So, a couple days ago I changed the oil. I was unfamiliar with the jack I was using, and released the hydraulic valve too rapidly, sending the car to the floor with a bit of a jolt. I only lowered it too fast on one side, having learned my lesson for the other.
The car is a front wheel drive Honda Accord from the 1990s.
Anyways, that evening I took it out for a drive, and I noticed immediately that the car would sway back and forth uncomfortably on uneven pavement. It drove fine on smooth asphalt, just the slanted parts of the road sent it rocking back and forth. I tried the bounce test once I stopped, and noticed that one side of the front end responded differently than the other - both stopped bouncing soon, but one side bounced more than the other.
So I ordered some new strut assemblies (that’s the strut and the coil spring combined in on interchangeable part). I found a shade tree mechanic to swap em out for the cost of labor.
Well, today, I drove the car to autozone to get some spare parts, and I noticed the sway was gone. It drives just fine - well, fine as a 1990s sedan with a v4 tends to drive. Bounce test is the same on both sides now.
What gives? I’m guessing that the oil in the struts is really viscous, especially because the struts haven’t ever been changed on this car in almost 20 years. So the kind of sludgy strut oil took it’s time returning to normal after the jolt of hitting the garage floor.
Is this just wishful thinking, or is it possible that this kind of mechanical part can “get better” for a while? Or is it more likely that I tested it wrong, and they were just fine the whole time?