Suspension Probs - diagnosis/advice please

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 11:56 pm

Righto, the suspension has been crashy over the smaller type bumps & i initially thought it was the mechanical suspension parts that would be the culprit i.e. drop links or wear & tear on the bushes etc..

Took it to local garage, they checked it out & said the suspension was rock solid, zero play in the bushes & drop links. They said it was the driver side strut, it has been leaking lhm & they reckon this is furbar.

I took car home & did the lhm Front Strut Citraeobics thing that has been recommended by bods on the forum. The lhm went a bit manky & it did swallow a bit of lhm.

Took her out for a quick spin after the above & it did seem better. However, is this just temporary & will lhm keep coming out of it. Was also advised to be careful as the lhm is getting quite close to the brakes, & oil on brakes doesnt make the car slow down well.....

Advice/help needed please, should i just keep an eye out for leaking lhm & a deteroration in how the suspension arises, or should i overhaul the strut if thats possible, or just buy a new one? If i have to buy a new one, should i buy 2 so that both front struts are in the same condition to get good ride quality, or will the old one be ok with the new one?

Would appreciate any views on this please, many thanks.

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 12:08 am

New (or fully overhauled) struts will make a huge difference to the ride if it has deteriorated due to strut wear.

Lubrication may work. I also lubricate the outer slide under the gaiter by simply putting 2 or 3 drops of oil through the hole in the sphere mounting at the top. LHM is completely useless for this job - and I found one of the best was 3 in 1 machine oil as sold in hardware shops. Don't overdo it as it'll run down the strut leg.

One of the symptoms of advanced strut wear is excessive return of LHM from the strut. If its sound - there is very little leakage - if it gets to the stage where it forces the rubber collector (held on by the clip) to leak then the thing needs overhaul or replacement.

Give it a few days and see what it's like. Overhauling is no joke unless you have the correct tools - nothing special but you will need large strong spanners and probably a good vice.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 12:56 am

Cheers for the info Jeremy, will give the car a run tomorrow to work, the Sheffield roads will give the suspension a very good workout, i should be able to tell if what i did has made any difference. I will see if it lasts or not for the rest of the week.

You mention putting some machine oil in the sphere mounting, is that where the pipe goes into the top above the actual sphere?

What is the easiest way to lower the gater? it appears to have 3 plastic nuts attaching it to the roof of the wheel arch.

Regarding an overhaul, that sounds out of my mechanical expertise, if i could get some help whereabouts can i get the parts that i would need? or is all this faffing around just delaying the invevitable strut replacment anyway?

Post by **docchevron** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 1:03 am

If you look at the strut top, below the sphere mounting, you'll see two holes, one of which has a plastic cap (actually it's part of the bellows and not a cap, but it looks like a cap), and the other hole is, er, a hole!

Couple of drops down there mate!

Overhauling struts works ok if the strut isn't too badly worn already.

the piston (ram) tends to devolope a wear ridge and can actually blue, if it's reached that stage, throw it in the bin and fit a new one.

Oddly enough sticky struts was MUCH less of a problem when you could buy LHM rather than LHM plus. Go figure!

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:49 pm

Cheers for the info guys, i will have to get hold so some oil. I can report that the car is miles better after the lhm treatment over the weekend, far less shock coming up through the steering, so will see how it goes unitil i can sort some 2in1.

Er, sorry what do u mean?

"the piston (ram) tends to devolope a wear ridge and can actually blue, if it's reached that stage, throw it in the bin and fit a new one".

Does it matter if only one side gets a new one?

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:24 pm

It is also worth checking that the height corrector is nicely lubricated. Given half a chance they will make the car ride low - which gives a hard ride - no doubt in part due to the ridging of the struts.

A crude test is to raise the car and drop it back to its normal height and see if the ride improves for a bit. If it does - its a sure sigh that the corrector needs lubricating - which means getting underneath with an assortment of lubricating equipment - like brushes and grease, a can of spraygrease etc. Trace the linkage from the anti-roll bar to the height corrector and get some grease on the linkage at the corrector end.

Remember the car may drop while you are fiddling with the linkage so make sure there's room for you if it does.

Post by **docchevron** » Tue May 01, 2007 2:27 am

MULLEY wrote: Er, sorry what do u mean?

"the piston (ram) tends to devolope a wear ridge and can actually blue, if it's reached that stage, throw it in the bin and fit a new one".

Does it matter if only one side gets a new one?

Sorry mate, wasn't being very descriptive! DOH!
Er, I've stripped a few struts that have blue marks on the piston, a sure sign things have been getting hot! If you get a piece of metal and hold a gas torch to it you'll see that the metal developes a blue haze, thats what the piston does too!

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Tue May 01, 2007 9:11 pm

Aha, now i get it, how do i get the gater off so that i can inspect the top of the strut?

The height correcter & associated bits Doc is a bit advanced for me, i can comment however that Ken has done some work on my car & did lubricate various parts underneath that needed it, so i would guess that he has done those, how often do they need doing?

mountainmanUK · Post by **mountainmanUK** » Tue May 01, 2007 9:40 pm

Well.....following the good advice (as usual) given in this thread, I popped about 4 drops of 3-in-1 oil into the hole at the top of both struts, during my lunch hour. When I got in Monica 3 hours later I first did a brief Citroebics and ALL the groaning and juddering on the climb to high position had disappeared!!!

. Rose and dropped half a dozen times without a murmur!

Cheers guys.....Doc in particular!

Dave

Post by **docchevron** » Wed May 02, 2007 3:06 am

Easy Tiger! Oh, theres a bowden cable clip in the post mate!

mountainmanUK · Post by **mountainmanUK** » Wed May 02, 2007 7:33 am

Vanny · Post by **Vanny** » Wed May 02, 2007 9:49 am

drinking at 6.33am, hard core man! They really don't make em like northereners do they

mountainmanUK · Post by **mountainmanUK** » Wed May 02, 2007 9:55 am

Too true matey!

Us Northern folk are built of strong stuff, eh?

My excuse is.....it's my BIRTHDAY today!!

(just a reminder that Doc has a couple of

on my slate, should we ever both be near an establishment which dispenses alcoholic beverage!)

Post by **docchevron** » Wed May 02, 2007 11:39 am

Happy birthday mate!

Have a great day and remember, dont drink too little!

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Wed May 02, 2007 8:23 pm

Hmm, put suspension onto the high position today & noticed that both the lhm strut pipes had come adrift, i re-fitted them. Is there any reason why they would have come off?

Any clues on how to remove the gater from the strut so that i can inspect the top of the strut? or is it just easier to push the gater as high up as possible to inspect?