The shock absorber strut has leaked, what should I do?

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A modern car consists of thousands of parts that determine its functionality in different ways. Some of them directly affect the very possibility of driving a vehicle, others - on its safety and quality, and others - on the comfort of the driver and passengers. For example, broken optics do not allow driving at night, especially on a busy highway, so they need to be replaced with high-quality factory headlights. What to do when shock absorbers leak? The car retains the ability to move. Does this part need to be repaired or can it be done without replacing it?

The shock absorbers (struts) are leaking. What to do and is it possible to drive? What will be the consequences

Shock absorbers are an integral part of the suspension, which you simply cannot do without! They dampen spring vibrations, which in turn make the suspension more comfortable. If there were no shock absorbers, then the car would simply shake like a swing, jump on any bump, and the oscillatory movements up and down would last about 30 seconds, maybe a little more or a little less, that’s not the point. With such a “swing”, the bottom can be smashed into pieces, and so can the suspension. The shock absorber is that protective “buffer” that removes these vibrations, thus, even after driving through a deep hole, your car will not “pump”, you will continue to move confidently. I think everyone knows the principle of operation - but it was worth reminding a little.

Load on the car body

The old, old-fashioned method is to rock the car body and see how the racks work out this movement. If after one shock the shock absorber has made more than 1 translational movement, then it is time to change it. But you need to remember: this method will only be relevant if the shock absorber is completely “dead”. It will also allow you to identify a jammed shock absorber. It will be simply impossible to rock the body.

Why do shock absorbers leak?

It’s all about the design of the rack itself; now, for this period of time, you can find only three main designs:

The operating principle of one or the other is almost the same - roughly speaking, it is a cylinder that is filled inside with oil, or gas, or both at once (divided into chambers).

So - so that this oil does not go beyond the limits of our cylinder (rack housing), and so that the rod does not release oil or gas, it is locked from above with special sealing and rubber gaskets. Therefore, the internal component of gas or oil cannot leave the housing.

However, due to excessive wear of the rod, or wear of the gaskets, oil or gas begins to escape from the top of the housing and begins to ooze. If the gas is not visible and the shock absorber remains dry, then the oil flows from top to bottom and the shock absorber becomes wet. This tells us that it has failed, or is gradually failing! It needs to be changed. This is why the shock absorbers are leaking - it has simply exhausted its service life, or is broken (on our roads).

Why do shock absorbers leak?

Gas or oil can escape from the cylinder if the seals are damaged. Rarely is the problem global in nature, and in most cases the oil leaks out of the shock absorbers slowly, leaving smudges that the driver can pay attention to, for example, when changing tires.

The reasons for damage to shock absorber seals are commonplace: the service life has reached the end, poor performance of the part or physical damage due to driving on bad roads.

What to do and is it possible to drive?

Of course you can drive, in general you can “drive” without shock absorbers - but how? Of course, if you have one strut leaking, then you may not notice it, but if there are two at once, or as my friend had three (two in front and one in the back), then the car will “swing” like on a roller coaster. Even low speed and reaction to small irregularities caused the car to sway, I’m already silent about some sharp maneuvers (turns, for example), the car was simply drifting!

What to do - change it urgently , the sooner - the better, otherwise, due to your incorrect savings on racks - then you will pay more.

Is it possible to drive:

Guys, I understand that original shock absorbers are expensive, but they need to be changed! YES, and you can find quite sane originals, for example KAYABA, very sane quality and more or less prices.

What to do if the shock absorber starts to creak

One day during a trip, you heard that the rear or front shock absorbers began to creak. This means that it’s time to carry out not only diagnostics of the car’s suspension, but also diagnostics of the shock absorbers. If the shock absorber squeaks, this is a warning for you. When diagnosing the suspension, visually inspect the shock absorbers. If, upon inspection, you find that the shock absorber is leaking, then you should immediately repair or replace it.

Can you guess why? Yes, it’s simple, in the “best” case, only the suspension will suffer, in the worst case, you can become involved in an accident at any moment. How do you like this prospect? If you close your eyes to this, you will spend even more money, not only repairing the shock absorber, but also repairing the suspension. We advise you not to be lazy and visually inspect the shock absorbers systematically. Moreover, there is nothing complicated about it - you turn the wheels and make sure that the shock absorber is not leaking, that everything is normal. Most novice motorists, when diagnosing the condition of shock absorbers, make hasty conclusions about the malfunction of the shock absorbers when they see oil deposits on them. However, there is nothing wrong with this, this is a completely normal condition. But if you notice oil leaks, then replacement or repair certainly cannot be avoided.

Attention! Professionals strongly recommend replacing both shock absorbers on the same axle, even if one of them is in good condition and does not have any faults. Just like brake pads or brake discs, shock absorbers are paired parts, therefore, they also need to be replaced in pairs.

Consequences if not changed

Well, my dear, you are frugal - if you don’t change 1 leaking rack on time, then the rest will follow it in a circle. Why? Yes, everything is simple - the car is designed to hold 4 sides, that is, all 4 shock absorbers must work. If one fails, the entire load is transferred to 3 sides, but they are not designed for it - and they begin to break. And with each failure, the load is redistributed into two, etc.

In simple words - if you don’t replace 1 strut in time (as you noticed right away, you can drive for up to a week while you wait for the part), then in a month the second one will come out, then the third one and then the last one. That is, there is a big chance that if you don’t replace one, you can replace them all at once!

If this doesn’t scare you, well, I’ll ride in a rocking car, so what, let’s read other consequences:

I repeat again guys, you need to change it as soon as you notice “snot” (smudges). After all, if the rack is “snotty” and has just started to leak, it still holds for some time until all the oil comes out of the housing, but then it becomes empty and simply does not work.

So you have a week - well, two at most. Order and change, you will save others from damage.

That's all, I think it was useful.

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