Morris Minor Owners Club

i am trying to change the fluid in my leaver arms damper on the front, ive got the old smelly fluid out but how do i refill,

thanks tom

the bolt in the top comes out
refill from there and keep working the arm to expel all the air

I use a syringe but you could try a washing up liquid bottle (a clean one of course ).
Secret is to go slowly, I find, and bounce the car a few times to settle the fluid as you go. Leave a small air gap at the top and recheck the levels for a couple of weeks as it will settle down as the air works out.

thanks, do i leave the bottom one undone, or just the top one and then bounce the car up and down thanks, i undid the top bolt to refil but it didnt go down,

ps im not suprised my car bounce abit there was only a few drops in there even after bouncing it a lot to empty)

Replace the bottom one - make sure you still have the little valve (you didn't loose it did you?) the air should be forced to the top....

no i didnt lose it i made sure of that, ill try again 2moro

Best to try to work some new fluid through the damper - with the bottom valve left out. The old fluid is smelly because the 'long chain' molecules of the original oil have been ripped apart - and turned the oil into something like 'fish oil' !! I've always found it very runny - but perhaps yours has gone thick and is not keen to come out. See how you get on - but it may take a while to get all the old oil out - and new stuff in. Maybe you should try some thin 3 in 1 oil at first, to help flush out the old, and then add the new thicker oil. Hopefully you are adding SAE 30 or 40 oil ?

im using moss's specail leaver arm damper fluid and the old stuff that came out was a bit thicker then the new stuff, and i thought it smelt like a farm

The Moss oil will be too thin for decent damping - but use it as a flushing oil! You can get a small can of SAE 30 in Tesco - in the gardening section. SAE 40 probably need to go to a motorcycle place, and no - 10W40 is NOT SAE 40!!

thanks ill try and get some which will make them stiffer as i need to replace one of my bumpstops that has been smashed off,

tom

May as well replace both - that's the problem with running too low - and with useless dampers......... make sure the rebound rubbers- under the arms - are there too. And carefully tighten the damper fixing bolts!

they are there but i might replace, so which is better fluid and i wanted to lower it more as well

thanks for all your help tom

I did use EP90 oil in my dampers in my Rally Minor - and nothing broke - but I suggest SAE40 will be fine for a road going car. You can see for yourself the problem with lowering too far - it will smash the hell out of your inner wings........

it has slighly damaged the inner wing but it already needed replacing, and i tryed changing the oil and when emptied there was no diffrence, so i filled up the passanger side and there was a big diffrerance, but i could not get it to go right through the damper and i tryed to top up the driver side but it just seems to not want to fiill up,,

could it be blocked or am i better getting a suringe and putting it right in the damper

thanks tom

Try silicone tubing on the end of the syringe and see if you can suck the most of the old oil out- then flush it as suggested before re-filling. That's what I tried and it di make it a bit easier and less of a mess.

Regards

The other damper may be blocked with fried up old oil! It may be beyond redemption......... You will probably need to change the oil 3 or 4 times to get rid of all the old oil. Run the car for a week bewteen changes!

ok ill try getting all the old oil out with a suringe, will ep90 be to stiff, the front is stiffer with moss's stuff

thanks tom,

Many will freak out at the thought of EP90 but if you want a firm ride then go ahead - just keep an eye on your top mounts to make sure there are no fatigue cracks forming from the additional stresses going through them....

Go with SAE 40, yes - I have used EP90 on my Rally Minor, and I had no problems. But for road use - SAE 40, from motorcycle place.