2009 C5 Hydraulic shock change

[wfdTamar]

Sod me every step of this something goes wrong -

After you've depressurised, how did you get the car up to get the wheel off? There's only about 80mm under the normal jack point. Not enough for a trolley jack, so I used the car jack, which promptly disintegrated. Argh!

Maybe repressurise, raise the car, then depressurise onto a trolley jack? Gor blimey!

[GiveMeABreak]

Well you're going to need a jack or trolley jack if you're doing the strut without a 2 / 4 post lift. Undo the wheel nuts, put the jack in place, then remove the wheel, then depressurise.

[wfdTamar]

Yes, I was planning to lift it enough with the car jack (which can start lower) to get the trolley jack in somewhere, then continue with that.

Just did what I said in previous post - lifted car with height adjust, put trolley jack under the jacking point, lower car and depressurised. That worked fine. Should have done that in the first place.

Now need a new car jack (see pic)!

On my 2015 X7 C5:
The LDS pipe has a white nylon ring on it which I reckon stays there as it would likely break replacing it (though they must have got it on there somehow). The actual seal is a green O-ring outside dimension 11mm, inside 8mm. The ring thickness is about 1.5mm. The O-ring in mine seems fine, so you might get away without replacing it if you don't have a new one.

I used that chain strut removal tool (actually an oil filter tool) and put some of that foam rubber packing stuff under the chain so the sphere wouldn't get scratched and for better grip. Put a torque wrench on it and it came off very easily - possibly too easily. It leaks about 50mls of LDS so before undoing it you might want to stuff some paper towel under it to catch that. Then use it to plug the hole in the old strut.

No need to buy a new sphere seal as there is one in the new strut (that was a waste of A$15).

[myglaren]

What happened to the jack?
I've had mine for over 20 years, my dad had it for at least that before me and it was second hand when he got it. It is rather grimy but still in perfectly good nick.

I have the same job to do but I'm going to cheat and get my Polish mechanic to do it. Too cold and wet to be doing that out on the street.

[wfdTamar]

The only thing I can think is it was right down flat when I started. Maybe it had screwed off the threaded rod and cross threaded when I started to lift (it was really hard to turn). Just bought another one off eBay for A$72.

[GiveMeABreak]

You should always replace the seals and o rings each time - as they will be distorted (however slightly) and not seal properly once refitted. It's really essential to do this or you'll end up with leaks shortly.

The sphere seal is part: 527215 (37.4 x 42 x 2.6)

There are 3 o rings for the suspension cylinders, depending on which ones you need....

10mm Part: 5280Y2
DIAM 3.4 TOR 1.9 Part: 5280Q0
DIAM 4.75 MM Part: 5280V9

[Georgina16]

Hi, I have a slightly different problem and hope I am on the right forum. I have a 2004 C5 1 with two leaking rear shock absorbers. I have tried to source these without success so far. However, I have been told they could possibly be repaired with a new kit of seals and wondered if this is correct ?

[GiveMeABreak]

It depends were the leak is. If it is coming from the rubber boot on the cylinder (leak back boot), then these are still available from Citroen.