Faulty Shock Absorber? Mk2 Focus St

[Blink]

Just been fitting new spacers all round on the car and noticed this on the front near side, can't see a split anywhere in the CV gaiter you guys think it's come from the shocker? There is a load of grease on the bottom of it but that could of course sprayed upwards. They are brand new Bilstein shockers

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[TomsFocus]

That looks like CV grease to me tbh, look harder for a split lol!

[Blink]

Thanks for the response, I agree with you, my first thought was CV...just never seen a shocker go so wasn't sure. It's a Bilstein B12 Pro kit which I believe uses gas shocks so would they have grease or a fluid of some sort in anyway?

Going to take another look with better light tomorrow.

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[TomsFocus]

Ah I see, yeah there is still oil in gas shocks believe it or not. They just use gas to keep the oil under pressure iirc.

It's a thin clearish oil used in shocks that I've seen though, totally different to the thick slimy greeny black CV grease. And it leaks from the top of the shock when the seals do fail.

Best thing to do is put the wheel on full lock when checking the CV boot, will open one side up to make it easier to a split, might only be a tiny pin hole caused by road debris.

[Blink]

Thanks for the advice will try that and post up the result tomorrow.

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[iantt]

I take it there is a gap between the shock bottom and cv boot when is on the ground with weight on, looks very close and could be rubbing boot, does look like cv grease

[troy45]

Would that be the outer right hand side CV by any chance?

Not uncommon for that one to fail eventually - can only take a minute hole in it to allow grease to fly everywhere. Taking the wheel off usually gives a much better view of things, and if you can see spots all over the inside of the rim that's another indication of it being the CV joint that's gone.

It's a fairly straight forward job to be fixed, as long as the garage knows what they're doing - it can prove cheaper to buy a full boot kit for the driveshaft rather than just the outer boot on it's own. Hopefully if the boot has gone you'll have spotted it before the CV joint has suffered.

[Blink]

Would that be the outer right hand side CV by any chance?

Not uncommon for that one to fail eventually - can only take a minute hole in it to allow grease to fly everywhere. Taking the wheel off usually gives a much better view of things, and if you can see spots all over the inside of the rim that's another indication of it being the CV joint that's gone.

It's the passenger side this time.....funny you say that though I had to have the drivers side done for the MOT last year.

Having taken the wheel off today all the symptoms you mention are there.

Can only see this "crease" (for want of a better word). Didn't want to pull it about and make it worse, but I think that's where it's coming from.

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Inner is starting to look suspect so will have both done.

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[troy45]

I've had the drivers side go on both my ST's, that's the common one to go according to Gary at Collins. He's had lots of practice replacing them!

That crease in yours is quite possibly the problem, also looks like another one an inch or so to the left of it too?

Giving the boot a good clean up with brake cleaner or similar helps, then if you squeeze it about you'll soon see where any grease is coming through. As mentioned above it only takes a tiny hole in it to allow grease to start coming out.