rear struts frozen?

[sibir]

I have a 93 Corolla wagon and after it turned cold (freezing temperatures) my rear shock absorbers appear to have frozen over night, that is the car is banging terribly in the rear whenever I hit the smallest pothole/bump. It does not give when I try to push it down in the back. After it gets warmer it is fine again (well it still is noisier than I like in the back when I drive the terrible streets in Boston, but I got used to that). Is it possible that both struts (or what are the shock absorbers in my car?) seize at the same time? Sounds like an unlikely coincidence.

Any help/explanation? Do I need to get new struts? Or is it something cheaper? (I'd like to do it myself.)

Thanks, Martin

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: sibir on 2002-01-05 12:52 ]</font>

[Xenon]

Hey there Martin,

I'm assuming that your suspension is no different than mine.. But Having both struts fail at the same time in a newer model car is very unlikely!
I replaced my rear struts after 12 years because my car started bouncing around..
Try to see, if your computer controls your suspension, if not then it could be a defect, so you'd better go to the dealership and ask them for advice, they should know if anyone else came back with the same problem, otherwise it would be your struts for sure..

Respect
Xenon

[fatredcircle]

Just thoeritically speaking, and my opinion. still check the dealer for information or even http://www.club4ag.com for more information.
Maybe water ( due to condensation from the cold air) seaped into your shocks, and it gets to freezing temperatures to freeze over. Thus it would prevent you from pushing it back down. As it starts to warm it the condensation leaks back out of the shock. It could also be under pressure (due to the added) water in the compression cylinder, and cause it to be harder than it should be and not have any displacement to compress it self into.
thats just my 2 cents toward your problem.

[Flashmn]

Heck man, you know what would happen to the oil if there was water inside the shocks? it would look like the cream they serve on your coffee in starbucks.
It can be that the oil is stiff in it's viscosity and it just gets very stiff when it gets cold, kinda like comparing light 0W-10 and 15W-50 oil ;P