Hi

Recenlty my bonnet has begun to slowly but surely droop and close from the fully open position.

I can see 4 struts (2 small and 2 larger) and wondered if anyone could advise from experience which ones to change first.

The droop is slow and so I imagine the issue is recent and at the early stages.

Simple answer is to swap all four, but I wondered if there was a preference for which fails first and hence is best to replace first to avoid replacing the struts that may be still serviceable.

Thanks in advance
James

 

Thanks everyone for your help

 

Tuff one!!! Check real close around the strut shaft seals for a slight noticeable fluid leak (wet shinny surface). I then would recommend that you prop the Bonnet up and remove two of the same size at a time and bench test the struts by hand pushing on the strut shaft from the extend position and noticing the amount of resistance pushing in the strut down position. It will probably be a chore but I think you should feel the difference between each other. I would start with larger struts first.

Ron

 

When I looked into replacing mine, there seemed to be a huge price difference between the two sizes of struts. Something like 150 vs 400 dollars. Start with the cheaper ones perhaps.
Paul

 

The only way to know which strut is bad is to take each one off and compress it by pushing down on the unit to the floor. The good ones will not compress easily. The bad ones are easy to compress. Generally when one fails the others aren't far behind.

 

Probably not what you want to hear, but you should replace both sides new. If one side has given up the ghost, the stronger one is working harder and probably not far behind. Same thing if you replace one side. The stronger one will do more of the work and wear that much faster.

But I also agree with Ron if you're going to look for the weak side. These will be pretty hard to compress by hand if they're in decent shape. So, a weak one might be found on a bench test.