Avo's which have been in storage

[Ben]

I bought some AVO GTZ's about 18months ago, used them for a month, and then stuck them in the garage. Bit of a waste of money I know but I kept them because I plan on getting another 306 in 2015.

Anyway, I moved them into the loft today and noticed that one of them does not move very freely. It pushes in reasonably easily but is almost impossible to pull back out again. The other one pushes in easily and then pulls out similarly easily.

Does anyone have any idea as to what I could do to free it up? Don't want to have to send almost brand new coilies off for a refurb before I can use them next year!

[Piggy]

That could be damper settings.
(one maybe soft and the other stiff!!!)
Check the settings on them and report back

[Ben]

Thanks for the reply. I thought that at the time but didn't have the adjuster to hand, they should both be in the middle though where I left them. I'll use a spanner tomorrow to check though.

If it was down to the damper settings though would it not make it harder both ways? Its just hard to pull piston out..

[Toms306]

It should be the same both ways yes. Sounds like they'll need internal work imo.

[Piggy]

Depends on the adjustments. If theres only one adjustment then yes should be same both ways.

Seems odd to have gone bad by just being in storage though!?

[Ben]

Yeah it is very odd! I think I might put a spring on it and then use a press to move it up and down, hopefully free it up a bit.

[welshpug]

I would say the one that moves easier is the buggered one, just send them back for a service, AVO's never last long.

[Ben]

I would say the one that moves easier is the buggered one, just send them back for a service, AVO's never last long.

The one that moves easier feels pretty good though. The other one is OK to push in but VERY hard to pull back out.

Really want to try and avoid sending them back if possible, they've only had a few hundred miles use!

[welshpug]

being hard to pull out is normal, means they have a fair amount of rebound damping.

I've seen AVO's leak in under 200 miles.

[Ben]

Ah ok, I assumed it should take the same pressure to move it each way.

That's not good to hear! I thought Avo were a reasonable quality brand.

[miles]

They are like the cheap'o' Gaz's, You can push them down with ease

[Rippthrough]

They're not very high pressure and have small shafts, so they will be relatively easy to push in, even with similar compression valving to such as a bilstien, etc. I'm not sure on the GTZ's what the adjuster is, but it could well be rebound bleed only, in which case if one is wound in it would be very hard to pull out, as it's the low speed movements it affects.

If the adjusters are set the same, I would suggest you've lost some oil and now have a partial vacuum in the gas chamber.

[daddyfixit]

storing shockers horizontally (on their sides) can cause air bubbles to cause problems)
leave them standing upright overnight, then try moving them up/down for a few minutes to see if they stiffen up. if it gets better then it was just a case of bleeding/priming them (see above) and you can pat yourself on the head.

[Ben]

Cheers for those replies guys, I have another look at them over the next few days, hopefully get it sussed and report back.

[Ben]

It did just turn out to be the damping settings, was me being stupid! I just assumed they'd be where I left them but someone must have had a fiddle. Good to know that the adjustment works though!
Thanks for all replies!