Morris Minor Owners Club

How necessary is it to top these up and what fluid do you use,the handbook mentions having to remove the rear one to fill it,sounds a difficult job,is it necessary.Should I go to a Morris mechanic to get it done.Ive no idea when the levels were last checked as I’ve only had the car 3 years and as it’s a convertible it only gets summer use

I take it you mean suspension dampers (shock absorbers). It is important to keep them topped up. Too little oil will reduce their efficiency and ultimately cause damage to their internals. Looking at old posts on here, SAE40 oil seems to be a favourite choice (not10w/40). It's not that difficult to remove the rear ones, but give all the nuts/bolts a good dose of PlusGas a day or two in advance, to assist removal. If you don't know the condition/age of the oil in them, it may be worth taking all four off the car, draining them, flushing them through with SAE40 before finally filling/refitting them. Don't forget to check the condition of the rubber bushes and replace if necessary (maybe with polyurethane bushes) at the same time.

Be careful not to overfill the dampers. There must be a small air gap at the top of the reservoir.
Some people report leaks from their dampers soon after refilling them and it is possible/likely that it is because they have not left the required air space (see the Minor Workshop Manual for details).

Regards from Oz
Don

Unless you're planning on changing the oil in all of them, I'd stick to topping up with the standard oil. Otherwise, depending on ow much oil you have to top up each one with, you may end up with different damping rates between wheels, as the SAE 40 mentioned is a lot thicker (and gives greater damping) than the standard oil.

If there is little oil in them,i.e. Below the damper arm level the you can be safe in the knowledge it has leaked out and when you refill them they will leak again. The rubber seals will be dry and worn.