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Help : Oil Change for 04 Marathon S

389 views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Ottoreni 
#1 ·
Changing the oil as was suggested. Yes, it is black, especially the damper rod side.

Now the problem. I am unable to disaasemble the ETA side cartridge. I took off the knob, but the red nut that holds the spring in place will not come off. I am able to put a 10 or 11mm wrench around it, but I see no other place on the rod to place another wrench to give me leverage to unscrew the red nut.

Any help really appreciated!
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
130 ETA & 140

I was unable to disassemble the ETA side so I ended up only putting around 130ml on that side. The right side was 140ml. Hopefully I will get more travel than the 85-90mm I was getting before. I'll happy with close to 100mm.

Quick observations:
Yes, the oil was dirty, especially the dampening rod side. That side the oil was black. (I've been told the oil gets ditry because they lube all the o rings with a thick grease, kinda like that Rock-Roll grease). Still, it was black.

I was amazed how similar the top part of the dampening cartridge is to my old Z2 Atom. The bottom part of the cartridge/resevoir is just much larger and has more holes.

It was interesting that the air pressure side takes no catridge per say, the air is inside the fork leg.

Before I forget, I had the fork fully compressed. I decided to pull up the stanchions while I was cleaning the inside of the fork legs. When I pulled up, another 5ml or more came out from each fork leg. I was not expecting to see this amount of oil come out when I thought the legs were empty.

I love how Marz has what seems infinite rebound adjustment compared to my Vanilla's 12 clicks. Sad to see that now they are no longer making a Marathon S. I think 04 was the last year. Does anyone know what fork would be very similar to the Marathon S (Coil with low air pressure system)?
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Yet to try mine

I have yet to try mine. I put both sides by volume. This weekend I will try the fork. Hopefully I will be able to get 95mm+ travel, with the full travel, close to 105mm, on big drops. If I find I am bottoming out frequently, I will probably add more oil. I have learned from my Z2, Z2 Atom 80, and Vanilla that it is always easier to add more oil than remove oil.

Makes me wonder if I need to add more oil, should I add more to the ETA side, Dampening rod side, or both? Any suggestions? The three other forks I mentioned all had a dummy left spring side. The Marathon S has an ETA cartridge on the left side.

The Marathon XC fork sure does look sweet. Reading some of the reviews and the prices I see for the '05 model make me want to go out and buy one, but I need a new frame first. Um, that will have to wait at least a year.:(
 
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