Blown DSSV damper?

[Z Beast]

Anyone know what this little brass fittings function is on our struts? Three of the one's on my car are dry but one looks like it has jell oozing out of it.

[Dropspeed]

Not sure at all.....If you want to go straight to the source to inquire:

Multimatic Inc.


Multimatic Inc.
8688 Woodbine Ave. Suite 200
Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 8B9
Phone: +1 905 470 9149
Fax: +1 905 470 6292

For general inquiries please contact Multimatic at info@multimatic.com
For sales inquiries please contact Multimatic Product Services

[Z Beast]

Originally Posted by Dropspeed

Not sure at all.....If you want to go straight to the source to inquire:

Multimatic Inc.


Multimatic Inc.
8688 Woodbine Ave. Suite 200
Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 8B9
Phone: +1 905 470 9149
Fax: +1 905 470 6292

For general inquiries please contact Multimatic at info@multimatic.com
For sales inquiries please contact Multimatic Product Services

I sent them an email and pictures but have not heard back yet.

[JusticePete]

Originally Posted by Z Beast

Anyone know what this little brass fittings function is on our struts? Three of the one's on my car are dry but one looks like it has jell oozing out of it.

Interesting. The body of the strut is dry, no sign of oil leaking?

[JTRATX]

Mine had the same thing on a few of the struts, Not as much oozing though.
I think it's a vent for pressure relief when the shock gets hot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JusticePete]

Shock fluid is thin. The substance appears to be grease like. Is it the consistency of grease?

[Z Beast]

Originally Posted by JusticePete

Shock fluid is thin. The substance appears to be grease like. Is it the consistency of grease?

The shock is dry around the seals and the consistency is a little lighter more like Vaseline

[D2M]

Mine did the same thing..

[Dropspeed]

Originally Posted by Z Beast

I sent them an email and pictures but have not heard back yet.

They are in Ontario, Eastern time zone....I posted at 7:30ish ET so they are long gone for the work day.

[JusticePete]

Originally Posted by Z Beast

The shock is dry around the seals and the consistency is a little lighter more like Vaseline

Interesting. Looking forward to hear what they say.

[JusticePete]

I did take a look at a car in the shop. All four 'vents' are clean on dry.

[Z Beast]

Well it appears all is well! I received this e-mail back this morning....Big thanks to Patrick at Multimatic for the explanation and great media presentation.

The fitting you see is a “breather” which allows air to enter and exit the strut as it strokes. The gel you see is a grease which is applied between the upper and lower “DU” Teflon bushings for lubrication.

Note that the z/28 strut is actually what is sometimes known as a “superstrut”, meaning that a full damper is present inside the steel outer strut body you see externally. The above-mentioned DU bushings form the sliding interface between the damper and the outer strut body. Note that the damper itself is a separate ‘sealed’ unit inside the outer strut body.

If during assembly, slightly too much of this grease was applied, and/or some of the grease was wiped past the lower bushing, it may be expelled through the breather. The pristine condition of the grease suggests that there is not any unusual wear internally. Our suggestion is to simply wipe off the grease. Once the ‘excess’ grease is expelled, you should no longer see this condition (as with your right strut). The damper/outer strut body interface will continue to be lubricated by the grease between the upper and lower DU bushings.

In case you haven’t seen it, here is an overall backgrounder for the vehicle. Embedded in it is a Multimatic presentation given by my colleague, Larry Holt, regarding the specifics of DSSV dampers in general, and your vehicle’s DSSV dampers in specific. On page 37, there is a cross-sectional view of the front super-strut, which may (or may not!) give you a better idea of what I am trying to describe above.

http://media.chevrolet.com/content/dam/Media/documents/US/PDF/Camaro-Z28-Tech-Backgrounder-2013.pdf

Please let us know if you have any further questions or require additional detail.

I trust you are enjoying your z/28!

Regards,
Patrick

[Lonewolf583]

Mine are dry, but on the side that presentation is pretty sweet. I didn't realize this wasn't proprietary.

[JusticePete]

Originally Posted by Z Beast

Well it appears all is well! I received this e-mail back this morning....Big thanks to Patrick at Multimatic for the explanation and great media presentation.

The fitting you see is a “breather” which allows air to enter and exit the strut as it strokes. The gel you see is a grease which is applied between the upper and lower “DU” Teflon bushings for lubrication.

Note that the z/28 strut is actually what is sometimes known as a “superstrut”, meaning that a full damper is present inside the steel outer strut body you see externally. The above-mentioned DU bushings form the sliding interface between the damper and the outer strut body. Note that the damper itself is a separate ‘sealed’ unit inside the outer strut body.

If during assembly, slightly too much of this grease was applied, and/or some of the grease was wiped past the lower bushing, it may be expelled through the breather. The pristine condition of the grease suggests that there is not any unusual wear internally. Our suggestion is to simply wipe off the grease. Once the ‘excess’ grease is expelled, you should no longer see this condition (as with your right strut). The damper/outer strut body interface will continue to be lubricated by the grease between the upper and lower DU bushings.

In case you haven’t seen it, here is an overall backgrounder for the vehicle. Embedded in it is a Multimatic presentation given by my colleague, Larry Holt, regarding the specifics of DSSV dampers in general, and your vehicle’s DSSV dampers in specific. On page 37, there is a cross-sectional view of the front super-strut, which may (or may not!) give you a better idea of what I am trying to describe above.

http://media.chevrolet.com/content/dam/Media/documents/US/PDF/Camaro-Z28-Tech-Backgrounder-2013.pdf

Please let us know if you have any further questions or require additional detail.

I trust you are enjoying your z/28!

Regards,
Patrick

What an awesome reply