Good morning everyone.

 

Just had the MOT and the car flew through (good trusty Superb) apart from one advisory for 'Shock absorber light misting of oil or has limited damping effect - Offside Front'

 

Now I've changed dampers / struts before and have all the tools so I'm happy to change it myself, but I'm wondering do I just change the one or should I change both struts?  I'm not sure if wear over time means that by only replacing one i'll have a difference between nearside and offside?

 

Thanks

First thing to do is ask the tester which of those things made him/her give that advisory.  Almost certainly it will be just the misting, which is pretty much normal.

http://www.theuniversalgroup.com/shock-absorber-inspection-misting-versus-leaking/

 

No action at all required, I should think.

 

15 minutes ago, Wino said:

First thing to do is ask the tester which of those things made him/her give that advisory.  Almost certainly it will be just the misting, which is pretty much normal.

http://www.theuniversalgroup.com/shock-absorber-inspection-misting-versus-leaking/

 

No action at all required, I should think.

 

 

And at one point Skoda released technical information (backed by the manufacturer of the OE dampers) that some misting was acceptable, part of the design, and didn't impact on the dampers performance.

Ah ok,

 

I thought they were gas struts and therefore they had failed due to 'limited damping effect' rather than oil misting, i didn't realise they had oil in them.

 

I'll have a read of the link and ask the tester

 

Thanks for the replies!

Edited 12 July, 20196 yr by tommygards

So i've removed the wheel and taken some pictures.  There's some obvious misting on the damper but i can't see any leaks - however, there is evidence of some sort of residue on the bottom of the strut (pic 3), but i don't know if this is definitely oil from the damper.

 

Any opinions on whether it's the damper leaking and whether i should change it?

 

Thanks!

 

@tommygards How does it ride????? If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it..............up to you

14 minutes ago, Tilt said:

@tommygards How does it ride????? If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it..............up to you

 

rides fine as far as i can tell, but to be honest im not sure i'd be able to tell between a good and knackered damper.  when i press the car down quickly on that corner it doesnt continuously bounce up and down, it rises back up and settles just the same as on the other corner.

Edited 12 July, 20196 yr by tommygards

One thing to check is whether the ride height is correct: these struts have a certain amount of springiness in them which disappears as they wear, which will show up as a drop in ride height. I've posted the specs in this post:

 

ok thanks - i was under the impression the ride height was dictated by the springs and not the dampers but i will check the ride height.

1 hour ago, tommygards said:

ok thanks - i was under the impression the ride height was dictated by the springs and not the dampers but i will check the ride height.

It's mainly the springs but the dampers add about 10-15 mm.

Clean it with a rag and some spray brake cleaner and check in about a month.

There will be hardly any misting if any 

Have changed front springs on these at over 250,000 miles and the shock coming of arestill in a completely good state .

(Unlike the springs fitted to these cars---I think they used the metal from old Lada's to make them)

Also about "one side or both"
Would you go out and buy only one shoe if it was worn out😁
 

Thanks for the replies, i've cleaned it up so will check in about a month.

 

You're right about 'only buying one shoe rather than two' but I was unsure whether this issue was due to wear or because it malfunctioned / broke.  I completely agree if its a wear issue then i'd change both but if it's just broken prematurely then I would only change one.  Using my job as an aircraft engineer for example, if one engine malfunctioned and needed changing i wouldn't go then go and change the other.

 

Thanks again for the replies guys, i'll keep you posted

1 hour ago, tommygards said:

Thanks for the replies, i've cleaned it up so will check in about a month.

 

You're right about 'only buying one shoe rather than two' but I was unsure whether this issue was due to wear or because it malfunctioned / broke.  I completely agree if its a wear issue then i'd change both but if it's just broken prematurely then I would only change one.  Using my job as an aircraft engineer for example, if one engine malfunctioned and needed changing i wouldn't go then go and change the other.

 

Thanks again for the replies guys, i'll keep you posted

With springs/dampers, they generally wear similarly to each other so unless you're seeing a failure very early in their life, it's safe to say the other one will probably go soon after the first. The risk with only replacing one is that you get a significant imbalance between the two sides (new vs old) that wasn't there when you were running two old ones. That's going to screw with the handling in ways that I'd prefer not to think about.

The factory say to replace the blown damper on one side only when under warranty. (they would as they are paying for it).

Anything more than 70K I would change them both. I did all four on my A6 Allroad (when it got to 90K) and it transformed the ride. As the dampers wear, you get used to a soggy ride, then once changed you will be surprised how much they have gone off.