Hey all, just got this car a couple of days ago and already have mutiple issues. Shocking I know.

Prob #1. Took it for a scenic drive yesterday, after about 30 minutes, I began to hear a pronounced whirring and occasionally a whine from the engine bay, after some internet searches, sounds like I have a failing alternator.

Prob #2. Ebrake will not set. I see the car has a new battery and read that the ebrake can lose its calibration if voltage is too low??? I see a possible fix is to diconnect the battery for 30 minutes and then pump the brakes and reset the ebrake??? Any truth to this or other fix????

Prob #3. This morning ran my love down to the airport and got an sir suspension fault. It was relatively cold here in San Diego at 42 degrees, I see some posts about colder weather affecting the system, can someone direct me to a link to start assessing this problem????


Car ran beautifully for all of two days. It only has 51K on the clock, pretty impressive to have this much go wrong with it with so few miles. I thought they had sorted some of these things out, guess I was wrong.

 

Regarding the suspension problems, could be various issues including leaking struts, failing compressor, air leaks other places. Options include replacing seals in compressor or replacing air struts with new air struts or converting to coil over struts. You can do a search on any of these terms and see much written on the forum. Many owners are choosing the coil overs without much ride forfeiture in order to get away from future air suspension issues. All these can be done DIY without a whole lot of expertise, but need an adventuresome spirit and some research if you haven't tackled such issues before.
Since this cat is new to you, it may be worthwhile to have a Jag dealer provide some more in depth computer code diagnostics to see what issues exist and what might be related to what without having to guess your way through it. It might reveal such things as engine misfiring or electrical issues or more clues about the suspension issues.

 

I spent about an hour reading multiple threads on these issues and realize I have the cold ambient temperature problem with my air suspension which goes away as soon as the temperature warms up the car runs and drives perfectly. So there is some fault in the system but I am going to wait for a bigger problem before I dive in and try to correct it. I found an alternator for a hundred bucks that should be fairly straightforward so I am only trying to figure out the e-brake at this point. Thanks again for reading my thread.

I appreciate the response but not going to subject myself to a Jaguar dealer and his guessing thinking he is better at guessing than me. Most dealers and independents will want to do all kinds of work in the name of preventive maintenance which might be fine for deep pockets but not me. I have already found valuable information on this board thank you for that and I will continue to educate myself until the car meets my approval.

The car rides and drives amazingly well it's been a few years since I've had a Jag but this is miles ahead of my S type

 

Hi SD1,

Congratulations on your nice low-mileage X350!

Your Electronic Park Brake (EPB) problem may be solved by a simple reset. There are two or three procedures outlined in the Workshop Manual for restting or calibrating the EPB. The short version is this:

Disconnect the negative battery cable for 30 seconds
Reconnect battery cable
Start the engine
Watch for a message below the speedometer that reads Apply Brake, Apply Foot and Parking Brake, etc.
Firmly press and release the foot brake pedal 5 times
While lightly depressing the foot brake pedal, activate the EPB in both directions, On-Off-On (Up-Down-Up)

If all is well you should have no brake-related warning message remaining. If the PARKBRAKE FAULT message appears, you will need to try the longer calibration procedure. Let us know.

Regarding your ASF, as you've discovered, many of us experience the cold-weather issue with the VEHICLE TOO LOW and AIR SUSPENSION FAULT. I believe this results from a combination of two common problems. The first is air leaks in the system, either at air hose fittings at the air springs (they are rarely reported at the valve block or reservoir in the trunk under the spare wheel) or at other points at the tops of the shocks, primarily the front shocks. For reasons we don't yet fully understand, these leaks seem to either worsen when air temps are cold, or the compressor has more difficulty charging the system when the air is cold and the leaks compound the problem. You can test for leaks by spritzing soapy water onto the tops of the shocks, especially around the air hose fittings and the central top recess of the air shock. Bubbles indicate a leak. Do this when the air suspension is fully charged with air to prevent water from seeping into the system. Once you have identified any leaks, carefully mop up all the soapy water.

The other common issue is wear on the piston ring or seal in the air compressor which reduces its ability to pressurize the system within the time alloted by the Air Suspension Control Module (ASM). Given the low miles on your car, this may not be your primary problem, but your ring is probably sufficiently worn that it would be worth the low cost of replacing it just to be sure the compressor is operating at full capacity. If you decide to replace your piston ring, I can point you to photos illustrating the entire process, which you can do with standard tools.

The X350 Workshop Manual can be downloaded in six sections from this forum:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/md...f+contents.pdf http://www.mediafire.com/download/aa...nformation.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/download/n3...2.+Chassis.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/download/9b...Powertrain.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/download/0i...Electrical.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/download/4j...+and+Paint.pdf


The 2006 X350 Electrical Guide can be downloaded here:
http://www.jagrepair.com/images/Elec...al%20Guide.pdf


Cheers,

Don

 

Well, your air compressor could well be on the way out, because I needed a new one at 38k miles. Car has been OK ever since and it's now on 89k. No doubt I am due another one soon !

I do suspect that the early pumps were not so long lived as later ones. Mine is a service exchange unit from a Jaguar main agent. The usual fault is the piston seal, and our member, 'bagpipingandy' makes and sells a piston seal kit for those who like to do DIY. These things are made by Wabco.

The code that usually foretells of an air compressor problem is C2303 Reservoir Plausibility Error, (BTW who writes these pieces of text is obviously an expert in writing obscure English !)

As regards the alternator, this is not a common fault, there being very few posts on this as an issue.

 

Thank You don indeed the e-brake simply needed a reset I unplugged the battery and reconnected it and followed the brake/ebrake application and parking brake is now working properly.

The front of the car will settle overnight but inflates quickly and does not seem to cycle during the day. If I had to guess I would think the front bags are the culprit and I don't want to address it until it actually become a nuisance.

The alternator sounds like the bearing is wearing out but only makes noise after the car has been driven 20 miles or so. I can't think of anything else that could make that noise and I heard a YouTube clip of a failing alternator on this model jag and it sounds exactly the same. It is still working though.

 

Hi SD1,

Thanks for reporting back on your success with the EPB reset!

Regarding the noise that sounds like an alternator bearing, other, less expensive suspects would be the drive belt tensioner and idler pulley. You can view the locations of these components on the drive belt diagram in the Jaguar Electronic Parts Catalog (EPC), which you can download free from this forum and install on your computer; or search the parts diagrams at jaguarmerriamparts.com.

Some (very) careful probing with an inexpensive mechanic's stethoscope may help you isolate the noise, just take extreme care not to touch any moving parts (fans, belts, pulleys). Touch your probe to the alternator body, and the areas near the belt tensioner and idler pulley, and you'll probably know immediately where the bearing noise is coming from.

P.S. It's a great idea to add your car model, year and engine to your signature line so others won't have to go back to your first post to be reminded of that information.

Cheers,

Don