IainM

here's a short vid of the problem

AOW162435

The one in my pic is a DCF899B. It's a hell of an impact gun. Me thinks you're confusing it with an impact driver (of which I have a few as well)?



Correct. Turned it slowly clockwise and all of a sudden it 'took' and once again compressed correctly.



Andreas

IainM

I'm not seeing/feeling that. I even tried rotating the shaft with the top mount disconnected in the wheel well so it was completely free and the shaft rotated in line and smoothly with a light resistance. It's like something has come unattached within the shock and is preventing the piston from compressing past a certain point. In the video you can see that there is 1-2" of freeplay/compression before it locks up. This is the same amount of extension that occurred when I put my weight on the wheel back at the beginning of this debacle. Im thinking I need to take the strut out and buck up for a new alignment when this is all fixed.

IainM

Channellocks to the rescue!!!
Lil husky was like the little engine that could, cracking that nut a thousandth of a turn at a time.
The rubber sheet also appears to have protected the shaft as I can't see any markings from the channelloacks at all.

So, not sure what that brown marking on the shaft is other than thats where it sat on the ground and the caster angle means that one side gets more pressure than the other. The other side is shiny like else where.
Playing with the shaft I can rotate it either way with slight smooth resistance but there's no engagement/disengagement feel. Haven't tried compressing it and I don't want to break the adjuster **** or my face and I'm still contemplating how to do that.

Otherwise I think its going to have to go to Performance Shock in Sonoma for a long holiday.

Any tests I should perform now its out?

AOW162435

Congrats on the removal.


Andreas

IainM

...and I fixed it.
As Andreas suggested, there's a part in the cylinder that is keyed to the piston and the two have to be aligned to allow the damper to compress. I tried pulling the shaft towards me and could feel/hear a clunk as the shaft hit something metallic. Repeating this compression while turning the shaft a bit at a time, I finally found the key and the shaft compressed as far as I could pull it. Funny thing is, now if I turn the shaft, the key stays aligned so I am unable to make the damper fail again.
No idea why I couldn't make this happen yesterday turning the mount nut while actuating the jack under the hub. Maybe I just didn't get lucky and hit the key dead on, maybe there's an angular bias when the strut is in the car that locks the two parts together preventing alignment. .
So there you have it. when you raise the car with PSS10s, make sure you fully loosen the wheel nuts before raising the car off the ground and don't turn the steering wheel.

Now I got to put it all back together.
Cheers!

Magicscott

Awesome! Congrats on sticking to it until you figured it out!

Magic

bobbyp

IainM

DOH! spoke too soon, Put the strut back in and checked the compression and its locking up again.
Fortunately I didn't do the complete install, just enough to test but there's something else going on.
I wonder if there's some kind of bayonet locking device?
I need to rotate it until its aligned, compress and turn.

rlme36

so do we think its just a rub mark on the shock piston, or is that worn through the "chrome" or whatever they use to ensure a good seal when compressed? It could be me, but i'd check the other front one to see if that wear is there and if send that sucker along with the other one for rebuilding. might was well get both refreshed.

IainM

Quick update. The damper is shot, I can’t get it to relook. I suspect something inside has come unattached. PSI is quoting 8 week turnaround if repair is possible. Couldn’t find any PSS10 in the US so I’m looking at 4 weeks for a new set.
this has to be the most expensive brake job of all time!
im going to replace both front coil overs and hope I get the camber close. I marked the hub mount flange so we’ll see. I’ll send both fronts to PSI for repair and give another update in March.
or April....

Moose

I have a set of Motion Control coil overs which are brand new and never installed if you are thinking of making a change. Let me know.

IainM

Well PSI got around to looking at my shocks and their assessment was - not repairable. Bent shafts, broken circlips, the drivers side was corroded and on the verge of shredding the seals and they said if the fronts were like this, the rears will be worse. Something about the sway bar mounts putting stress on the shock body so that it deforms. Maybe it's the 18" wheels, maybe its the California potholes but it sure sounds like a design flaw to me. Anyway, I also got an update from ECS that the Bilsteins I ordered got delayed again to April with no commitment so I'm done with them.
Not much inventory in the country of any 993 coilovers but Darin at FD hooked me up with some KWV3's for $300 less than the only set of PSS10's in the country I found after calling EVERYONE. Looking forward to the long weekend coming up!
You guys that park your cars for the winter - I don't know how you do it.

IainM

Sorry Moose, I kinda went off grid in depression back then. Missed your post.