I've got about 1 month old Koni Yellows on my 99SI.............daily driver and not yet autocrossed or anything, just highway miles to and from work. Passenger front i see what looks like WD-40 sprayed on the shock when i pop the hood,. I look in through my rim but shock looks clean.............i ride at 50% (one turn)..........is my NEW Koni Yellow blown or blowing? I just cleaned off the top and then drove about a 1/2 mile whipping hte car left and right working the shock, pop the hood and see nothing new as far as the "WD-40" look'n stuff, may just require mileage. I don't know, I'm just stress'n that it is new and might be blown....................HELP!

 

Do you remember if the ride handles a little different than when you bought them?

 

same, i've put nothing under the hood that would do this, especially on the top of the shock...............i'm pretty sure its leaking and you know we installed it via Koni's instructions..........so i think this is the beginning and that the shock is on its way to be'n shot even though NOTHING has been done to it nor even driven hard, its such BS

 

FYI you shock is FINE oil WOULD NOT be comeing out of the top of your shock if it is blown. the only way i could see this happening is if the adjster was severly jacked up.

the oil, from a blown shock, normally shows up were the rod enters the shock body.

 

There are two potential places where the shock can leak: the main seal where the rod enters the body and the adjuster tab on the tip of the rod over the top nuts. There is a small O-ring that keeps oil from riding under pressure up the adjuster shaft but it may have somehow been compromised. The oil in the new shocks is pretty clear with a little bit of amber color to it but you have to have quite a volume to see any color. A leak when pretty new at the adjuster is quite uncommon but it can happen and usually shows up pretty early.

I would suggest that you simply wipe everything down nice and dry up top and use a solvent like brake lean or something to clean it all up. Then drive it for several days and see if it comes back. Go ahead and turn the adjuster a few times during this period as well and see if anything returns. A light remnant of moisture is fine on the adjuster is not uncommon but any real amount of oil (a drip, run or spray) is not okay. If there is not sign that it has been externally damaged to cause this leak, it will be covered by the Koni lifetime warranty so locate your purchase receipt than contact Koni at warranty@koni-na.com or call 859-586-4100 Option 6.

BTW, although "blown" is probably the most popular word to describe a likely failed shock, it means nothing and tells us nothing and drives us up the wall. Is it leaking oil, not generating force, handling poorly, spring problems, etc.? Kind of like going to the doctor and saying "I'm sick". He says "What's wrong?" "I'm sick." "Where does it hurt?" "I'm sick." "Broken bone, cold, allergy, flu, stubbed toe, cancer?" "I'm sick."

 

Great info CRX Lee.

 

yeah thanks a lot man.............i just road with them on full firm for a few miles on some good old back roads and checked again but nothing.............tomorrow i drive 4hrs back to N. VA on 50% so that should be a good test for them............thanks again!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CRX Lee &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Kind of like going to the doctor and saying "I'm sick". He says "What's wrong?" "I'm sick." "Where does it hurt?" "I'm sick." "Broken bone, cold, allergy, flu, stubbed toe, cancer?" "I'm sick." </TD></TR></TABLE>

Reading your posts makes me feel unblown.

 

good info