drain old struts

[MadDog]

I replaced my OEM struts on my 2000 CSVT about 6 months ago. I want to take the old struts to a metal recycler (they have 240K miles on them and are undoubtedly shot). however, I have to drain the oil out first. Has anyone done this ? How much gas pressure is in an OEM strut ? I don't want to drill out holes willy-nilly if this isn't very safe.

thanks,

Mad Dog

 

[gmorrell]

At 240K miles, there may not be any gas pressure left. If you compress the rod, does it spring back fairly quickly, crawl out slowly, or not come out at all?

Done this many times, I put them in a vice, bottom end up, drill the bottom with a 1/4" bit, about centered, you can wrap a rag around the end to catch any oil that might exit when the bit breaks through. Drilling them bottom end up lets the oil move away from the bottom and even if there is some pressure, there's little oil to come out the hole.

Once you have a hole in the bottom, you can point the bottom into a bucket and pump the rod a few times to push out the oil.

 

[amc49]

X2, that should work fine. If the rod does not return up when compressed all the way the gas has leaked down and will be low enough pressure to drill it out. Of course you do not want to point the hole at your face while drilling it. Common sense, you may get a slight spit then nothing.

 

[MadDog]

No Title

For what its worth, it wasn't difficult at all. You can use a portable drill and some good bits, but a full powered electric drill makes it go a lot faster. With 230K miles on the struts, there was no pressure release at all. I drilled from the bottom, near the rim, at about a 45 degree angle. Once I cut through the 2 layers of metal, it was easy to drain the fluid out by cycling the strut action. There was about 10 oz. of fluid in each strut.

The fluid will probably burn, so take appropriate precautions.

Mad Dog