I recently took a road trip up to Northern California and for some reason during the course the hydraulic trunk arm on the left side has leaked and is no longer working. My trunk will not stay up and just slams down whenever you don't support it yourself.

Has anyone experienced this issue and does anyone know if I can replace it myself?

I am a bit tight on budget so would rather fix it myself if I can.

I was looking at this
But someone commented that it required a lot of extra work in order to work.

Any advice or recommendations on parts would be highly appreciated.

Thanks a lot,

Bryce

 

It looks like (from the review) the problems were mainly due to it being a not very well fitting aftermarket part. Perhaps the bracket isn't precisely made, or possibly the person talking about it didn't get the right model, or something.

The OEM damper assembly is just under $70 from Bernardi parts (per side, so not quite twice what the aftermarket version is). The fit on it should, of course, be pretty much spot on perfect. You probably could also get one from a junkyard fairly inexpensively, though how well it would last is of course anybody's guess.

It doesn't look like a very complicated replacement to me in a general sense. I'd use a broomstick or piece of 2x4 or similar to hold the hatch open for ease of working on it.

 

The Canadian solution is a hockey stick.

 

Did someone say hodor?

Haha I will be replacing mine soon. Looks like they just bolt on. Oem ones that is.