NOS Konis

I have a set on new in the box Konis for a A2 VW. They move freely. As in there is very little resistance. They do not return to extended. are they junk? Does anybody rebuild them? Is it worth it?

Twin tube shocks don't really work properly if they've been sitting on their sides or upside down. Get them upright and cycle them a few times before you call them dead.

They can almost definitely be rebuilt.

What color are they? Some of the older konis just weren't gas charged in the first place. And if they've been rebuilt at any point they won't have gas. If they are gas charged they should extend regardless of orientation, but not having gas doesn't necessarily mean they're bad.

I echo the "hold them upright and cycle them half a dozen times" recommendation.

My last set of coilovers had that in the installation instructions and I could feel the resistance build as I did so. 

Set the lower end on the ground and hold with your feet, then pull up and push down. Within 3 cycles you will feel it if they are going to "pump up"

And the Koni's on my old rabbit were not gas charged

Keith Tanner said:

Twin tube shocks don't really work properly if they've been sitting on their sides or upside down. Get them upright and cycle them a few times before you call them dead.

 

They can almost definitely be rebuilt.

Furthermore, I have seen someone break the piston off of the end of a twintube from NOT cycling the shock before installation.  The piston was in an air pocket (gas pocket?) and driving down the road had a water hammer effect.

I did have one Koni go bad that was just sitting, but it immediately started puking oil out when I cycled it on the bench and tried to adjust it. The issue wasn't the shaft seal - the oring on the adjustment button had dried out or something, so when I pushed it, oil and nitrogen started coming out. I don't think that is common though, and if there's no evidence of leakage, I'd expect they're fine and just need to be cycled/bled like eveyone else is saying.

Thank you all. It was hurting to think about throwing them away. They are the yellow ones with the adjusting knob on top. I'll try cycling them and see what how they do.

Don't throw them away 

From Koni...

" To prime the shocks, start with the piston rod fully extended and sitting right up. With the shock upright fully compress the shock and hold the rod fully collapsed. Once the rod is fully collapsed, flip the shock upside down (continue to hold the rod collapsed) and do not let the rod extend. Hole the shock in this position for 10-15 seconds, before again flipping the shock right side up. Once the shocks is right side up you can now allow for the shock to slowly extend back to its full length."

At some point I obviously had a similar question...

Good info, I'm not sure I've ever actually seen that. The goal is basically to get the gas back in the right place, as the shock doesn't have an internal separator like it does with a monotube.