Can someone confirm this is a good example of a dead self leveling shock?

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i59/zoltr0n/ShockDead.jpg

I woke up this morning to find a puddle of oil at the rear of the tyre, so I pulled the tyre off and found this. I thought it was only air in the shock or is the oil or fluid from elsewhere?

I've checked all the fluid levels (Oil, Power steering, Brake fluid) and all are ok, I've checked the sills and the brake lines and there is no damage underneath, the diff at the back is clean, so I can only assume this shock has failed and released some form of lubricant.

If it has failed how much are they each to replace and is it a bitch of a job to do and does it require a tech2 to reset the self leveling suspension?

That is f.f.f.f.f.f.f.ff.......... knackered.

Now the good news. I had a spare pair of self levellers for a saloon. bad news, sold them about a month ago for silly money (£26 IIRC).

You can use bog standard ones instead. Damned sight cheaper and frankly just as good. Just remember to disconnect the silly pumpy thing otherwise it will be for ever blowing wind.

www.buypartsby.co.uk

......need I say more...

I'll give vx a call tomorrow, and see what they are gonna hit me for a pair of self levelers, not expecting much change out of £250 quid. Just when I thought it was only the rocker cover gaskets leaking I get this happen.... Never mind... its one less thing to worry about on a car thats just done 100000 miles....

There not that pricey, under a ton a pair trade club.

No problem, thats made the wife feel alot better... I didn't think there was anything oil like in them only air, are they a bitch to replace. I did the front wishbones myself and they were very easy to replace.

Should have given your nuts a good squirt of WD 40 while you had it off [smiley=laugh.gif] the wheel that is ;). That way they would come off easier when the time comes.

Coo, Ive never seen a rear shock dripping before, seen one snapped it two, see one sticking up through the floor  [smiley=embarassed.gif] but never dripping.

Do you have HID (discharge) lights?  If so I think you will have to replace with self levellers to avoid a warning from the headlight levelling when fully loaded

Yeah I have the discharge lamps, not had any messages on the console display yet, but the shocks are gonna be replaced before it gets that far..

zoltron wrote on 28. Jul 2006 at 07:23:

Yeah I have the discharge lamps, not had any messages on the console display yet, but the shocks are gonna be replaced before it gets that far..

First post so Hi to all.

That's because the HID  head-lamps and self levelling dampers use different sensors.

Yeh, the leveling on the HID an shocks is seperate.....

Self levellers are currently about £60 + vat each with TC.
Retail is £97 + vat!!  :o

If you want self levellers, you can only get them from Vauxhall.

The point I was trying to make is that I think fitting std shocks (non-levelling) may not be an option when used with HIDs.

My reasoning is that the HID levelling would have been designed to work with a chassis which holds almost constant ride-height and pitch. If std shocks were substituted to save cash then the rear end would sag under full load and Im not sure that the HID levelling would have sufficient range to compensate. If it hits the end stop of its adjustment range I bet it flags a warning.

Surely the HID levelling and adjusters are standard, whether fitted to self levelling cars (such as Elite) and non self levelling (MV6)?

I don't really understand this self leveling stuff, when I had my MV6 I had xenon lights fitted and adjustment was made selecting the range between 1 and 5 on the switch next to the headlight on/off switch. Now on the elite is the Xenon light adjustment purely achived just by lowering and raising the rear of the car meaning the xenon lights are fixed and cannot move, or is this totally wrong in the sence that self leveling is purely to keep the ride level depending on the load in the boot and the xenon lights have a seperate controller and motors to alter the angle of the beam from the headlights.

The point i'm trying to make is if I decide on a ride height that of an MV6 and change all the shocks and do away with the self leveling compressor could adjustment be made in the same way as the MV6 if a rotary switch was fitted or would the headlights and motors need to be changed as well..

BTW phoned up vauxhall for a price on self levelling shocks and they want to hit me for £224 including VAT, but I know someone who can get them for 40% less.

Come down to me and I'll get you them on trade club.  :)

cheers m8, geffd said he could get me 40% off at vauxhall, but I guess derby is closer than liverpool. I'll PM you soon... And thanks again... ;)

Try buypartsby, they list a KYB shock for gas adjust suspensions....

I did look there but were unsure if they for suitable for the omega... if there is anyone there tomorrow i'll give em a call

I tried for the KYB adjustable ones... lots of fun and games later... no, we don't do them!

zoltron wrote on 28. Jul 2006 at 19:13:

I don't really understand this self leveling stuff, when I had my MV6 I had xenon lights fitted and adjustment was made selecting the range between 1 and 5 on the switch next to the headlight on/off switch.

It didn't have HIDs then. HIDs wont have an adjustment dial inside car, as legally headlight aim has to be automatically controlled with HIDs

The system that controls the headlight aim is completely seperate from self levelling suspension (if fitted)

TheBoy wrote on 29. Jul 2006 at 20:23:

It didn't have HIDs then. HIDs wont have an adjustment dial inside car, as legally headlight aim has to be automatically controlled with HIDs The system that controls the headlight aim is completely seperate from self levelling suspension (if fitted)

It definately had HID lights as very occasionally the left hand passenger side would not fire up correctly it had to be turned off and on quite rapidly to get it to fire. But i'm sure I had an adjuster by the light switch, unless i'm mistaking it for the one on my Vectra :)

the light switch might have been changed at some point for a standard one (with range adjust). You might well find that the range adjustment does nothing if the lights are levelled automatically (which they should be if factory-fitted HIDs)