A few days ago I bought a Marin Quake 7.8 second hand and it’s got 2009 Rock Shox Domain 318 (180mm) fork on it. They were lovely and plush when I inspected the bike. The bike has just been sitting in a garage most of its life, hardly used, in superb condition.

When I got the bike home I turned it upside down to make oiling the chain a bit easier. I could hear the sound of fluid moving in the fork as soon as I turned it upside down, it lasted about 15-20 seconds. I am new to this and assumed it as normal. Anyway, I turned the bike back upright and left it.

The following day I went to inspect the bike before a blast and the fork won’t compress fully. It will move 30-40% of its travel then won’t budge even with all my weight on it, and I’m 95kg. The fork looks like new and really hasn’t been used much so I don’t know what’s going on.

I’ve done a load of searching and from what I’ve read its hydro lock but I don’t understand exactly what’s happened, why it’s happened and what to do about it. Also I’ve read hydrolock is when oil is in the lower when it shouldn’t be. Well when the bike was upside down it sounded like oil was moving then, which means it went to the uppers and stayed there?

I’m sorry for the long post but my heads spinning now haha… I havent even been for a blast on my new bike yet and I am clucking for it!

There should be some oil in the lowers, but only a tiny bit (to keep the bushings lubed).

I think the majorirty of the oil is in a sealed cartridge. Perhaps the seal has degraded and the oil has leaked out?

This is a guess though!

In the sealed damper cartridge? I could hear oil moving somewhere when I had the bike upside down, so it moved to the top of the fork. I am baffled. Is the sealed cartridge right at the top of the fork?

I think Domain 318 are the ones with motion control adjustable compression. If so, whip the damper out and check the half moon on the bottom. It’s likely that, meaning the dual isn’t working properly or the o-ring in the bottom of the stanchion is fubar and allowing oil into the lowers as said above.

Half moon? And also, dual??

Sorry, complete beginner!

Sorry, complete beginner!

Everyone was a complete beginner once. You can either learn by trying to fix it yourself or take it to a good bike shop and pay for them to check it out. In the short term, it’s cheaper to pay someone else to do it. If you ride a lot, it’s worth buying tools and learning how to fix stuff yourself, but you need to accept that you will end up with a pile of broken stuff as you learn. You can download service manuals from the manufacturers’ websites, but you do need to be very careful that you identify the correct version of your fork, Rockshox seem to have dozens of variations on their stuff.

Having said all that, I just can’t be arsed with forks and shocks, I take them to a bike shop every six months for servicing. I do everything else myself.

I have literally no idea why there is a picture of those pedals in this thread.

Off to bed now but really hope someone can clue me up on this later today. 😀

Oops, posted in the wrong thread. Total beginner, etc.

Hols2- I am quite eager to learn the ropes so to speak. I have spent quite a few hours watching videos and reading the service manual. I’m fairly confident it’s an easy fix now. I’m going to order the rest of the required equipment tonight and have a good go.

The only thing concerning me now is that the 2mm hex bolt that secures the compression dial on the top of the right leg is about to round. If it rounds I’ll have to order a Dremel to try and cut a groove for a flat head. If that’s fails…. Don’t wanna think about that, haha.

The only thing concerning me now is that the 2mm hex bolt that secures the compression dial on the top of the right leg is about to round

Make sure you buy good quality tools, especially hex keys. Clean any grit out of the head of the bolt and make sure the hex key is properly inserted into the bolt. I don’t think I’ve ever rounded a hex bolt in close to 20 years of fixing bikes.

hols2 – Member

Oops, posted in the wrong thread. Total beginner, etc.

Haha!!

Thought id missed an STW “in” joke.