Superb saloon & short boot struts

[vborovic]

If anyone has the same situation as my self, I'd like an opinion, if not, maybe I'll provide it in due time myself. I've noticed that the short boot opening mechanism (mostly regarding the short dampers) isn't working as it should, which I believe is due to old age of the car (10 years). It will only slightly lift the boot (after pressing and holding the boot key on the remote), nothing higher. Now, this is not something that i use very often, but when I do, I'd like for it to work, and I'll have to repair this. An extra factor comes into play in the form of a rear spoiler (which I put on, replacing the stock rear lip on the boot). The spoiler isn't that heavy, maybe 4 kgs at most, but surely it adds just enough weight to keep the boot down compared to before when 2 out of 5 times the boot would manage to squeeze itself out (pushed by the aging genuine struts).

 

Now, here's the thing, the stock strut OEM part no. is 3T5 827 552, and there are several brands available (locally, I could get Magneti Marellis, but I can also easily order online, going for Johns, Kilen or Stabilus - the last one being 3x more expensive than the first one mentioned - Lift-o-mat, something magical). Now, all of those have a declared pushing force of 310 N. I did some extra research, and found on the net that there are universal struts (required 40 cm, or 403 mm precise) available that have forces of 400-600 N. What would you do? I can grab the Marellis locally for 20 GBP a pair and just try my luck, or opt for the universal ones with stronger pushing force (at least on paper), which are mostly no-brand, no warranty, and who knows how long they will actually work and how they'll work.

 

Feedback appreciated

[Danny 57]

In cold weather my boot section only opens a little bit but in warm weather it opens all the way. I am presuming it is simply the fluid in the struts that is affected by the temperature difference. Cold oil is like treacle, warm and the oil is not like treacle.

[vborovic]

Had the same train of thought in the beginning, but you can't "sell" that explanation when it is 30°C outside in late September and early October ... ... I literally opened the boot with the remote 50-60 times during a span of several days, morning, evening, cold, wet, whatever ... without the newer spoiler it was like I've described, at most 2 out of 5 were opened fully (but even those were very slow, just barely managed to flip over the balance point), others a few cms above the trunk edge ... now with the newer spoiler, no chance, the boot just barely noticeable opens upwards.

[vborovic]

Just and updated, today I've received the Magneti Marelli struts for the boot (403mm), declared at 390N ... if the weather will be good, I'll try to do the replacing tomorrow and see what the end result will be.

[vborovic]

Managed to replace the short boot struts today, and the end result is better than what I had expected ... the boot is opened fast & flawless, the new struts are rated with 390 N compared to the stock struts that are rated 310 N (when new; on a 10 year old car, I guess they were at 200 N at most, since they couldn't move the short boot a few millimeters upwards). An interesting fact is that the Magneti Marelli's struts are labeled as for the Audi 100 (12/90-07/94), I went to a specialized car parts shop, and this model is what came up as available as a spare. The new struts just clip-on, no need to remove the security metal ring around their ends, works plug&play, no modifications required.

[davidww]

Thanks very much for posting this. My struts failed ages ago and I've been living with a boot not working. Fitted the Magneti Marelli struts today and they work a treat. Very pleased.

 

Regards

David

[Declan O'Shaughnessy]

Is it difficult to remove the trim and panels to access the short boot struts? I bought a pair of the Marellis thinking it was just a case of replacing the visible, easy to access struts. I didn't realise there was a second set of struts buried in the fecking side panels!

 

All tips gratefully accepted.

[vborovic]

A metal L shaped tool would be a good idea to start from, because you need to pull the plastic covers, on the top (where the 3rd brake light is) and bottom side of the rear window ... you have to get some reach inside the plastics to avoid breaking something, putting them back in place is much simpler, the side plastic inside covers can't be removed before you remove the horizontal pieces, because two torx screws are holding them in place in the upper corners of the rear boot door.

[Declan O'Shaughnessy]

11 minutes ago, vborovic said:

A metal L shaped tool would be a good idea to start from, because you need to pull the plastic covers, on the top (where the 3rd brake light is) and bottom side of the rear window ... you have to get some reach inside the plastics to avoid breaking something, putting them back in place is much simpler, the side plastic inside covers can't be removed before you remove the horizontal pieces, because two torx screws are holding them in place in the upper corners of the rear boot door.

Thanks! I might give it a go later in the week - we've been snowed in for the last few days so haven't been able to take a look at it at all.

[vborovic]

Try to heat up the cabin before proceeding, because the plastic really tries hard to break somewhere during cold temperatures (which you don't want happening).

[Declan O'Shaughnessy]

Finally got a chance to take a look at this yesterday evening. I even managed to get it done without breaking anything! Getting the long plastic trims off is a pain in the backside (getting them back on wasn't much easier, especially the one around the brake light), but from start to finish it took about an hour. Would have been quicker but I had to spend around 15 minutes mangling the metal clips back onto the new struts (after they came off through stupidity on my part previously).

 

The saloon boot now springs open with gay abandon. It's suprising how much you can feel the force of the new struts pushing back against you when you close the saloon boot now. All in all, very happy to have a properly working boot again. No idea how long the new struts will stay so "sprung", but time will tell.

 

Many thanks to @vborovic for creating this thread and the helpful pics and tips. I would have been lost without it!

[notflyingscot]

Tackled this job today thanks to the information supplied. Had sourced two 400N struts however the first strut I removed had zero resistance, with just this one replaced boot is rising strongly so have kept the second new strut in reserve if needed later. Thanks for the guidance.

[Drahy]

Hello,

wow thank you! I ordered ones here if anyone is interested: https://www.ebay.com/itm/140896189087?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

 

Anyway do you have tips to have also better "long" boot struts? It seems I have to manage a lot of energy to open them these days - some more superb with more N like you did before with the short ones?

 

Thank you.