Soda Siphon & Macpherson Struts

I'd use the hottest water I can find. Maybe a little soap, too.

Blast the engine oil directly off the strut and then clean it up as soon as practical.

I think a power washer would be better than the soda thing.

I can't think of a single reason for the oil to be there. At least it's new oil.

Take it to a mechanic and get his opinion.

When injecting CO2 in a liquid to create bubbling soda liquids a cold liquid will retain more CO2 in the bottle.

give us more info about the oil problem you "don't want the answer" to?

OK this was two different questions -

The only way I can see for the oil to get into the well around the top of the McPherson strut is for someone to put it there. All around it is 'dry'. & the only reason I can see for putting it there is to have it attack the rubber of the top mount & cause premature failure. But I would not believe that of the guys who do the work on my car.

The other question is 'at what temperature is the solubility of CO2 in H2O the greatest?

I ask because I like very bubbly soda water. But as one heats water, the gasses are emitted just before boiling is reached - and also just before freezing, I believe. So what is optimum temp to add CO2?

Grateful for insights into either Q.

P.S. 'Soda diphon' was meant to be 'soda siphon' - just fat fingered, & slow eyed. ;-(

WHY DOES THIS FORUM DESTROY FORMATTING OF POSTS?

Test the Mc Pherson for damping (shock absorbing) Inside there is oil. I hope.

The oil that you see on top can be part of what is supposed to be inside.

Some have a hollow shaft (like a pipe) and release oil to the top, just to let you show something happened? Some types are filled up through the top also and have a valve, 1 time. But we don't know what you have.

Wipe the oil off and see if it returns.

Maybe it's comig out of the strut?

I have a soda stream unit and the more pressure you put to the soda the more CO2 it will absorb.

Put your soda in a steel welding gas tank and give it the full 700 - 900 PSI that CO2 tanks run at! When it comes out of there it will be at its absolute maximum saturation level if it does not flash freeze itself first!

does your engine use oil?

No significant oil use -

For your soda question: the colder water absorbs and retains CO2 better than warm water. Wish I could post a chart explaining this but in our industry we measure carbonation in terms of volumes CO2 per volume water. To get optimal soda at say 34F you only need around 25psi CO2. At 70F you would need around 60 psi.

Think what happens when you open a warm vs cold can of Coke/Pepsi/Whatever. The pressure is much higher in the warm can.

I say 'optimal' because you need to get this highly saturated liquid to atmosphere without blowing off all the CO2 in solution. Mechanical agitation as it passes through the dispensing valve will cause some of the CO2 to 'break out' of the water. Once again the colder the soda the easier it passes through the valve retaining CO2.

Finally - There is no point in over carbonating the soda as there is a practical limit as to how much gas can be retained during the dispense.

Cold, cold, cold is the way to go. Hope this helps.

Great, just the info I was after. Thanks Bev. Are you in brewing, or in bottling?

You are missing one of the basic components of really good soda water, this piece from a Wiki article tells you how and why, I have underlined the relevant sentence and made it thicker and in Italics:-

Carbonated water can be made at home by use of a readily available 1 L (1.1 US qt) rechargeable soda siphon, or seltzer bottle, and disposable carbon dioxide cartridges. One recipe is to chill filtered tap water in the fridge, optionally add one quarter to one half a level teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to the soda siphon, add the chilled water and add the carbon dioxide under pressure. A pH testing kit can be used to gauge the amount of sodium bicarbonate used to achieve the desired acidity. The siphon should be kept in the refrigerator to preserve carbonation of the contents. Many soda siphons are handsome objects in their own right, and are kept out for viewing on the drinks tray. Soda water made in this way tends not to be as 'gassy' as commercial soda water because water from the refrigerator is not chilled as much as possible, and the pressure of carbon dioxide is limited to that available from the cartridge rather than being at a higher pressure created by pumps in a commercial carbonation plant.

To reach the 'gassy,' fully carbonated level of commercial waters, the at-home enthusiast can either make or buy a carbonating system based on larger, refillable carbon dioxide canisters rather than small, disposable cartridges good for only one liter. Detailed and simple plans to build small in-home carbonating systems are freely available on the internet^{[4] [5]} and can produce a liter of carbonated water for less than 5 US cents. Consumer priced carbonation machines targeted at the home market, such as Sodastream, have been successful. This is despite the higher cost related to the manufacturer-specific returnable pressurized carbon dioxide canisters (around 400 to 800 grams, enough for 40 to 80 liters of carbonated water). The commercial units are often sold with concentrated syrup flavoring for making soda.

Play around with the amounts, I prefer about half a tablespoon for 1 liter.

You can read the whole article here:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonated_water#Home

By the way, you know now why soda water is called soda water ........also when made correctly, it tastes far better than simple carbonated water.

Remember that water at around 4°C will hold the largest amount of gas, in this case CO2.....storing in a relatively cold set fridge will help to retain it.

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Probably your strut is losing oil and will need replacing.

In some countries you can buy replacement cartridges that make the job both easier and far cheaper.....do replace both sides at the same time......

Its usually the nearside one that goes first due to running over drains and badly finished road edges all the time.

Thanks Bevn, Andy and all for your replies. Now cold carbonating. Also will try your bicarb addition soon Andy. I recall now that one can make tonic water using a soda siphon - many recipes on the net, also some 'cordials' available. Need to find some chinchona (quinine) - probably from a Chinese pharmacy here in Thailand. Stuart.

Most automotive repair shops use air operated tools when performing/executing their work.

More than likely the oil was left there by the exhaust port on one of the pneumatic tools used during the replacement of your struts and the mechanic(s) didn't wipe/clean the area down when they were finished.

This happens a lot as most mechanics are working on hourly + comission (flat rate) and the quicker they finish the job, the more money the owner and they make.

Clean it off, if it comes back your struts are leaking; if it doesn't it was/is just residual leftover from the work.

When struts leak, they leak from the seal around the damper shaft. This is quite a ways below the top of the strut, and in most cars there is no open path from below the strut shaft to above it: you would not want road spray coming up through such a spot.

I'd guess during the last oil change, someone spilled some oil, and missed a spot in the wipe up. If it were coming from your engine in some extraordinarily strange fashion, somehow arcing through the air but landing only on the top of the strut, is would be unlikely to look clean.

Perhaps last time you topped up the oil, you set the oil can on the top of the strut, and a little leaked down the side of the can?

Air tools typically use a drop or two of oil over the course of a week or so -- no chance that one would make a 1/4" puddle.

One obvious & simple explanation could be that someone placed either the Engine Oil Filler Cap, or the lid off the oil bottle, in the well, when last topping up the oil in the engine. the residual oil in the cap could have trickled off into the well. The Mac Strut well is a good spot to rest items!

Even for a good mechanic, its possible someone did not realise, of forgot to clean it off.

Clean it off thoroughly & see if it returns?

I think you're spot on there.

That's where I put things when working on cars so equipped. You can sit a whole bottle on them not just a cap. Dribble down the bottle after decanting....mechanic sat the new oil filter there while prefilling it with clean oil before installation...

If I remember I'll put a rag there first.

Ask the mechanic who did the job to clean it for you. Slack or rushed is all.

Struts can't leak up there...unless this is some sort of exotic suspension system in which case I'd really like to hear more about it.

A Cavalier would create a way to leak there I suppose. They're real good at doing weird it seems. Do they have struts in their suspension design?

What car is this?