Leaking damper

[captainmark]

I bought my 1997 C4S two months ago from a dealer. I was having some work done yesterday at my local specialist and he mentioned that the rear offside damper is leaking.

I am mechanically ignorant as to what this means. Do I need to replace both rear shocks - or fronts as well? Do I have to do the springs as well? And what's it going to cost...?

The car's still on its original shocks and has done 77,500 miles. Thanks in advance for all advice.

M

 

[Steve Humphreys]

Hi M

If you bought the car from a dealer will the warranty that you got with the car cover the cost of the shocks.

If one is leaking then you will need to replace all of them--from previous posts on this forum--the expected life of the originals is 40k miles-max.

You will not need to replace your springs--but you may choose to--if you want a different set up for your car--springs are the cheaper option.

In terms of the shocks--I bough my Bilshei HD from Gert Carnewal for 807 Euros plus VAt and then had them fitted by Strasse in Leeds---you will also need a 4 whell aligment after the shocks have been fitted. The Bilsteins will improve the ride and the handling of the car and will last longer than 40k miles.

Hope this is helpful

Steve

 

[Porker993]

I did the same as Steve - adjustable Bilstein HDs from Gert - fitted by Steve Bull - four wheel alignment - it transformed the car's handling. (Not cheap though [] - you won't see much change from a grand all in)

 

[kbooker]

If you're going to the expense and effort of new dampers then M030 springs and roll bars would be most worthwhile! []

 

[Gordon Attar]

You can also just replace the dampers for around £160 plus an hours labour plus the realignment which is anything from £80 - £300

 

[kennyboy]

In terms of the shocks--I bough my Bilshei HD from Gert Carnewal for 807 Euros plus VAt and then had them fitted by Strasse in Leeds---you will also need a 4 whell aligment after the shocks have been fitted. The Bilsteins will improve the ride and the handling of the car and will last longer than 40k miles.

Steve - when I can afford these I'd like strasse to fit mine too - where did you get your alignment done as I assume strasse can't do the whole balancing, kinematic thing?

 

[captainmark]

Hi Gordon, £160 for the 4 dampers seems very cheap compared to the Bilstein's. Is this for Monroes? And how come there's such a variation in the alignment costs?

Is there a common view on whether it's worth changing the M033 springs that the C4S comes with to the HR ones that Gert offers with the HD's? Sadly I'm using it on roads 95% of the time so I'm not sure the M030's would be too practical.

Finally I'd be interested in what the forum considers a fair donation. From Gordon's post it seems that £500 would be pushing it, which would leave me still needing to find another £500... Then again no-one ever said owning Porsche would be cheap!

Thanks v much for all the feedback

Mark

 

[Gordon Attar]

Mark
That was just for the rears, you need to replace both of them at least

 

[Porker993]

ORIGINAL: Gordon Attar

Mark
That was just for the rears, you need to replace both of them at least

The fronts are a lot more expensive than the rears. Something to do with all the bits welded on I think.

 

[captainmark]

OK. The dealer's come back today and has offered to replace ONE damper...

According to him Monroes are not factory fit so the dampers must have been changed at some point so it can't be that old and that one new one would be fine... He's also saying that if the rear dampers are changed then I don't need to have the alignment checked. It's only changing the fronts with the struts that would require the aligment to be checked.

After much discussion I've got him to offer to pay for two Monroe dampers (value £200 apparently) but not yet any alignment.

Reading all the comments above and elsewhere on the forum, if I'm going to have to change dampers then I want to upgrade to the Bilsteins HD's all round. But that means I'll still need to find about £800... Not part of this year's plan []

Is the contribution of £200 fair or should I push for more?

As an aside on top of the purchase price, I've already had to pay for the car tax - after three weeks of ownership with no tax disc, the dealer declared that the previous ower must have cashed in the disc so I would need to buy one [] - so I'm loathe to pay any more to make up for the dealer's shortfall...

 

[burrow01]

Definately get the alignment done - at somewhere that knows how to do it - mention the magic words Kinematic toe to him and see if he knows what you mean

Monroes were the standard factory fit, and thats why they are leaking []

Pete

 

[captainmark]

I thought the Monroes were factory fit but he's promising me that they're not. He mentioned another company beginning with B that he says is now out of business...

 

[captainmark]

The dealer offers as standard a "full warranty" for 3 months. In addition I purchased a 3 year personal warranty operated by Motorcare from the dealer - despite my usual avoideance of warraties, it's already paid for itself as the trip computer needed to be replaced. I was told at the time by the dealer that it was transferable in cases of private sale. Reading the small print again it doesn't seem to be the case...

The terms were as any standard sale. I had a full £300 PPI done beforehand which picked up a number of faults that I'm still waiting to have corrected (sqeaking windscreen, parking sensors not working, pulling to left) but didn't pick up the damper. Not entirely sure what my consumer rights are but I'm geting increasingly frustrated as they sold me a car that was not legally on the road (no road tax) and they appear to be trying to wriggle out of any warranty obligations []

Is there a register of PCGB recommended dealers? I'm not in favour of "outing" dealers but it would sure help newbies like myself if there were certain standards we could be certain were being met.

 

[mbrands]

Captainmark, where did you buy your car from ?

 

[captainmark]

Think we're nearing a solution... Current state of play is that they pay for 2 Monroe rear dampers (£80 each) plus estimated cost of fitting (2 hours) and alignment (which was needed anyway) which is another 2 hours. I pay for Bilsteins (from Carnewal) and 5 hours of fitting - apparently the fronts take 5 hours to fit...

So total cost to them would be £416 and I pay cost of dampers + £160 (+VAT)...

Does it really take 5 hours to fit the front dampers?

 

[Steve Humphreys]

Mark

I am not sure if I understand the arrangement---are you planning to fit Monroes on the rears and HD's on the front?--if so I would advise against this--(based on no knowledge but havinbg experienced the characteristics of the two products)--you really should fit the same all round--get an £80 contribution towards the HD's and then the fitting and alignment costs will be the same whether Monroes or HD's--I may have missunderstood?

Regards

Steve

 

[38F3E1]

I think he is saying they make a contribution of £416 which was arrived at as £160 for new rear dampers plus 4 hours @ £64.

He is then going to have HD Bilsteins all round plus alignment which will take 9 hours labour plus cost of HDs from Carnwal. 9 hours is £576 so minus the £416 contribution makes the labour cost to him of £160 plus the cost of the HDs from Carnwal ... deep breath

Ian.