[s-cars] Odd Suspension behavior - update

[yo-cello at comcast.net]

Thought I'd give you an update.

Thought I'd give an update.  First off, I'd like to thank everyone who weighed in on this with experience and advice.  Of course, you guys nailed it.

As I had mentioned before, the strut was pretty tight, except for noticeable movement when turning of the shock insert.  As suggested, I had the car on the road wheels and removed the top bolt and strut bearing.  The shock extended and I checked to see how much play there was and shocked (pun intended) to find how much there was!  Not a lot of movement, but significant enough.  I then pulled the wheel off and removed the cap keeping the insert in and removed the insert and was amazed at how much water poured out of the bottom of the insert and what remained in the strut.  I guess that pretty much explains why the car stiffened up when it was below 20 degrees...

The shock itself appears to be fine - no different then new, but I can see how failure can be precipitated by the amount of water that was in there.  If I didn't need to get the car back on the road, I'd consider getting them revalved.  Drilling a drain hole will be necessary.  

I still can't believe I'm going to fix this with duct tape!

The Paul in VT