Possible rear shocker failure?

[ex-Chinese Dave]

I hear every noise on my car and always suspect that something is starting to go on its way out. Here is the latest…

I noticed recently that I could hear a noise from the passenger side rear area when going over certain bumps in the road at certain speeds, usually below 15 mph . It sounds a little like the tailgate is open and you are hearing it knock up and down on the latch, or another way to describe it is like you have a large plastic container that is empty in the boot and it is bouncing around. The tailgate is totally secure, as is the bumper and all of a bits of trim at the rear of the car. Could this be the rear shock that has failed? I can’t see any obvious signs of any problem, but later I will Jack the car up and take the wheel off and have a closer inspection. Is there any way to check a shock while it’s on the car, such as any kind of measurements to be checked? The rear shocks are only about two years old and I guess that they have had less than 25,000 miles on them.

 

[MLB]

Not sure, but I believe they're known for failing quite quickly.

How's your ride? My car was always slightly moving left to right, needing constant corrections which turned out to be the rear shocks.

I believe I even still have a low mileage genuine set in the garage that I took off when I switched to coilovers.

 

[leeds2592]

Certainly sounds like it could be shocks. Just whip them off and have a check, will only take 20 mins

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Certainly sounds like it could be shocks. Just whip them off and have a check, will only take 20 mins

How are they checked apart from the obvious signs of fluid leaks? Just push and pull?

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Not sure, but I believe they're known for failing quite quickly.

How's your ride? My car was always slightly moving left to right, needing constant corrections which turned out to be the rear shocks.

I believe I even still have a low mileage genuine set in the garage that I took off when I switched to coilovers.

The ride feels fine but the noise is very slight. I only noticed it as it was different than before. I can drive over Asda's speed bumps slowly and there's nothing, but at the change of surface from tarmac to paving at 10mph it has me thinking there's an empty 25 litre plastic drum in the boot.

Probably jumping the gun a bit but what are your shocks worth?

 

[MLB]

I'll have to dig m out, see what they're like. Probably won't be until after the weekend but I'll give them a test and get back to you.

 

[YorkshireKyle]

If it's rear shocks, does it feel like you're gonna die when you go round corners above 40mph?

My first 172 felt like it was gonna kill me when the rear shockers were fully dead

 

[Brigsy]

Check the bolts are torqued / tight before condemning them. Ive had a shock come loose on another car and had similar light knocking, went with a retorque

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Can't say i've noticed anything other than the slight noise addition to the other noises a Cup makes.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Check the bolts are torqued / tight before condemning them. Ive had a shock come loose on another car and had similar light knocking, went with a retorque

The wheel's coming off tomorrow for a good look.

 

[Struggler]

The wheel's coming off tomorrow for a good look.

Remember to check the shock top mount in the boot as well!

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

I think what we’re looking at here is pretty damning. I’m suspecting that both rear shockers need replacing.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Looking online at similar looking shocks I say these are done for.

This is the best OEM price I can find https://renaultpartsdirect.co.uk/pa...clio-172-182-rear-shock-absorber-cup-version/

 

[photo_ed]

Looking online at similar looking shocks I say these are done for.

This is the best OEM price I can find https://renaultpartsdirect.co.uk/pa...clio-172-182-rear-shock-absorber-cup-version/

Pretty sure I have a brand new -still boxed - one of these at my unit. I can have a look for you on Monday if you like? I'd do it cheaper for you than RPD.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Yeah, that works for me. Let me know as i'm going to sort this asap.

 

[photo_ed]

Yeah, that works for me. Let me know as i'm going to sort this asap.

I’ll try and call by the unit tomorrow and double check for you.

 

[photo_ed]

@ex-Chinese Dave PM’d you mate.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

A big thank you to photo_ed for meeting up last night and giving me the new Cup rear shock. Really nice to meet you mate.

So, off with the old one and on with the new. The old one came off very easy because it was only fitted just over two years ago. No issues there whatsoever. I read that the new shock should be pumped a few times to prime it and once I had done this the overall length had obviously increased. I compared the resistance to the shock that I took off and to be honest, there was very little difference. The old shock did have oil around the top and some of that was like a missing of oil.
I put the new shock through the top mount area and loosely tightened the top nut. When I looked under the car the hole for where the bolt goes through was obviously not in line with the hole on the car. I used my trolley jack to gently pump up the shock so that I could put the bolt in and tighten it with my fingers. I then tightened the top using a spanner and a pair of mole grips to hold the top of the strut. There was no issues with this whatsoever and it matches the other side exactly. I then tightened up the lower 18 mm bolt and used some copper grease on the thread. I couldn’t really get into a good position to tighten it, but eventually I got it so I was putting a lot of force on my ratchet and there was absolutely no more movement to be had. When I was removing this bolt, I had to put my foot on the ratchet to loosen it a little but then it came undone easily. I’m going to check the tightness of this bolt over the next few hundred miles and when it goes in for service, I’ll ask the lads to Birchdown to torque it up correctly.
I’m not sure what to do with the old shocker as with it having a light misting it’s obviously on its way out. Once I’ve changed the other one there will be two shockers here that someone can have for free if they collect them. Maybe they get someone out of trouble.

About the resistance on the shocker, is that normal to feel almost the same resistance as a new one, even with the leaking of oil? And also I take it I was correct to prime it before fitting it, right? I looked at some posts where people had changed these in the past and I didn’t see anything relating to this priming. I think I may have read it somewhere off this forum.

 

[photo_ed]

A big thank you to photo_ed for meeting up last night and giving me the new Cup rear shock. Really nice to meet you mate.
.

Happy to be of help Dave. Great to meet you, and chat cars.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

So I’ve just taken the car for a spin and I can’t say that I can hear the crashing noise anymore. I also had a look at the offside damper and oddly I can’t seem to see any of the oil marks that were present the other day. You can see on the video that the rest of the car was dry underneath so I’m sure it wasn’t any water that had run down. I’m tempted now to not replace the offside dumper and see how things go, but I’m still curious about why the nearside damper seem to have the same resistance as the new one. I’ve included a photo of the offside damper and you can compare it to the video that I took the other day.

I’ve had a good look at the springs as well and I can’t see any damage or cracking on any of those. I double checked that the tailgate is secure and tight when it’s closed and I’ve also made sure that there is nothing else in the boot of the car. However, I did notice that when I thumped down on the inside of the boot with my fist above the exhaust, there was a slight sound. I know that the heat shield above the exhaust back box needs replacing so what I’ve done is resecured that with some cable ties for the moment, obviously an MOT failure when it’s up for it. So effectively I eliminated anything that can rattle around or knock at the back of the car. I’ve pushed and pulled on the exhaust and there’s no noise at all and all the hangers are in perfect condition. I’m just going to let this one play now and see how it goes, but I would like opinions on whether I should just change that offside damper because I’ve done the nearside one.

 

[photo_ed]

Sounds like good news if the knocking noise has gone mate.

Edited to add: If the offside damper seems ok, in that they're both genuine items, I'd just run them and see how it goes. The damping rate will be nigh on the same now if the offside is fit.

On the Trophy, it's almost always the front n/s damper which gives up and needs a service soonest. BG Motorsport who service/refurb mine would back up this observation too. I think it's probably something to do with our lovely road surfaces..

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Well, this thumping noise has not gone. I fitted the brand-new damper to the nearside a few days ago and everything is correct and secure. I’ve ordered a new damper for the offside and that should be with me by the end of the week. There is absolutely nothing loose at the back of the car that I can see. I’ve even used some bubble wrap around the Jack that sits in the plastic tray in the wheel well and all of that is secure. It’s really odd so I’m just hoping that it’s actually the offside damper that has failed in someway, but if it’s not that then I am baffled. I’ve checked the springs to make sure they are okay and I cannot see any damage to those at all. It’s just another day owning a 23 year old Cup!

 

[MRBILLYUK]

Well, this thumping noise has not gone. I fitted the brand-new damper to the nearside a few days ago and everything is correct and secure. I’ve ordered a new damper for the offside and that should be with me by the end of the week. There is absolutely nothing loose at the back of the car that I can see. I’ve even used some bubble wrap around the Jack that sits in the plastic tray in the wheel well and all of that is secure. It’s really odd so I’m just hoping that it’s actually the offside damper that has failed in someway, but if it’s not that then I am baffled. I’ve checked the springs to make sure they are okay and I cannot see any damage to those at all. It’s just another day owning a 23 year old Cup!

I'm assuming you've checked all the bolts for the brake calipers are tight?

 

[Matt Cup]

Are your rear axle bushes ok?

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Driving from work last night there was a horrible noise as I came to brake at the first set of lights. It sounded like something was wrapped around the rear wheel and was whipping into the bodywork underneath. It did it twice and then nothing. I stopped at Asda and checked that all the wheel nuts were tight and they were (I knew they were but it's always best to check the obvious). I couldn't see anything loose when I had a look underneath.

This morning I have jacked the car up, done the wheel bearing check, checked the calipers and brake pads, checked the tyres and looked at the rear axle bushes. I could see nothing wrong except a few stones in the tyre tread. I've plucked them out and it's making me wonder if I picked up a few big stones from the road works on Hyde Road and they got stuck in the tyre and then came out later. I've took the car for a test drive now and can still hear the thump but noise under braking has gone, as it had done after a few hundred metres last night.

I've took a couple of photos of the underside but everything looks as it should. I'll post them below. I've just climbed in the back of the car and pushed and pulled everything I can get my hands on. The only movement is the back seat where it meets the two striker loops. I marked off the contact points and then wrapped some insulation tape around them. It only takes about two rotations of tape to make it tight. And that's it. There is nothing else to check unless a spring has cracked and it's not visible (i'm thinking of changing the springs anyway but that's another thread).

Regarding the rear seat, if it does turn out to be this it's not related to changing the seatbelt release buttons as I had this noise before I did that job. If i've fitted two new dampers without needing to then I'll be able to sell the used ones on, so damage limitation, I guess, or i'll keep them as spares.

Sometimes I wish my hearing wasn't so good

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Regarding the bushes…It all looks okay short of getting a bar in there and rising everything. They’re obviously not brand-new, but they also don’t look as old as a mileage on the car. I don’t know if these go from the inside out so I’ll get a bar on them weekend and just see if I can prise any kind of loose movement.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Just to finish this off, it looks like the noise is from the n/s caliper of which the slider has some excessive play (see my other thread). It seems that it needs to be packed with grease to solve the problem to reduce it's movement, although it should have a little. The other new damper has arrived so i'll fit it later today. No doubt the one that comes off is also ok so I have two spares or two that I can sell.