Faulty damper?

[Dryad]

Last year I replaced the nearside front damper with a refurbished one from a good and well known Minor parts specialist, then last month (almost immediately after passing its MOT) I noticed that the same damper had become weak, and now it's so weak that it's become dangerous to drive. If I go round a left hand bend and hit a very small bump the car bounces into the middle of the road. My first thought was that there was an air bubble in the damper, so I bought some SAE30 and removed the filler plug on top of the damper with the idea that I would flush the oil through, but I was surprised to see oil oozing out as soon as I removed the plug. I removed the bottom drain plug and almost no oil came out - even though the oil level remained at just below the thread of the filler hole! Any ideas what's going on?!

[bmcecosse]

When you removed the drain - was the valve assembly present? It often takes some 'bouncing' to get the old oil to run out... Does it seem very 'thin' and perhaps smelly (usually 'fish' smell..?

[Dryad]

Yes, the valve assembly was present, and I tried bouncing the car to see if any would come out, but only the occasional drip. The oil did have a fairly strong smell, but it didn't make me think of fish! Slightly blue in colour, and not particularly thin.

[bmcecosse]

Hmm -well I suppose it's possible something has failed inside, although it is pretty robust. Leave it to drain - and try dribbling in some new oil. I would probably disconnect it from the top link of the king pin so I could pump the arm by hand - thus getting full strokes

[Dryad]

Thanks, I'll try that tomorrow. Could it have been reassembled wrongly when refurbished?

[bmcecosse]

Possible - but you say it did work ok?

[Dryad]

Yes, it did work properly, but I had always noticed that it was very slightly weaker than the old one on the other side, but I put that down to it being filled with a different grade of oil. It certainly worked well enough to pass an MOT. But now it's almost as if it had no oil in at all, and I dare not drive it!

[bmcecosse]

Pump out the old and pump in the new! There was a thread a few weeks ago about the overhaul of these dampers - where you can see the construction. There's not a lot to go wrong, although if seals were not replaced - I suppose the pistons could be threshing up and down - doing nothing..... Where did the damper come from - consider contacting them for a free replacement!

[Dryad]

It came from Bull Motif last July. Never usually have a problem with them. I would have bought it from my local Minor parts supplier, DSN, but they say they are reducing their stock of Minor parts because "there is not the demand there used to be". Very worrying.

I found the link to Declan's damper overhaul. Very informative! http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=36349

[Neil MG]

... DSN, but they say they are reducing their stock of Minor parts because "there is not the demand there used to be". Very worrying.

Much more likely increased competition! And the internet means that prices have to be much more competitive. A shame for the smaller local retailers as that means smaller margins or lower volumes and greater difficulty to stay in business.

[bmcecosse]

Perhaps best to put it back together and ask Bull M for another damper foc.

[Dryad]

Update: I managed to drain the oil, but I had to force it out using a bicycle pump and a rubber washer on the filler hole. A lot of grey gloopy, lumpy and smelly oil came out. Flushed it through with some fresh SAE30 and then refilled. Slightly better but still substandard. I shall be contacting BullMotif on Monday - judging by the state of that oil I should imagine the only "refurbishment" it had undergone is a quick scrub down and repaint. Trouble is, a replacement might be just the same. I'm tempted to go for ESM's gas telescopic conversion now.

[bmcecosse]

Try the replacement damper - and yes - I rather suspect the 'reconditioning' considering the fairly low price charged.... But worth trying another. Personally - I don't rate these tele damper kits unless they have properly welded on top mounts......