Those cylinders that hold up liftgates and hoods ?

[Mrwurm]

I have a 97 Chevy Astro van that has two cylinders that hold up the liftgate. They worked just fine until one very cold day last month when they 'surprised' me by not holding up the gate. The still offer resistance on the upstroke but provide absolutely no resistance on the downstroke. Basically, they are useless.

I'm reallly surprised that both cylinders failed at the same time. Could this have had something to do with the cold weather. Temps were running about 0 Farenheit for a few days. I thought they might start working when the temps warmed up. No such luck.

Any thoughts on this ?

 

[DieselPower]

Could be the cold. Could be that only one was working and you just happened to notice it when the second one went out. You can buy replacements at most auto parts stores.

 

[VA_Joe]

I agree - that's usually how it happens. One goes and the other one picks up the slack (human might notice a little sluggishness). Because the survivor is now doing all the work (vice half) - it's only a matter time before he fails too.

 

[George2615]

You are lucky you got 10 years use out of them. They should be readily available at auto parts stores and dealers and easy to replace. Usually when one goes the other won't work because it doesn't have the capacity to do the job alone. They are designed so both cylinders share the lifting chores.

 

[Mrwurm]

Thanks to all that responded. I picked up this van in Dec to use as a spare vehicle for hauling my ATV. As I don't know how it operated when new, its a good chance that only one cylinder was working. I'll pick up some new ones. Thanks.

 

[RobertN]

These went out recently on my Grandmothers little Chevy Blazer. They were $24/ea for her car, at Kragens/Checker.

 

[RedRocker]

Gas springs are a pain sometimes.