, but have no luck. Must be stripped. I try a punch / drift pin and try to hammer it out. No movement. I come to the determination that it must still have some bite in the threads on the nut, so I decide to try and drill out the end to get it past the nut. After ruining 3 different drill bits and 2 hardened grinding bits, I decide to call it a day.

Sunday arrives, and I do a little more grinding, and get the bolt end shortened enough that I think I’m past the nut. I can slightly pry the strut away from the bolt, so I know I’m no longer in the threads. More hammering on the bolt, and still no movement. I come to the conclusion that the bolt must be fused to the inner sleeve of the strut bearing. Knowing I’ve destroyed the welded nut on the strut and I’m no longer going to be able to get any value from it, I decide to use my cut-off wheel and cut the base of the strut off on the bolt head side. I successfully get through the steel “U”, and am able to finally pull out the entire strut assembly. Now I have the exposed mangled threads on the one end, and a one inch piece of steel from the strut on the head end of the bolt, with the idea of using the steel to pry against the aluminum arm. More soaking of the bolt with penetrating oil, with the hope of salvaging the bushing, but to no avail.

I’ve now resigned myself to the point of having to get a new bushing pressed in, as I can’t get the bolt out of the existing bushing, which also means I have to take off the control arm. What was going to be a simple 2-3 hour project has accumulated about 12 hours, and is still not done. Who knows what problems I’ll run into trying to get the control arm off. What a nightmare!

 

YOU have just described a problem known to almost all shops doing work on the X350 range of cars. This is why very few shops will give a quotation for work involving removal of the front struts, only an estimate with the caveat about seized strut bolts.

The problem is caused by over-enthusiastic application of Loctite to the lower strut bush when assembling the suspension. You will need to put in a new lower bush, and probably cut (saw) the securing bolt in two places, but don't worry, they are not expensive, however, you'll have to have the control arm off to swap them over.

 

Well my hat is off to you for determination!!
I just can't imagine working on cars in the rust belt. That salt/water combination is just so powerful!

Good luck!
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As Fraser says there have been reports on this forum of big problems with the lower strut bolt due to Loctite.

I sympathise with your predicament QuickCat having had a similar but much lesser problem recently.

When you found that the nut had moved about 1/4 inch but you thought it

was stripped I would have been inclined to have tried to get a lever behind

the nut (eg a wrecking bar) while someone else (not the wife!) turned the ratchet.

From information on this forum the control arm removal should be

straightforward.

BTW I am jealous of your tools!

Good luck

 

And your wonderful lift!!

Someday
Someday
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I'm having the same problem with my 06 Super V8 Portfolio here in Fort Worth Texas. As the temperatures have dropped to or below freezing,the passenger side front strut is not holding any air as well. I can hear the air escaping out of the strut. I'm hoping as the temperatures warm up, it will return to normal. The car doesn't even have 55000 miles on it. I've parked it for now and I'll see what happens once it get's above freezing. I guess I'll have to use my XF more now. I'll follow this thread to get an ideal of what I may have to face with the Portfolio. Matt

 

Thanks. I've been working on rust belt cars for many years, and you learn to adapt and overcome. I'm so jealous of folks in the southern and western climates that don't have to deal with those challenges.

When I was lying on my back Sunday morning staring at the strut, the idea of using the wrecking bar came to me, so I was a little late on that one...

Tools make all the difference. I often look at how much I would pay someone to do the job, and figure I can spend up to that amount on a necessary tool to get the job done. I haven't found the job that will generate the cost of a lift, so still using floor jack and jack stands. At least I have an insulated and heated garage though.

Anyone have any tips or tricks regarding the removal of the control arm? I found the one about freezing the bushing and pouring boiling water on the control arm to ease the bushing install.

 

Good luck, any updates?

 

Someone on here has a press bought from "Harbour Freight" (Sounds like a boat yard LOL)

for $80 !! That is not a lot of money for a press !

 

After spending time with family and giving thanks for the many things I’m blessed with on Thursday, and spending a little time shopping on Black Friday (picked up a couple things in the tool department at Sears), I ended up back in the garage late Friday morning. Giving up on trying to get the bolt out of the bushing, I consulted the Jaguar service manual regarding the removal of the lower control arm, so I could get the strut bushing pressed out and the new one I received from Rock Auto (ordered Mon morning, received Wed afternoon) pressed in. The manual refers to a “special tool” to remove the ball joint without damage. A quick search online found the OEM tool available for $197, but I found a couple of similar looking tools at Amazon for around $35. The Wilmar Performance Tool, #W83022 looked almost identical to the OTC #6297 ball joint separator tool, but the description of the OTC model stated it opened about ¼ inch more. Not wanted to wait for shipping, I called a couple auto parts stores in the area, but no one had either tool in stock. My local Auto Value store did have a front end service kit, part#

W89303

W89303

, available for free rental (deposit returned upon return of undamaged tool) that included the Wilmar separator, so I picked that up.

Back under the car, I was able to get all the nuts loose without issue (amazing). I made sure to mark both sides of the nut and bolt on the inner part of the control arm, as this is a concentric bolt for camber-caster adjustment. While using the special tool to get the lower ball joint out, I ran into a problem in that the jaw wouldn’t open far enough to get leverage on the top of the bolt. Great. IF the OTC tool did open larger, I’m sure it would’ve worked. Thinking for a moment I was going to have to hammer on the part to get it free, I looked at the rest of the tools in the kit, and found that the Tie Rod Puller (available individually as well, part# W83021) might work. With a couple turns of the ratchet and a loud pop, it worked perfectly and the ball joint was free without damage.

I thought about taking the control arm to a friend who has one of those Harbor Freight presses, but after finding out how easy the aluminum arm could be damaged, and how much it is to replace, decided to take it to an alignment shop who I’ve had positive experience with in the past. They charged me $30 to press out the old bushing and press in the new one. The inner, larger bushing still looked good, so I decided to pass on replacing that one.

Back under the car, things went remarkably well, and installation of the control arm and new/used air strut took about an hour. After torqueing everything to spec, the moment of truth was now at hand. I reconnected the battery, started the car, and waited. To my relief, the strut pumped up successfully, and I didn’t hear any leaks. Took the car for a short drive, and then measured to the fender lips. 28 ¼ on the driver’s side and 28 1/8 on the passenger side with the replaced strut.

I’ve driven the XJR for a couple days now, and at times it feels like the front isn’t level, but the couple times I’ve measured, it hasn’t changed. I’m now waiting for a below 30 degree day to see if the system is leak free. I will get it aligned after it's passed a temperature test. Fingers crossed…

 

Hi Quikcat

Many thanks for letting us know how you got on. It is true that with these aluminium suspension parts, you cannot hammer away on them, so pressing bushes in and out using an accurate mandrel is essential. Heating up the arm with boiling water just before pressing always helps with aluminium due to its much greater coefficient of expansion compared to steel.

 

This is the press he purchased with a discount coupon:
12 Ton Shop Press

 

MIne has done exactly this over the last couple of weeks in the sub zero temperatures.
On stopping and turning off the car you can hear hissing coming from the driver side front and rear strut. Glad it has heated up somewhat now and its stopped.
Something to add to the list of 3 I suppose..

 

Ha! Mine started at 22K miles. They don't like cold weather.

 

Be aware that after a run, air is also exhausted through the compressor to blow the water out of the water trap. This is a regular and automatic action of the ASM.

 

I knew it wasn't going to be a question of "if" but "when" - when was the other front air strut going to fail. Filling up at a gas station, I heard a "fffttf" from the driver's side, and then I watched in dismay as my front end slowly began to sink. Of course it would happen about 200 miles away from home on a Sunday evening. Knowing there weren't any local shops available, I decided to take a chance and see if I could make it home. Fortunately, even though I got the "air suspension fault" almost immediately, I made it all the way home without the "vehicle too low" error coming on.

Fearing the worst, based on my experience replacing the passenger side, I ordered a replacement strut on Monday and decided to let the car sit until the weekend when I knew I'd have time to battle the strut. Saturday arrived, and I had allocated my entire day for this project. To my surprise, I was able to break free all of the nuts and bolts. I thought to myself, I couldn't be this lucky, I'm sure the bolt is going to be fused to the bushing like last time. Surprised again! The bolt came out with a couple taps with my drift pin. Installation of the replacement strut was without issue as well! Someone must have been showing pity on me based on last experience. Started the car and after about a minute or so, the front end began to rise and I thought, maybe I better go buy a lottery ticket.

From wheels up to wheels down, the whole project took a little less than two hours. Everything went by the book and I had the rest of the afternoon free. What a difference from last time!

 

Great write up, thanks for sharing!

Guus

 

About time you had some luck!

Now you can cogitate about how much money you have saved

on labour costs and the pleasure of not having to deal with dealers!

 

Can you change the struts while resting the car on Jack stands? Is there enough room (height) to get in to remove all the bolts and pieces?

 

Yes. You have to push the bottom control arm down, but I was able maneuver the struts out while supporting the car on jack stands. I watched the video from Arnott - it had some good tips.