(Another) New Monaro owner

[Ronaro]

Sorted the above myself - four screws, easy

[Ronaro]

Problem; since I’ve owned the car on certain roads / bumps I could hear and feel a thudding underneath asif the gearbox was hitting the floor which I thought was the old gearbox crossmember mount. So this I changed today with a new one as shown in the photos, having first supported the weight of the gearbox with a jack. Now somehow the problem is worse. The thud is more evident and it sounds like something else is going on as well. No vibration but some sort of clonking underneath whilst moving. All nuts and bolts that I have touched are still tight by the way.

So after a bit of head scratching back on the ramps it went as my first thought was propshaft bearing now being accentuated by the new mounting. After the exhausts had cooled the only play I can find is some up and down movement (around 10mm approx) of the propshaft - but my question is is the bearing mounted in rubber with some natural play up and down?

[Ronaro]

[Ronaro]

Any help appreciated

[SturdyHSV]

The centre prop bearing is rubber, these are definitely at the perishing age now, you'll probably be able to feel any gaps if you prod around.

Clonking over bumps isn't something I've noticed, most clonk is from loading and unloading the drive train, so lift off and reapply the throttle sort of thing.

Just as something slightly related to check, how much does your engine rock whnn you blip it? My passenger side engine mount had totally collapsed (they're hydraulic filled) so that thing was wild in there

[selym]

I had my prop centre bearing support changed out recently. It oscillated a few times and really shook my teeth out! If you look and prod the rubber that is within the support, you will pretty quickly know if it is goosed.

I bought mine from Australia and it was cheap as anything, but Rock Auto might be competitive. They usually are.

[Ronaro]

Thanks for the replies both of you. An engine mount is something I hadn’t thought of, and I guess could of been made worse by the new gearbox mount. I’ll need to look into that.

[Ronaro]

Well having had the car up on ramps I can only deduce that it’s the prop centre bearing at fault as nothing else seems amiss. Slight vibration but a real clonking and banging from the centre of the car underneath which gets worse the further you drive. Whilst sat in the back my son could feel it with his hand on the trans tunnel.
I’ve now duly ordered another and it’s booked in for replacement in the next couple of weeks. Bloody annoying it being off the road with all this lovely weather but hey ho

[lincsls2]

Yep, the prop bearing is a real common failure point on these cars.
Mine is currently goosed and booked in for replacement soon. The rubber tears away from the metal allowing excessive movement.
My first Monaro only had 22k miles and needed a new bearing, current car has 81k on it, who knows - it might be on its original.
Make sure who ever changes your bearing knows their stuff and the shaft is put back together just as it came apart otherwise you'll end up with a big vibration!

Edited by lincsls2 on Wednesday 18th July 23:06

[Ronaro]

Yep, cheers for that - I’ve made a note of a couple of points to tell them before they begin. Just hoping it solves the problem as I’m missing driving the Ro.

[Ronaro]

Not been on here for a while simply because my CV8 has been in limbo, but now it’s sorted I thought some might appreciate reading what I found.

So after fitting a new gearbox mount I found the banging noise underneath had actually got worse , and despite me looking all around as best I could I couldn’t track down the problem. So off it went to the garage and their hydraulic hoist for some investigation where two things became apparent. Firstly the banging was actually very simple - it was the exhaust moving enough to be hitting the floor but only when on the move.... phew relief. But also another issue had come to light - namely the propshaft had a UJ on the way out. It had quite a lot of play but unusually only in one movement I.e. up and down but not side to side which you wouldnt expect and was causing some vibration and a resonance above 25mph. It also accounted for the sudden clonk that had manifested itself when taking up drive. So off it came and went off to a specialist to have a new one fitted and to be balanced. I’d also taken the opportunity to have the centre bearing replaced as it was showing signs of degrading.

And now finally my car is back in one piece and running beautifully, just in time for the end of the summer

[Lincsls1]

Glad to hear you got to the bottom of it.

[99PBATR]

Glad you got it sorted. I am hoping when mine goes in next week, i'm not crying too much in my beer when I get the bill

[TurnerPhil]

G'day folks. Just bought myself a Dec 04 built (55 reg) one owner from new 40,000 miles Phantom black facelift Monaro which is totally standard. I'd never driven one before picking this one up two weeks ago, had ridden in two, one of which was a supercharged VXR which was totally bonkers. The only thing I'm changing are the badges, a friend in Aus is sourcing them for me. not a badge snob just returning her to her roots. She did develop a rattle which was tracked down to the heat sheild on the pop-shaft bearing have come loose, easily fixed.
I love the individuality and looks of them and being 6'7" I can fit comfortably in it.
Am still getting to know her and and am looking to a long relationship, hopefulkly as long as the previous owner who bought the car in his late 50's and sold in his mid 70's.
I was born in Aus and am a big fan of Supercars, Bathurst is on my bucket list. Big fan of Dave Reynolds. I subscribe to Superview so can watch every race at my leisure, costs £32 a year well worth it.

[mfp4073]

Welcome to the fold.
It great to see another lovely looking car like yours turn up after all these years, and at a low mileage as well.
My car is identical to yours but with 65k on the clock. Just in case you are unaware, there were only 142 VZ Monaro's brought into the UK, and 32 of them were black.
As this forum is quiet now be aware there are a few owners on Facbook, so if you have any questions those are the places to ask.
I would advise you not to modify your Monaro as its a very slippery slope....sadly I am weak and I went to the dark side.......

Regards John

[99PBATR]

Very nice. Looks mint mate. I bet it sounds lovely. Get it out to a show next year or a meet and show it off. I bet a 6ft 7 bloke doesn't fit in too many cars that easily