Shocks on Elise S2 - Advice Please :)

[RHY 11S]

Hi,

On my last MOT I was told there was a bit of weeping from the damper on one shock. Rather than rush out and replace the shocks, does anyone think the problem could be just a corroded damper collar?? The car has done 57,000 miles and is still on the originals. I've also started getting some squeeking from the suspension which I'm assuming is linked to losing shock lubrication.

So the question is: could I just replace the damper collar [£16] or do I just need to bite the bullet and replace the shocks? I'm not in the market for any fancy upgrades so the issue I have here is really about the cost and avoiding any uneccesary work!

Thanks in advance!

[Justin S]

Damper collar is just that a collar that holds the spring on. If you have oil leaking and to be honest, thats good mileage for a set of shocks, its time to change them 'as a set'.

[LotusEater666]

RHY 11S said:

On my last MOT I was told there was a bit of weeping from the damper on one shock.

I was told the same thing by garage in Wolves. Since then no other garage has noticed a problem.

[RobM77]

If you mean that your dampers are worn, then 57k miles is a fair innings for a set of dampers, especially on a car that most people buy to enjoy the ride and handling. There was a thread recently on this and a replacement set is very reasonably priced.

Without wishing to be too pedantic or know-it-all, I found your post a bit confusing. The "shock absorber" in engineering terms is the spring, because it takes (absorbs) the initial shock of bumps in the road. The "damper" is the device that controls the ensuing suspension movement. Often people talk about "shocks" to mean the dampers, but it gets a bit confusing to mention both in the same sentence.

[RHY 11S]

RobM77 said:

know-it-all

Thanks Rob.

Acually, I was referring to the whole unit [damper + spring] as a shock absorber. Point taken though, as I do not know much about these things [hence the posting].

Oh, and FYI, a spring cannot be a "shock absorber" as a spring can only store energy, not dissipate or absorb energy.

[RobM77]

RHY 11S said:

RobM77 said:

know-it-all

Thanks Rob.

Acually, I was referring to the whole unit [damper + spring] as a shock absorber. Point taken though, as I do not know much about these things [hence the posting].

Oh, and FYI, a spring cannot be a "shock absorber" as a spring can only store energy, not dissipate or absorb energy.

Sorry, I just found the original post confusing because it used shock and damper in an unusual way. I wasn't trying to sound clever at all, just trying to clear up the confusion.

Of course a spring can absorb shock http://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-springs-work.h... I suppose it depends on your definition of the word "absorb", but that really would be being a a bit pedantic I wasn't trying to be pedantic or arrogant at all, just trying to clarify your post from an engineering point of view (as I stated). The only reason I knew what you meant was because you said that the problem was a leak, and springs don't leak

[otolith]

RHY 11S said:

Oh, and FYI, a spring cannot be a "shock absorber" as a spring can only store energy, not dissipate or absorb energy.

A perfect spring... A real spring will dissipate some energy as heat

/pedantry

Do you trust the place that told you this not to be hoping to sell you a set of dampers? Fast fit places used to be notorious for dribbling oil on dampers.