Shock leaking after being replaced

Tiny
LOUIISSEEE
  • MEMBER
  • 2017 VOLKSWAGEN POLO
  • 1.2L
  • 4 CYL
  • TURBO
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
  • 10,000 MILES
Had a garage refit my original genuine suspension on Saturday. The genuine suspension had only been used for 5,000 miles before being replaced with coil-overs. On the Saturday they had finished refitting the suspension I noticed the car feeling wobbly. On Monday I noticed a lot of oil leaking from my car and noticed that the shock had either failed or been broken. Is there any chance the garage could have incorrectly fitted the suspension causing this? Do not see why else genuine suspension would have failed straight after being refitted and only used for 5,000 miles prior.
Tuesday, May 15th, 2018 AT 6:00 AM

4 Replies

Tiny
PATENTED_REPAIR_PRO
  • MECHANIC
  • 1,853 POSTS
I doubt if they would have known the shock was bad and leaking right out of the box, because the piston has not been expanded/contracted until it was installed on the vehicle.
Take it back and show them the shock that is leaking oil and I am sure they will remove it, return it and install a new one.
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Tuesday, May 15th, 2018 AT 8:16 AM
Tiny
LOUIISSEEE
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Little back information. The garage that refitted the original suspension were the same garage that we had used to take it off and replace with coil overs. We got in touch with them today and they are determined that we had never provided them with the dust cover that caused the shock to seize, nor did they realize it was missing and that they had fitted everything we had supplied. Now we did not touch anything inside of the box or the parts they provided us with when they took the suspension off. Also, would they have let us drive out of their workshop without the dust cover let alone supposedly not realized it was missing whilst fitting it? I am not exactly knowledgeable with this stuff so I do not want to go in all guns blazing until I have a good understanding and advice from other mechanics.
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Tuesday, May 15th, 2018 AT 4:36 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 14,313 POSTS
So you had them remove the factory parts and install coil over assemblies and put the factory parts in storage. Then the same shop reversed the process and put the original parts back on, correct?
I doubt it had anything to do with the installation. Most shops treat "customer supplied" parts the same way. You bring them in, they install what you brought.
It is more likely it is just a failure, either internal valving or a bad seal. I have seen new parts that did not work right out of the box. It is even possible that while the parts were in storage the piston rod received a ding or even was already defective.
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Thursday, May 17th, 2018 AT 5:47 PM
Tiny
PATENTED_REPAIR_PRO
  • MECHANIC
  • 1,853 POSTS
I would see if the dust cover was also missing from the shock on the other side, if not, then they should have known it was supposed to have a dust cover.
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Friday, May 18th, 2018 AT 3:47 PM

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