So I posted before about a leaky left front strut. Upon doing the soapy water test I can find nothing bubbling. What I did find is it looks like I have 2 different (manufacturer) struts on the front. Can someone confirm this ? I assume the bad one (second pic) maybe the old one ? Not only the silver top cover on the passenger side but the drivers side bolts are much longer. Can any of my Jaguar brothers provide insight ?

Thanks in advance.

 

Both original (comfort) and replacement Bilstein B4's (comfort) have the same stud as pic #2. I would suggest you look at the silver upper bellows outer casing inside the wheel-well and look for a painted dot. Green is "comfort" and red is "sport" if they are originals. B4 replacements will have a Bilstein tag identifying it's part number, and they make only "comfort" replacements.

 

The first picture (top) is not original.

 

Thanks guys, I figured one of them were not original. I don't have the service records so I don't know when it was replaced but this would explain the left side leaking and not the right. When I get a chance I will pull the tire on the right and see if it has any markings to figure out whos it is.

 

The original Air Spring/Damper has E Torx studs, not Allen socket head studs.

bob

 

Some time ago, somebody posted a link to air spring units that looked like a Chinese copy of the Bilstein, but no more was heard then. SO you may have one of these as the Bilstein CATS connection fits the unit. This allows the shock to be switched to 'Soft' when the CATS software deems it safe to do so !