Lee Daniels wrote:
>Just picked up a new pair of struts to replace the 150,000 mile (i.e.,
>really shot) ones on my '94 Nissan Quest. Replacement procedure is simple
>enough: mark orientation, remove assembly, compress spring and replace
>strut, then reinstall.
>
>Replacement units are Gabriel gas-filled. But I just happened to peek at
>the short instruction sheet in the bottom of the box. Pretty much the same
>instructions as above, except that there's a step that says something like
>"open up the strut and add 30cc of oil" , along with a drawing of a unit
>with the top off and a beaker of oil being poured in. Huh?
>
>BTW, this is only in *one* of the boxes. Did this come from something else?
>Any thoughts?
Sounds like your car uses a sealed strut. Your strut would have
the spring seat and brackets for mounting to the hub carrier attached to it.
Some cars (like my VWs) use a reusable strut housing with a
replaceable "cartridge" inside the housing. The cartridge is the shock
absorber, the housing has the spring seat and mounting brackets.
In my case, I remove the strut from the car, compress and remove
the spring. I then unscrew a large nut on top of the strut housing and
remove the strut cartridge from the housing. I put the new strut cartridge
in the housing. I add the 30cc or so of oil inside the housing. This
fills up the space between the cartridge and the housing. Oil transfers
the heat generated by the cartridge to the housing better than just
air. Put the large nut back on, put the spring on the housing and the
whole unit goes back into the car.
Todd
Seattle,WA
'86 GTI, Red of course. (exciting racey car) 257,000 miles
'87 Golf, Polar Silver. (boring work car) 475,000 miles <- Yeah, baby!
http://www.pureluckdesign.com <-Ferrari & VW stuff
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