Got a bit of a rumble.

[Yatesy350i]

Hi Guys

Started the Wedge up to move it out of the garage. On standing tick over and at crawling speeds I have a deep metallic rumbling noise/vibration. Can only hear it inside the car. Can't hear anything out place under the bonnet.

Not had chance to get it up in the air but it was thinking possible exhaust vibrating on chassis? Hope it's nothing more serious!

Any ideas?

Cheers Karl

[Danny Hoffman]

Hi,

Does it disappear when you push the clutch in? If so it's the gearbox, nothing major to worry about if it's not too bad. Mine's done it for the last 70,000 miles without getting any worse.

Danny

[Jonny weggie]

Once you have jacked the car up check wheel bearings sometimes you can hear them especially if it a deep rumbling or as you say hopefully it's the exhaust vibrating on the gearbox.
Good luck.

[Yatesy350i]

Been underneath there is less noise under there than in the cabin. Gearbox is a bit rattle'y but must of the noise seem to be oming from the bell housing!

[adam quantrill]

Danny Hoffman said:

Does it disappear when you push the clutch in?
Danny

You might find it disappears with only a very light clutch pressure (foot resting on it) in which case it could be the clutch release bearing.

[Yatesy350i]

adam quantrill said:

Danny Hoffman said:

Does it disappear when you push the clutch in?
Danny

You might find it disappears with only a very light clutch pressure (foot resting on it) in which case it could be the clutch release bearing.

Danny/Adam

There's a definite change when the clutch pedal is depressed. It doesn't disappear completely though.

Cheers Karl.

[Lemonentry]

Yatesy350i said:

Danny/Adam

There's a definite change when the clutch pedal is depressed. It doesn't disappear completely though.

Cheers Karl.

Karl, if the pedal is still releasing the clutch at the top of its rise, you're going to have to change all three items on the clutch as said, cause the plate is now pressing against the thrust release bearing and overheating and wearing away an already tired bearing whilst your driving along or on ticking over.

[Danny Hoffman]

I thought on the V8 the clutch release bearing is constantly engaged unlike on most cars

[Lemonentry]

Danny Hoffman said:

I thought on the V8 the clutch release bearing is constantly engaged unlike on most cars

Oh right didn't know that, mores the reason to change the lot out. Funny thing happend to my s type daily, the front ball joint, stated to make bonking noises, so I changed the whole strut after the local garage couldn't work out how to change it, then 300 miles later, the sealed wheel bearing unit fell apart on the same side due to the previous knocking effect, so I'm a great believer in chain reactions, of something gives and then breaks something else.

[Yatesy350i]

Folllowing the Adam Q guid to clutch changing as we speak. Only lost one knuckle so far, one piece of rust in the eye and a socket extension bar to the forehead.

All going as usual

Pretty mch there for stripping down just need a hand dragging the engine forward. So that will have to wait until Friday when my mate Ade is about.

Looks like there are about 8 x 8mm bolts on the top and side of the GB and 4 x 6mm on the under side. Does this sound about right?

[Danny Hoffman]

Check the fork and pivot post carefully whilst your in there. If there is any sign of wear or a pip on the top of the post change them both.

My clutch locked solid a couple of months after having the engine out due to this

[adam quantrill]

You shouln't need a mat to move the engine forward, just jack it up under the sump (spread the load with a metal plate or wooden block).

I put extra long bolts in the engine mounts so I can have them slack and the engine 3-4 inches forward, then it's piss easy to line it back up afterwards.

[Yatesy350i]

Got the clutch out. Not to bad thanks to AQ's guide. Clutch was well gone, plate cracked the bearing was totally FUBAR.

Quick question is the bearing suposed to just pull off the shaft? Because I can't get it off.

Not sure how I'm going to get the new one in yet. As its hard to see how I will be able to realign the plate a pressure plate and still get the alignment tool back out. As its very close to the GB shaft?

Cheers Karl

[superwedge]

sound like a hard job, your need finger;s like a baby too get it back,

[Wedg1e]

Yatesy350i said:

Quick question is the bearing suposed to just pull off the shaft? Because I can't get it off.

Yep, it should just disengage from the release fork and slip straight off the tube that's around the input shaft.

[Wedg1e]

Yatesy350i said:

Not sure how I'm going to get the new one in yet. As its hard to see how I will be able to realign the plate a pressure plate and still get the alignment tool back out. As its very close to the GB shaft?

If you take the bellhousing off you should be able to get the gearbox far enough out of the way to get a good look: a decent mirror will probably help. The best alignment tool is a spare input shaft!
If you put the 'box in gear, should the input shaft almost engage but not quite, you can then turn the output shaft flange and often the clutch splines will just drop into mesh.

[Yatesy350i]

Wedg1e said:

Yatesy350i said:

Not sure how I'm going to get the new one in yet. As its hard to see how I will be able to realign the plate a pressure plate and still get the alignment tool back out. As its very close to the GB shaft?

If you take the bellhousing off you should be able to get the gearbox far enough out of the way to get a good look: a decent mirror will probably help. The best alignment tool is a spare input shaft!
If you put the 'box in gear, should the input shaft almost engage but not quite, you can then turn the output shaft flange and often the clutch splines will just drop into mesh.

Thanks mate

Anyone got a spare input shaft I can borrow please?

[Wedg1e]

Yatesy350i said:

Thanks mate

Anyone got a spare input shaft I can borrow please?

You can do it with the usual tools (I've even done it with a bit of dowel wrapped in electrical tape), but they all tend to let you have a bit of slack that means you clamp the pressure plate down a midgie's dick off-centre and no matter how hard you wriggle and wrestle it, the input shaft won't engage. A spare input shaft gets a nice square fit into the clutch plate and HAS to go into the crank spigot bush.
Being able to see through the plate before you finally nip it up is a good plan, you can spot the tiniest error a lot easier visually than you can by feel (the human eye is still one of the most sensitive measuring instruments on the planet ).

[adam quantrill]

If you have an old piece of trailing-arm rod (the bit that holds the shock on) that is exactly the right diameter to go in the flywheel hole. Thne a 16mm (from memory) socket slipped over that will just fit inside the pressure plate fingers. You may need some tape on the socket.

I've done it that way a couple of times and it's been close enough.

Let me know if my instructions article needs any more detail (or post some comments on it yourself)...

[Yatesy350i]

Well the new clutch is in.

Bad news is the rumbling noise is still there. So i guess its the gearbox, i did notice there was a little bit if play in the input shaft side to side. And now I can't get reverse without a nasty crunch.

Any ideas?

Cheers Karl