"Misting" of oil on shock, replace as a pair?
Discussion
Daughters car has a slight "misting" of oil on the front shock picked up on the MOT.
It's in for replacement the week after next, they're coming in at around £60 each upwardsish (Sachs). Worth doing the pair for the sake of an extra £60 or so quid plus a bit of labour?.
It's a 2014 petrol, used for local trips, around 3k PA, car has 62K on it.
I'm of the opinion that if one has gone, then it's just a matter of time before the other does?.
TIA chaps.
It's in for replacement the week after next, they're coming in at around £60 each upwardsish (Sachs). Worth doing the pair for the sake of an extra £60 or so quid plus a bit of labour?.
It's a 2014 petrol, used for local trips, around 3k PA, car has 62K on it.
I'm of the opinion that if one has gone, then it's just a matter of time before the other does?.
TIA chaps.
mmm-five said:
For £60, it seems sensible to do both, but I'd normally not worry about a bit of misting.
Yep, I agree and thanks for the reply, I wouldn't be too concerned myself if it was my car, but as you say it's not vast fortunes and won't get better as time goes on. I'm trying to avoid a fail next year for a knackered shock as well I guess, or the other one needing replacement. She's paying for it, but I think this one might be bounced to the bank of Mum and Dad.It isn't easy to drive within the parameters of a black box either lol more so when I've jumped out of a 300 BHP Impreza!.
Once it's started leaking it will gradually stop working, maybe quite quickly, even though it's such a progressive failure that the driver may not notice.
Without driving the car it's almost impossible to judge how bad they are, and even when driving it may not be obvious how bad it is unless you do a back-to-back comparison.
Given how big an impact damping has on safety and comfort and the lack of any obvious sign there's a problem, I'd replace them as soon as you see evidence of a leak. The MOT test also treats evidence of a leak as a failure which reinforces that as reasonable criteria for end-of-life.
All dampers wear out with normal use and even if they aren't leaking an elderly set of dampers won't be working as well as they should. Given the relatively low costs, it isn't worth trying to eke out the last dregs of their useful life.
Without driving the car it's almost impossible to judge how bad they are, and even when driving it may not be obvious how bad it is unless you do a back-to-back comparison.
Given how big an impact damping has on safety and comfort and the lack of any obvious sign there's a problem, I'd replace them as soon as you see evidence of a leak. The MOT test also treats evidence of a leak as a failure which reinforces that as reasonable criteria for end-of-life.
All dampers wear out with normal use and even if they aren't leaking an elderly set of dampers won't be working as well as they should. Given the relatively low costs, it isn't worth trying to eke out the last dregs of their useful life.
Definitely replace as a pair at that mileage. I replaced one at about the same mileage. 9 months later the other started misting. Was PITA to book the car in twice. Garage said its best to match them as a pair. In addition to a worn damper behaving slightly differently to a used one, if you just do one, there are no guarantees the exact model will still be around when the other goes.
The OE part was made by Sachs but branded VW. Just got the Sachs OEM part, which was less than half the price. Couldn’t tell the difference pressing on or around town etc. Car behaved identically.
I suppose you could ask your garage or see for yourself who made the dampers and just fit the OEM version on a car that old.
The OE part was made by Sachs but branded VW. Just got the Sachs OEM part, which was less than half the price. Couldn’t tell the difference pressing on or around town etc. Car behaved identically.
I suppose you could ask your garage or see for yourself who made the dampers and just fit the OEM version on a car that old.
Edited by wyson on Wednesday 18th January 18:21
Thanks for the informed replies Gents. PH comes through for me again! 
I'll tell the garage tomorrow to replace both, Sachs (suggested by the Garage) are a good OEM manufacturer and it's probably better to do preventive rather than restorative maintenance for the sake of an extra £100 when you factor in labour as well.
Guess I'll be picking up the bill for this one though haha (it was your idea after all Dad...)
For info it's a Hyundai i10.
Cheers and a Virtual single malt to you all.
I'll tell the garage tomorrow to replace both, Sachs (suggested by the Garage) are a good OEM manufacturer and it's probably better to do preventive rather than restorative maintenance for the sake of an extra £100 when you factor in labour as well.
Guess I'll be picking up the bill for this one though haha (it was your idea after all Dad...)
For info it's a Hyundai i10.
Cheers and a Virtual single malt to you all.
Edited by texaxile on Wednesday 18th January 18:16
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