Can anyone pls. tell me what are the symptoms of a bad shock absorber on Outlander. Thank you.

 

One would be a visual inspection. Any fluid leakage would show up as a dark areas around the shock with a lot of dirt buildup. The oil leaking form the shock will attract more dirt.

The other is a bounce test. Push down on the vehicle and see how it bounces. More that 1 bounce is trouble.

 

yep, what he said.

bad handling would be another. I put new shocks on my Ranger last year...turned out the old ones were the OEM originals...night and day difference.

 

One way is to push down hard on the corner where you think the bad shock is. If the shock is good the vehicle should come back up and stop. If it's bad the vehicle will continue to bounce one or two more times. I know with the Outlander body style it's hard to get a good grip on the corners. This method worked better with older cars where the front and back bumpers stuck out where you could push down on them.

Another way is find an open stretch of road and do a couple of hard stops from about 40mph. A bad shock would cause some bouncing from the stop.

 

Is clunking noise at the front a symptom too?

 

Yes, it could be. If the shock is bad enough you may be "bottoming out" and that could be the clunking noise. If that's the case get it fixed soon. That clunking noise could be causing other damage to your suspension.

 

I had a clunking noise (specially when turning on uneven pavement) with a bad ball joint / bushings.

How old is the Outie you mention? My car at the time was 8-10 years old. It was a PT Cruiser.

 

It's a 2010 Outie but I got it Dec.'09. I can hear the clunking when backing up from the garage to the driveway after parking overnight and sometimes just for few hours. Driving over bumps also give me the clunking sometimes.

 

I've yet to have problems with the outlander...but my ranger is old enough, it has had many suspension problems...so that's why I refer to it often.

I've had clunking from two issues. First was ball joints. Mine were just going out as I noticed clunking that I felt in the steering wheel only. This happened as I was going down slightly bumpy city streets that had been patched up a few times. I also had the issue where my shocks loosened at the top. That let the top flop around some. After changing the ball joints and fixing my shocks, little to know rattling. That doesn't help much as the ranger uses a shock/torsion bar setup and the outlander uses a strut...but it was a source of rattle.

 

Just had an oil change done, and upon inspection I have a leaking LH rear shock. I'm at 95k miles. Has anyone changed theirs? Did you go OEM or aftermarket?

I probably should replace both rears, how much am I looking at. I think the shop quoted $400 including labor.