Hi All!

I have a 2008 Mazda3 Hatch, with around 48,000 miles on it...I am not currently working, so my car spends a majority of the time sitting in the garage, and when i do take it out, it gets driven maybe for an 1 ( round trip ) and then comes back home to the garage.

This morning while having a smoke, i noticed that there is wetness coming from the rear passenger strut area.... I stuck my finger in it, and it felt sort of like oil ( definitely not water ). I checked all the others and nothing, just this one.

How bad is a leaking strut? Is it expensive to fix? Do they just randomly start leaking on this year/model?

I bought this car used from a dealership other than Mazda so i doubt there is any warranty left on it, and it will only be free to replace if there is a recall sort of thing on it... ( I already got the paper saying i'm going to have to bring it in for the power steering issue ).

Help? Ideas?

My bf and I have recently run into some bad luck with his bike leaking, and this is quite frankly not something we needed right now....

so seriously how bad is this going to hurt our wallets?

Thanks!

 

I think you can get a single strut as a replacement, but it's FAR BETTER to do them in pairs. The price is probably around $250 after replacing two struts and then they will have to do an alignment (pretty sure about the alignment but not 100%).

I'd guess a previous owner hit a big bump or something that stressed the strut - making it leak now. With 48k it's probably not too far from needing struts all the way around.

 

Actually, just thinking about it.. when i went in to have my tires balanced, they said that one of the rims was ever so slightly bent ( not enough to affect anything ) and thinking back to that day... that particular rim was where the leak has shown up!

wow.... suckiness..

i just called a few suspension shops to get rough prices.. and the last one i called said that it would cost me $265 and that was for KYB...... is this good?

im coming from a 2003 subaru wrx.... so this car is completely new to me... haha.. if it would have been my last car, i would have known the exact problem 15 mins after i found it, and id have it replaced in 2 days... work done myself ( with the help of some friends of course )


How hard would it be for me to replace struts myself on this car? Every car is different so i have no idea with this one....

 

Yep, the dented rim is definitely the evidence.
Installed for 265 isn't bad at all, but you can do it yourself if you're used to car work. Just looking in the book it's a shock, not a strut - so no alignment will be needed once it's replaced.
Looking at prices, $60/pc seems like it online for KYB replacement shocks. Support the car, three bolts and that should be it for replacing them.
If you're not a racer or anything just get the standard shock, no need for a high performance part. KYB does tons for OEM and aftermarket performance stuff, it's a good name... though for reference I don't think many shops would sell horribly cheap stuff, since there would be many parts returned.

Good luck replacing parts

 

the rear struts are easy to replace, if you dont mind working on your car yourself all you need is a car jack, 21mm socket and ratchet or your tire tool, a 12mm socket for the two top nuts, a 17mm socket or wrench for the bottom bolt you compress the strut by hand about one inch or two and it slides out of the wheel well. and 265 sounds too much for me. but then again i am a tech. if you need any help post your issue and ill try to guide you through.

 

sorry i for got to put inches, "compress the strut 1 or 2 inches"