Installing my new Konis - quick help?

[Mobius]

For kicks; some other entertaining heiroglyphs from the stupid 'no words' instruction sheet:

I CAN'T FIND MY STRUTS! HELP!


OHH.. Remove the old one.. I see..


I don't know anything except this guy has a huge thumb:


CAN'T I PUT IT IN MY TRUNK?!

[632 Regal]

Bet I dont upgrade to Konis! My Belsteins were gas shocks and them directions said to remove all the oil, are the Konis you got gas or hydraulic? maybe your lookin at the wrong instruction sheet?

Idonno man.

[Robin-535im]

Sure you didn't buy struts for the fabled "RX-7 with an E34 Console"?

[gale]

Here's a link for getting under the rear shelf, all you have to do is lift the front edge to get to the tops of the rear shocks:

http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/page_29.htm

It's for an e32 but an e34 should be similar except for the rear headrests(?)

The oil is for heat transfer and also serves as an anti-rattle medium if the bottom of the insert can slop around from side to side. Bilsteins that have exposed valve seat screws on the very bottom of the insert should not use oil since it can seep in and dissolve the seals. Aside from that, any other strut insert whether gas or oil that has a solid bottom, will use the token 50cc of oil, 30W or 10W30 or 10W40 will be sufficient. Just about any oil or gear oil for that matter shouldn't make any difference, but I personally wouldn't use synthetic from its propensity to leak, and a heavier oil will take longer for the strut insert to bed completely in the bottom of the outer tube. Too much oil and you'll be fighting getting the collar nut tight while it's trying to ooze out past the threads.

[John B.]

I had the same question when I installed a set of Konis so I called Koni USA & asked them. The tech was aware how bad the instructions & said a light oil was fine.

[Mobius]

I had the same question when I installed a set of Konis so I called Koni USA & asked them. The tech was aware how bad the instructions & said a light oil was fine.

Excellent. Thanks.

Pretty sure I'm using the Mobil 1 10-30 that's sitting unused in my garage though - oughta be fine.

[Dash01]

Could it be that the snowflake symbol represents something to do with pouring antifreeze into the strut for heat dissipation?

For what they charge for Koni struts, you'd think they could afford some decent instructions in various languages, including English, even though hardly anbody on the whole planet ever speaks in that rare tongue.

[Mobius]

Could it be that the snowflake symbol represents something to do with pouring antifreeze into the strut for heat dissipation?

For what they charge for Koni struts, you'd think they could afford some decent instructions in various languages, including English, even though hardly anbody on the whole planet ever speaks in that rare tongue.

Seriously - does it really cost that much to have a damn translator translate the instructions into maybe 4 languages?

The kicker is that these ARE english instructions; see the words "new" and "original" in the pictures above? If they can use words to differentiate between the struts, you'd think they could bother to put "30-weight oil" or what have you next to the little measuring cup...

[GS535i]

Add ~50ml (~2 oz) of light oil: this is a heat transfer media, because the insert would otherwise be insulated by an air space. I used dexron III ATF when doing a set of Bilsteins. No problem in the rear, as they are exposed shocks vs. contained inserts ( that's why the wording difference).
If you want a guess, the 'snowflake' could be a 'glyph for 'cooling', aka heat transfer.

[pmlmotorsports]

I have spoken to Koni about there instructions, and they specify mineral oil for the front struts........hope this helps ....of course you can ask others if you feel my input is not proper as per Koni USA, they are based in Ky phone #859-586-4100