Hello all,

I have a 2002 V40 that I can't seem to figure out the front strut assembly. I had replaced the struts and strut mounts in the summer and in Nov the strut mounts failed. The piston of the strut punched through the mount. Now when I did the work, I put back exactly what came apart with exception to the new parts. I installed new Monroe OE Spectrum and MasterPro Strut Mounts from O'Riley. This weekend, I replaced just the strut mounts with the same manufacture. After getting it all back together, I can push on the bumper and I can see the strut piston shaft go up and down. It's like the piston is not moving.

Now it's been suggested that I use some kind of spacer/washer under the strut mount. Looking up assembly diagrams and online videos, there is no mention of using such a thing. I don't see how it would help unless I use a nut below and above the strut mount to keep it still.

I'm hoping that someone here can tell me if I'm missing parts or that I'm missing a step somewhere. I really love this car! 191000mi and still going strong!

 

Go to the FCPEuro web site - there's a parts diagram online. Not much in there really - you have an upper strut mount where the piston goes through and the piston is tiered so the tier grabs the bottom of the mount. There's two possibilities I can see 1) the mount was damaged and the original strut pushed through an enlarged hole - meaning you need a new strut mount 2) the after market strut piston is too narrow and not to OEM specs, and doesn't tier out far enough to grab the mount bottom (thus the comments about using a washer not found in a diagram).

 

Thank you for you reply! Error #3, I did not tighten the top nut enough to mate the bottom of the strut mount to the piston tier. When I did the assembly, I presumed that the depth of the top nut had to be the same as the old. I did my best to match it thinking that the pressure of the coil spring would make the assembly work.

 

yes the piston nut should be tightened to about 50 ft-lbs (different sources say 65nm or 70nm which is about 50 ft-lbs).