My car has just had its second MoT and has covered less than 19,000. It was given an advisory for light misting of oil, near side front shocker.

Any advice from the forum? Is this a common issue? At what stage will it need replacing? Replace individual or both fronts? Parts availability? Is it an expensive job (Manchester, UK)?

Many thanks.

Hello David,

Was your car MOT’d by a main dealer? If not, was it done at some national chain, or just the local garage?

I’m sure you will understand that no one on here will be able to advise on severity, or give you any idea of how long it will last, without access to the vehicle, but it would be well worth examining yourself or getting a second opinion from your trusted local garage.

If/when it needs replacing, you will need to replace both front ones.

Regards,

Gareth.

2 hours ago, Magnet said:

Hello David,

Was your car MOT’d by a main dealer? If not, was it done at some national chain, or just the local garage?

I’m sure you will understand that no one on here will be able to advise on severity, or give you any idea of how long it will last, without access to the vehicle, but it would be well worth examining yourself or getting a second opinion from your trusted local garage.

If/when it needs replacing, you will need to replace both front ones.

Regards,

Gareth.

Thanks for the reply, Gareth, much appreciated.

It was MoT’d by a national chain, the one that is currently winding down its UK operations, not sure if Forum rules allows me to name them?

I do plan to remove the road wheel and take a look myself, not 100% sure I know what I’ll be looking for.

2 hours ago, David A3 said:

not 100% sure I know what I’ll be looking for.

A wet shock absorber will very obvious. The coating of dirt will absorb any oil and change its colour compared to a dry damper.

Thanks David,

National chains depend on ‘branch sales’ and it’s not unusual for them to ‘find’ something which can bring in revenue from the poor unsuspected.

My advice would be to put any action on the back burner, although having a safe DIY look maybe in the coming months.

If it were mine, I would be fostering good relations with one of your local MOT stations, and using them in the future.

Regards,

Gareth.

2 hours ago, David A3 said:

Thanks for the reply, Gareth, much appreciated.

It was MoT’d by a national chain, the one that is currently winding down its UK operations, not sure if Forum rules allows me to name them?

I do plan to remove the road wheel and take a look myself, not 100% sure I know what I’ll be looking for.

Hi my daughters Q3 had that one on every MOT up to 60k when she bought it and now at 147k its been sold, with the same shock absorbers with misting on the front and new shocks last year on the back as they were leaking badly, all hydraulic seals sweat to a certain extents if you wipe around the seal at the top of the body [under dust boot] you will always come back with a greasy finger or cloth, my advice for what its worth is keep an eye on it and change it if its running oil down the strut, I think it will last a while yet.

Steve.

Many thanks to you all for your reassurance, much appreciated.

I have history with the tester being a tad over zealous. I also have a 1990 Ford, bought new and now with 13,000 miles on the clock. Last year he failed the car for headlamp beam adjustment, charging £40 to adjust it and retest, plus an Advisory for a crack in front number plate that had been there for the last 30 years. It’s pretty obvious that I take care of that car and I was livid at it being given a fail in its MoT history.

I went back with the Audi because it’s 4 years old with 18,000 miles, didn’t expect any issues.

As suggested David - give your business to someone else.

There was a VW tech bulletin in March 2018 that relates to misting on shocks. The tech background is that it's unavoidable as it's necessary for the lubrication of the piston seal. A minor film of oil on the shock absorber pipe is normal.

A leak will be clearly evident as it will extend into spring seat, accumulated debris from shock absorber oil and road dirt, etc.

Edited March 27Mar 27 by spartacus 68