HELP! Diagnose my Bomber Z.4

[dirttorpedo]

So I installed an old Marzocchi Bomber Z.4 (coil) on my Zaskar during the rebuild. The fork leaks oil and was bottoming out so I figured that it was low on oil due to the leaky seals. Opened it up last night - ugh. The smell. When I emptied it all that oozed out was a small amount of black tarry goop. I cleaned it up as best I could and replaced the oil with 10 weight because I`m on the larger size and I figured the fork (a karma gift) probably didn`t have the heavy weight springs in it and reassembled it. I did not replace the seals. The thing still bottoms out very easily and it will not rebound fully. Rebound rate is quite slow too now.

Is this thing clapped out or can it be saved without breaking the bank. Ive never done much work on forks - did I do something wrong.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[walleater]

The oil weight will affect the rebound as well as compression which is why the fork springs back slower. Do you have the correct oil height? Might just need topping up.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

To be fair, springs are what stops it bottoming out. If you're too heavy for them you'll need different ones.
Does it feel smooth through thec travel.
Z4 don't have any damping adjustment iirc at least the year I looked at. Only oil to alter it.

Springs spring and springs.
Take them out and see if you can find any colour rating.

 

[dirttorpedo]

Re: HELP! Diagnose my Bomber ZI.4

Its smooth, but its not progressive. There doesn't feel to be any damping at the bottom end. For a comparison I pumped the fork on my wife's Kona Nunu (a crappy Rockshock Jet) which - while way too light for me - had a reassuring damping at the bottom end. My fork has nothing - feels like I'm running an elastomer fork. I'll recheck my oil levels and see if adding more oil is needed/helps.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

Remember oil height is when the fork is compressed. Sounds like you've gone into the air chamber that's left in the stanchion if not filled enough.

Tech info is in the archive for tuning advice at certain weights.

 

[dirttorpedo]

Re:

Sounds like I made a total newbie mistake. I think I need to empty it out and start over.