Yuck, leaky front strut...
- Thread starter javis20
- Start date
tintoverano
Active member
try finding a shop specializing in fixing struts, I ws lucky and managed to save a lot - I had a post about it
Only 49K miles. I have to double check, but I think it's the left front. If it's a slow leak and I can get it thru inspection in July, I might just let it go for a while. Hasn't affected performance at all. If I have to replace them, I'll do it myself in June. Best price so far is $636 each.
I happened to find a 2nd hand one on Ebay, from a salvage yard, for $199. Seller said it was from a car with 25k miles. Just to be sure I went to badvin.org and ran a report. The car has 50 k miles and the front left wheel had a pretty serious accident. Wheel was really battered. Can't imagine the strut is any good. More than likely, I will just buy a new set. But if I come across a deal for a front left with approx 40k to 50k miles, I might do that route.
Well just for the hell of it, I cleaned the oil from the strut and have since driven it about 250 miles. I'm not seeing any oil leakage so far. I wasn't planning on doing the job until June, so I'm just going to keep an eye on it till then. In my experience, I have seen garages squirt oil on shocks and tell their customers they found a leak. It's an con. Very good chance someone was trying to screw me. I'll report back in 3 months if I find it to be con job.
I think you will find that at 49k miles the strut will be shot. Best way to tell is to remove the strut from the car and then remove the spring. Try to compress the strut by had, most likely it will compress with very little resistance and won't come back up 
These adaptive struts do not last long, mine were leaking oil and shot when I bought my zed at 42k miles.
These adaptive struts do not last long, mine were leaking oil and shot when I bought my zed at 42k miles.
Scottish Borders
