Shock Absorbers

[paulmatty]

Hi

How can you tell if the shocks have gone, both front and rear on a 2003 SRi DTi.
I had a precautionary on the MOT for a leaking front shock but the back suspension seems very hard, harder than normal.
When the boot is loaded ( I had an engine in it last week!) the ride of the car is much better, a lot softer.
The car has done 184,000 so maybe its time they had gone but I don't know.
Any help or other threads would be grately appreciated.

KIndest regards
Paul

[jrh1]

I read somewhere that the working life of shocks was about 36k.

[paulmatty]

I suppose it depends on how you drive the car, I drive like an old granny on dope so I would hope to get alot more than 39k out of my shocks.

The TIS mentions ride heights but it makes no sense to me.
I would say I couldnt get the width of my palm in the gap between tyre and wheel arch at the rear.

Paul

[Graham]

The rear shocks are very easy to remove. 1top bolt and 1 bottom bolt.

Remove it and you should be able to compress the shock by hand. If its seized you wont be able to compress it.

[m8internet]

I had a precautionary on the MOT for a leaking front shock but the back suspension seems very hard, harder than normal

All of mine have gone now, so here is how mine were diagnosed

Rear
Starts off with banging noises, no affect on performance and can remain like this for some time
Drive over a speed bump that is across the entire carriageway
The rear of the car will wobble left to right as the rear tyres return to the normal road surface
Leave the car for on a dry surface and look for oil dropping from the rear of the car around the suspension, this will confirm the shock has reached the end of its life

Front
The first signs are excessive dirt sticking to the lower part of the strut
Lift the plastic / rubber cover at the top
The metal should be clean
If there is any liquid it has failed
This liquid will then run down the strut allowing dirt to collect on it
I had this on the previous two MoT (June 2010 and June 2011), and it finally failed at the beginning of this month

One thing to note is that ride height does fall very slightly, but it is so little you will hardly notice it
It is very noticable when both the springs and shocks are replaced
Many people think the wrong type of springs and shocks have been replaced, but it is just due to new parts (providing the correct parts have been fitted)