Damper draining

[mobylette]

I thought I should resurrect this old thread as I was having exactly the same problem, but found an easy solution.

I drained out what was left of the old oil, and refilled with SAE 40 using a small syringe. No matter how hard and high I bounced the poor car, nothing would come through. I tried putting the valve back in etc.., but no luck. Not wishing to remove the damper, I fitted a small tube to the end of the syringe, sucked up some oil, squirted it into the valve/drain hole and screwed the valve back in pronto before the oil could escape. Then one or two bounces, and the damper is working.

On the strength of this I would suggest it would be an idea to top up with fresh oil before removing the drain plug, and keep topping up till fresh oil comes through, a bit like bleeding brakes.

Hope this helps anyone who has a similar problem

[bmcecosse]

Indeed - it's how I have done it in the past - and do it again from time to time as the oil does need changing. And are the dampers obviously 'better' now?

[mobylette]

Quite a transformation, but then this was a job I had been meaning to do for some years .... Will become more regular now.