Front Suspension - How do I tell if I have sealed struts before stripping

[mk28vpb91]

Noticed fluid leaking onto the hub from the suspension strut recently and am now just getting around to replacing the front dampers before the MoT. Walked out of GSF today with some strut inserts which is something I wasn't expecting - as there is no mention of separate inserts in either the Bentley or Haynes manuals - I was expecting to walk out with struts complete with spring seat etc. I have read a few posts regarding sealed and unsealed units and it seems that there's a chance that I won't have the right parts and need strut assemblies. Had a poke around using a mirror to try and see round the top of the insert - nothing obvious to indicate one way or the other.

The question is, before I walk back in and ask for complete struts: is there a good way of identifying sealed/unsealed units when the car is in one piece (strut in place)?

I am guessing that getting inserts out needs a far bit of effort with large vices and big wrenches. Hopefully leaking fluid would have stopped them rusting together.

Cheers,

Max

[DarnPB]

You should see a portion of thread on the strut body at the piston end. This indicates that you can unscrew the cap and remove the piston assembly. Carefull with the oil spillage. You can then buy sealed inserts that quite literally slide into the cylinder, and screw up. To change both front ones should take no more than an hour.

[mk28vpb91]

Thanks very much. If it normally takes an hour it will almost certainly take me three :embarassed:

[Gambit]

just buy new sealed struts and replace the heap

[mk28vpb91]

Finished the job off a couple of days back using the inserts that I had. All worked fine although I did have to tear down the N/S again after finding a problem with the location of the insert while I was working on the O/S. Took well over three hours in the end but that included tea breaks and in my defence I was working at least 50m from where I keep most of my tools .

Haynes is particularly bad in relation to this job stating that the caliper should be removed together with the track rod link. You only need to undo a total of three fasteners and unhook the brake hose clip to get the strut out (two big bolts holding strut to hub upright and nut securing damper rod).

Needed an Allen key and 21mm ring spanner with a deep offset to get to the top nut on the strut. Nuts supplied with replacement inserts were 22mm and I didn't have a suitable spanner so the old ones went back on - I'll replace them when I get a suitable spanner. Bought a tool for the slotted nut but reckon that it would be relatively easy to do without as the nut was very loose once the springs were compressed.

I am guessing that the struts I removed were sealed items as oil poured out when I removed the collar and pulled out the damper. Looks like the main body of the strut is used as the oil reservoir as there are valves that open up into it.

Thought that a couple of photos might help those who have similar questions in the future.

This is the collar that needs undoing to get the insert/damper out (new one shown). Needed stiltson wrench to get it off used large set of grips to get it back on. Important to be sure that the threads are clean. I had to strip down one side again after realising that the insert wasn't properly located. The new collar had tightened up against rusty thread rather than the top of the insert meaning that it rattled around - not good. Using the original collars would probably have been easier.

Strut insert going into strut.

Hope this helps. Max.