Front Dampers.

[bmcecosse]

Ahh - there's the problem - 20W50 is just equivalent to what was in there. SAE 30 and even better SAE 40 will give nicer damping. But if you are happy - it's your car!

[myoldjalopy]

Earlier in this post someone said "When you do the Dampers,Front or rear, be aware of a spring inside the Damper,where the valve assembly comes out,it needs to come out" Is all this stuff (spring, valve assembly) likely to come out in pieces so you don't know how to put it back together again, or is it simple and obvious? It all sounds straightforward but I don't want to be left with a pot of dirty oil containing various springs, washers, valves etc. that I can't fathom out how to re-assemble. Best to know before pulling things apart!

[Declan_Burns]

Here's what to expect
Regards
Declan


Front[frame][/frame]
Rear[frame][/frame]

[bmcecosse]

Well posted Declan - yes - it comes out in one piece just take care that the inner loose spring comes out on the spindle of the valve as you remove it.

[myoldjalopy]

Coolio! Thanks Declan. That's just what I needed to see.

[myoldjalopy]

Well, this didn't seem to work for me. I removed both plugs and the valve assembly from the bottom and bounced - and all that came out was a dessert spoon's worth of oil. So I bounced and bounced and bounced - Tigger himself could not have bounced more - but nothing. I could see the level of oil in the damper and it wasn't going down. So I had to just top it up and put all back together again. The other damper was only slightly better - it did gurgle when I bounced and TWO deserts spoons of oil came out and then that was that. Any thoughts anyone? Very annoying.....

[chesney]

Exactly the same happened to me. Use one of those disposable plastic syringes (a godsend for the toolbox btw!) to 'push' the new oil through.

[bmcecosse]

Perhaps that's all that was in it! When they are working as they should - it is extremely difficult to 'bounce' the car. Try try again.......

[myoldjalopy]

No, that wasn't all that was in it....as I said, I could see the oil level in the damper and it wasn't going down, bounce as I might. You would think there was some sort of blockage. I did try blowing through the top with a piece of heater hose but no joy. I will try the syringe idea though. At worst, I could syringe out the old all to make way for the new
Thanks.

[Trickydicky]

You may have more luck removing them from the car, you will be able to use the full stroke of the damper to get rid and flush out the old oil.
If you do, then I found not refilling the damper before you put it back on the car due to how difficult it is to move the arm to get it back in the pin when it is refilled with oil.

[bmcecosse]

You will always see a little showing near the top. If you could 'bounce' it - it was pretty much empty. But sometimes it does take a while to drain - best left overnight with the valves out a drip trays below. And flush through at least once with the new oil.

[myoldjalopy]

Well, I have gone through the procedure a couple of times now and the oil flushing through looks a lot cleaner now and all seems very good on the road

Should do the rear ones, I guess. But not while this great weather lasts - off to the beach for me! thanks for all your help.

[bmcecosse]

Great success. Yes - do the rears. Probably best to take them off - but they can be done on the car.

[don58van]

I have been trying to put fresh oil in my front dampers on my 1970 Traveller.

I couldn't get them to drain more than a few drops, regardless of how much I pumped the arms (disconnected from the suspension).

So I took the whole top cover off and found that the oil was so thick, black and gooey that there was no movement of oil between the top chamber and bottom chamber. I had to use cotton buds and the like to clean the goo out bit by bit. All the surfaces inside had a heavy coating.

I have seen suggestions about using air pressure though to the top filling hole, but that wouldn't remove the goo.

I suppose it will be best to use some type of cleaner to get rid of as much of the remaining goo as possible, without damaging any seals, etc.

Any thoughts / suggestions about this?

Cheers
Don

[bmcecosse]

I would be very wary about that - may damage the seals. Can only suggest add new oil and hope it mixes up with the goo -and then runs out - perhaps with the bicycle pump assistance !