ND Shock Absorber issue advice required

Technical Area Steering & Suspension
1
  1. My model of MX-5 is: __ND Sport
  2. I’m based near: __Peterborough
  3. I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: __Shock Absorber Issue

I’m looking at purchasing a 2017 ND Sport with 34,000 miles on the clock. Looking at the MOT history it has just been MOT’d by a local Mazda dealership with no advisories.

The previous MOT in 2024 had an advisory - (all shock absorbers have split dust boot covers)

My question is - can the dust boot covers be replaced or would the whole shock absorber need replacing. Just need to know what to look for before I go to view the car.

2

It’s a sleeve essentially that sits at the top of the dampener, to help prevent dirt getting in. So they can be replaced separately.

Here’s a quick reference photo of a Mk4/ND Bilstein unit, with the cover highlighted:

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And an example spare part:

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Cheers,
Steve

3

The shocks need to come out to replace the dust covers. A lot of labour for a cheap part. If it’s only an advisory item, I’d be leaving it until any bigger jobs were needing done then have the work done then.

4

Thanks for the information guys.

The issue is I’m due to view the car tomorrow at my local Mazda dealership, they have just MOT’d the car with no advisories.

The car will have a 12 Month Mazda Used Car Warranty, however I don’t want to be caught out at the next MOT with the car requiring new shock absorber boot covers or worse still new shock absorbers.

I will have a good look myself and I’m going to ask them to get a technician to check the boot covers and state in writing if they have been replaced or not. It looks a decent car, but the issue is putting me off buying it.

5

OK. Try to have a good look around the suspension when you view, and take a decent torch. As there’s the potential that it’s passed the most recent MoT with the dealer, and they haven’t spotted it…

As it’s at a dealer, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility to ask them to stick it on the ramps for you. But that might be a rare/odd request for them these days!

Best of luck,
Steve

1 Like
6

Might be worth also asking them if the rear 4 suspension bushes have been changed as they may well need doing at that mileage (lots of info available about this known issue).

Listen out for any clunking noises when going over bumps as this is a sign of the problem. I just had mine replaced and they looked fine but they were the cause of my noise.