front damper problem

[norman]

Hi again friends
I did read through the topics before bothering you all with what must be a common problem again.
It said on one response that to improve the dampers, to drain out the old fluid and replace with a more viscous oil.
my problem is that i tried to drain the damper and only about an eggcup worth of oil came out, i bounced the car to pump out the old oil as directed, but no amount of bouncing will empty the rest of the oil that's in the top of the damper.
i took off the cover and there is oil in it, but it will not pass through the valve.
is it me?
I'm relying on your combined genius.
thank you
Norm

[Peetee]

When you took the bottom bolt off did a spring and valve come out too?
The oil can be a pain to drain. It worked very easily the first time i did it. The second time I sprayed some light lube oil through the top hole. I found leaving a icecream tub on the engine floor panel under the damper and pumping the suspension every couple of hours did the trick after a day of working on other parts of the car.

A hand tip for refilling is to get hold of some large plastic syringes. and feed the oil in slowly. It only goes in about 10ml at a time - which is very hard to do straight from the bottle without making an unholy mess and wasting most of the oil. I used 20W, marked as heavy duty motorcycle fork oil. It makes a huge difference to the resillience of the suspension with very little reduction in ride quality.

[bmcecosse]

There may not have been much oil in the damper in the first place - fill it up with your choice of oil - and bounce it up and down - keep topping it up but don't fill it absolutely full - you should leave an air space. Failing to do so may cause the damper to leak. May be an idea to run the car like that for a week or two - then drain and refill again!

[norman]

I think your right about not much oil in the damper, there was oil in the top????? but i couldn't get it to go through.

re the spring and valve, yes they did come out, I assume that is right?
in the end I took off the top of the damper with the six screws holding it on which was how i knew it still had oil in the top????
I will do as you both recommend, thank you for your advise.
Norm

[MoggyTech]

Tyre pump with air bed inflater nozzle pushed into top hole, and drain plug out, a few pumps and the damper is empty. Easy.

[bmcecosse]

If it's not pumping the fluid out when you bounce it - it may be hopelessly knackered!

[norman]

thanks for the great tip Moggy Tech, i'll try it ASAP
an thanks bmcecosse i hope your wrong, but suspect your right
i find the camaraderie and help from you all is amazing, what a great bunch!
i'm not worthy, well a bit maybe
Norm

[bmcecosse]

Camaraderie indeed! Yes - it is one of the best forums on the web.
Back to your dampers - with bottom valves out - did you really bounce the car hard - from bump stop to bump stop ? I found once the fluid started running - it all came out very freely - but I seem to remember it took a couple of bounces to get it started.

[norman]

re bouncing,
in the end i was standing on the front bumper irons going up an down like the clappers,
i was lucky not to have the men in white coats come for me
i'll try all of the advise give to me an hope it works, after all its just simple Morris Minor Ha!!!!

[Declan_Burns]

I used a large syringe with a small length of silicon tube to empty most of the oil and then did the bouncing trick-seem to work.
Declan

[bmcecosse]

Welcome to the Forum Declan! And did you find the dampers working better with fresh oil ?
Dunno what's happened to 'norman' - maybe he bounced too high!

[Declan_Burns]

Yes, I used 90 grade oil and found the car does not bounce around as much.
Declan<br><br>

[bmcecosse]

Well - I too used 90 oil in my rally Minor (and many on here will tell you that is unwise!) but I had no problems. I would suggest you check the bolts holding the front dampers to the crossmember are tight - they sometimes slacken off over the years. For road use here I have 20W50 oil in the dampers, but i also have large telescopic dampers at the front - and the car rides the dips and wallows very nicely indeed!

[Kevin]

Welcome aboard Declan, thats a clever number plate