Marzocchi - Marathon MX comp (air) 2004 - stickyness

[twain]

Hi,

i just serviced my marzocchi air forks - new oil, seals.

i put plenty of stendecs grease inside the lowers (around the top bushing and on the lower section of the stanchions) and the seals/wipers went in no probs.
everything is fine, no damage to seals/wipers and ive put in around 35psi of air in to them.

but, when i go to compress, its just not as plush as it was before the service.

what could be the issue? could they just need breaking in? (seals/wipers)..... or could it be an air pressure thing?

i didnt take anything more apart when servicing - just literally drained and refilled fork oil, greased up the stanchions, inserted new seals/wipers and put back together.

now they are sticky - i can compress fully, but its just a bit rough - especially when compressing slowly.

any thoughts?

 

[valve bouncer]

Are the new seals original Marzocchi ones or the Enduro ones?

 

[twain]

Are the new seals original Marzocchi ones or the Enduro ones?

original marzocchi ones...

 

[valve bouncer]

Are the new seals original Marzocchi ones or the Enduro ones?

original marzocchi ones...

OK, I put some Enduro ones on my Z1 and it definitely feels different now.
Same weight oil? There are some who say as well, that Marzocchi's recommended oil heights are underfilled so if they don't feel better after a few weeks have a play with that maybe?

 

[twain]

OK, will give it a run tonight see if the plushness comes back.
oil heights - prety sure i put the recommended in, so will try that theory out if there's no change.
thanks for the help.
i dont know what weight oil was in before, but i put in 7.5wt. Marz recommend is 5wt i think....

 

[DominicH83]

Re:

I've rebuilt and serviced xc600, Z5, Z1, 2003 EXR and 2004 MX and have never greased the stanchions, or seen anything in a manual saying you should do.

The oil provides the lubrication for the atanchions, I only ever grease the seals. I might be wrong but that sounds like it would be the cause of your sticky.

 

[twain]

Re:

When I say greased the stanchions I mean I put grease on the inside of the seals/wipers, below the rim.

I've done this with 2/3 other sets of forks with good results.....
Will take them apart and try this though to eliminate that possibility if the forks don't supple up.

 

[DominicH83]

Aah ok I see. In that case no idea why they would feel sticky. I wouldn't have thought there would be any sort of bedding in time with the oil, they're normally good to go straight away. Air pressure shouldn't cause it either, too much would make them stiff, too little would make them spongy. Maybe try letting some air out and giving them a good pumping manually?

 

[spacehopper]

Re:

the only place you 'need' grease is between the oil and dust seals.. and even then its not really required.. (though i do it on my Zocchi's )


It could just be a slightly tiny bit oversized seal that just needs bedding in..

or one of the seals might be slightly skew?

or a slightly skew damper / dummy rod catching on the stanchion slightly?

Ive also had issues with the metal seal spring on top of the oil seal getting caught when sliding the lowers in after a seal swap on a 44 RC3.. but i dont think that would affect your fork as the springs are on the underside of the seal as opposed to the top on the 44

 

[twain]

well ive yet to take the bike out yet (some small technical issues with the front mech setup - a common nightmare with FSRs ;P ) will just have to put some miles on it before i start taking it apart and cleaning out/re-oiling.

i did use a youtiube vid which i think suggested the 'more oil than Marzocchi recommend' tip. will check to see ahat oil level they suggested and that'll be what i filled it up to.