Siezed coilover Threads

[Jimbo NW]

I had the Clio in for ride height adjustment and set up for track recently and the garage informed me they were unable to do so as the coilovers were seized. I lost a little confidence as they told me they believed the rears to be fixed (their not)

I've had the wheels off and yes there is an awful lot of road grime and crap on the threads, which I assume is from the previous owners.

I've been watching some YouTube videos today, most involve soaking the entire unit in diesel / Coke and slowly but surely trying to shock some movement back into the collars.

Looking for any real life experiences before I make a hash and / or end up shelling out for some new units?

[stevieturbo]

It all depends how bad. But I've seen some where there really is no chance of getting them freed up.

Most recent was a car with some stty XYZ coilovers, they were in a diabolical state. And even worse were the brake flexi's the same morons had fitted to the car. Not clipped properly and corroded so badly the crimp body was almost already split !

There really are some bad coilovers out there, and even worse installers.

[Jimbo NW]

That's my concern.

However the car has been owned by 2 enthusiasts before me, it's a Clio 182 and the box of receipts that came with the car is mind blowing. However the coilovers have been neglected, think they are 2ish years old Bilstein B14.

I've ordered a swan neck spanner to gain better access to the top mount bolt. Failing that I'll be popping to kwik fit next weekend to get them loosened off as they are prone to seizing. Want to just give the whole things a damn good wire brushing really and go from there.

[SlimJim16v]

fking coilovers.
The adjustable platform on your dampers are seized.

Ideally they should be taken off and have the springs taken off so all of the thread can be cleaned.
However, wash them, get garden hose on the adjuster/thread part, then get a brass brush on the threads. The spray with Plusgas over a few days.

After a few days, jack it up to relieve some of the pressure on the platforms and see if they move. You do have a C spanner? If not, they can carefully be tapped around with a hammer and screwdriver. Hopefully.

[Jimbo NW]

SlimJim16v said:

fking coilovers.
The adjustable platform on your dampers are seized.

Ideally they should be taken off and have the springs taken off so all of the thread can be cleaned.
However, wash them, get garden hose on the adjuster/thread part, then get a brass brush on the threads. The spray with Plusgas over a few days.

After a few days, jack it up to relieve some of the pressure on the platforms and see if they move. You do have a C spanner? If not, they can carefully be tapped around with a hammer and screwdriver. Hopefully.

Thanks! I'm new to coilovers, are they easily disassembled? Guessing given they are siezed I'd need some spring clamps.
I've ordered a bilstein specific C spanner which will arrive tomorrow and some plusgas as I've heard it's amazing.

Stupid question perhaps, but would getting the car on axle stands and the jet wash on them help with the grime or do more harm than good?

Someone posted about soaking them in battery acid

[E-bmw]

Jimbo NW said:

Someone posted about soaking them in battery acid

WTF!!!!!!

Er, no, don't do that!

Get them off the car, remove the springs, (you will need a spring compressor by the sounds of it) wire brush as much crud/corrosion off as you can, soak in either diesel/plus gas/wd 40, all along the thread for good measure (although this does very little until you get the thread moving. You then need to get the collar moving bit by bit up & down until you have fully cleaned the thread top to bottom.

It could take a day to do them all, maybe even more, another good starting point is to shock the threaded collar by hitting it between 2 hammers from all sides. This has the effect of fractionally distorting the collar to start to break the hold the rust has on the thread.

One more thing, I assume the garage realised there are probably 2 threaded collars locked against each other not just one!

[stevieturbo]

Jimbo NW said:

That's my concern.

However the car has been owned by 2 enthusiasts before me, it's a Clio 182 and the box of receipts that came with the car is mind blowing. However the coilovers have been neglected, think they are 2ish years old Bilstein B14.

I've ordered a swan neck spanner to gain better access to the top mount bolt. Failing that I'll be popping to kwik fit next weekend to get them loosened off as they are prone to seizing. Want to just give the whole things a damn good wire brushing really and go from there.

Only 2 years old and they're potentially fked ?

What are the receipts for ? Happy meals or something ?

Although McD's probably do a better job than Kwik Fit anyway ! lol

[Jimbo NW]

stevieturbo said:

Only 2 years old and they're potentially fked ?

What are the receipts for ? Happy meals or something ?

Although McD's probably do a better job than Kwik Fit anyway ! lol

I'm not actually sure how old they are without checking. Kwik fit own impact guns, I do not.
As I say, id like to give it a go before writing them off. 800ish quid for a new set and they are fine on the car, just a bit too low

Edited by Jimbo NW on Sunday 21st May 22:16

[stevieturbo]

Jimbo NW said:

I'm not actually sure how old they are without checking. Kwik fit own impact guns, I do not.
As I say, id like to give it a go before writing them off. 800ish quid for a new set and they are fine on the car, just a bit too low

Edited by Jimbo NW on Sunday 21st May 22:16

There is no way an impact gun will make a button of difference on coilover threads.....if you could even find a way to use one there.

[Jimbo NW]

Just to buzz the topmount loose, they get tight and otherwise may spend all day with a swan neck spanner and all the 6m Allen keys I own!

[PositronicRay]

Jimbo NW said:

Just to buzz the topmount loose, they get tight and otherwise may spend all day with a swan neck spanner and all the 6m Allen keys I own!

If you stick a deep socket and a breaker bar on it, you should be able to jerk it free, then use your swan neck and hex socket.

[Jimbo NW]

Well, they are sorted, couldn't get them off in the end as the breaker bar tactic didn't work and neither of my swan necks would fit in the groove, which was annoying.

After cleaning the hell out all the threads and arches, I've spent the day systematically soaking them in PlusGas, hammer, screwdriver till eventually I've managed to get a couple of full turns by hand.
Seemed the locking collar was the issue as the adjustment collars moved fairly freely.

Thanks for the help and guidance on this. I won't be trusting that garage in the future as they clearly just couldn't be arsed.

[PositronicRay]

Time consuming awkward job for a garage, ties up a ramp with little billing opportunity.

[stevieturbo]

PositronicRay said:

Time consuming awkward job for a garage, ties up a ramp with little billing opportunity.

And if the customer got hit with a bill of 3-4 hours labour per corner just to try and free them up....customer would probably be rather annoyed ! lol
Plus the high risk of damage/breakage etc in doing so

[Jimbo NW]

stevieturbo said:

And if the customer got hit with a bill of 3-4 hours labour per corner just to try and free them up....customer would probably be rather annoyed ! lol
Plus the high risk of damage/breakage etc in doing so

Agreed, but they told me they were shafted and needed replacing, not, it's going to cost you a fortune to get these right on our time.

[E-bmw]

All in all there is your answer "because garage"

[stevieturbo]

Jimbo NW said:

Agreed, but they told me they were shafted and needed replacing, not, it's going to cost you a fortune to get these right on our time.

And looking at them, it may have been a fair assessment.

Costing a fortune could end up them getting removed and freed up, but for them to still be fked and unsafe to use. No garage in their right mind would take that risk. People like to pursue claims these days whether they have any justification for doing so or not

[Jimbo NW]

Thanks for the help all, will get them off and taken apart when I can get an impact gun.