Rotten week with Nimrod

[Deleted]

Well am I glad that weeks over! I've had a rotten couple of days driving Nimrod the P5b Saloon. To start with My van went in for it's M.O.T and er' indoors took the freelander so what better than to turn up on site in the P5b.I thought I'd better get out a bit earlier as he takes a while to warm up, so out I go , take off the cover and the metal boot put the key in and turn .... and nothing Muggins has left the heater fan on since Sunday so wer'e now flat as a pancake and what day is it? Shrove Tuesday So I figure the gods are bored and have decided to mess with me. Luckily my neigbour has a booster and we get him going( the car not Ron next door) This is the first real run since the propshaft was fixed and sad to say contrary to my last report still getting vibration between 40 and 55, ok it's vastly reduced but still evident. Then I arrive at work and park up in my mates yard , he runs a motor cycle repair shop, and while he was admiring the car his mate who does nothing but hang around drinking coffee every day , proceeded to rip the S@*!! out of poor old Nimrod, now there's nothing worse than someone pointing out all your pride and joy's faults especially when most of them are on my to do list anyway.So now I'm growling at everyone all day and I didnt even get pancakes when I got home coz wer'e on diets in my house . Anyway I get home early today and return to JW Engineering, we take test drive , he suggest wheel balancing I nod not convinced, I get wheels balanced no change so head back to garage but this is were I realise I should find a petrol station quick as my gauge is on the downside of 1/2 .... too late So I splutter pop lurch and backfire to my nearest sainburys local put 30 quid in then take a further hour to drive ,conk out, drive , conk out for about 5 miles till I reach home, all the way the electric fuel pump was back to "ATTACK<ATTACK<ATTACK" So tomorow I will have to dismantle the pump and clean all debris, I'm hoping a some sharp blowing in the other direction may do it. But for now I'm home , Nimrod is on the drive in discrace ( Bad workman blames his tools ;D ) I'm having my first drink this week ( Here's a funny thing Glenn, I've stopped drinking every night and guess what? the pounds are falling off mate, really) Theres a bit of salmon in the oven and baked potatoe and I'm going to kick back watch TV and pretend that Nimrod is all finished Eat drink and be merry for tomorow we drive ;D Have a great weekend everyone .ScarlettWill

[jimsbruv]

I know just what you mean got the 3 litre out last weekend when she decided that she would start that is .Anyway take her for a run cough cough splutter splutter 10 miles later she dies on me gauge is reading 1/4 full but i anit convinced no what i mean . wheres the mobile to phone the wife to come and pick me up or bring go go juice yes you gussed left it at home. so starts the long walk home yes your right it did start to rain yes your right again i did not have a coat. Anyway i finaly get her home wait till the rain stops and go out to dry the old girl off before putting her away.Then things really go wrong on drying her off i notice a lot of movement at the bottom of the front wing yes right again bottom bracket has rotted out then move my attention to the near side sill again a small area of corrosion has appeared . So a front wing repair section and a sill will be on order from wadhams shortly welder will be fired up never mind is this not why we have these veihicles to keep us occupied . By the way are wadhams the best place for sills . Do i still love her you bet i do .

[Deleted]

Went out and turned the key today facet pump making normal whirring so hopefully all the crap has settled backdown in the tank. Must flush at some point. ScarlettWill

[johnwp5bcoupe]

It may be worth fitting an in line fuel filter in the boot at least you can catch the crap before it gets to the pump My Farcet has the filter already fitted the pump is in the line after the reserve changeover valve, but I think I would prefer the filter near the tank! so I may fit one later

[Deleted]

good thinking John, I've a filter between carbs and facet pump so one on the other side cant hurt. SW

[Welsh Warlock]

On the vibration front, I had a really bad vibration at about 65mph. It turned out to be the gearbox mounting. onc ethis was replaced the old boy ran smoothly.

[Deleted]

thanks for the tip EMR it's going back to JW engineering to check the prop balance but I feel they are doing it to accomidate me as he was adamant it was all balanced, so gearbox mounting will be next checkpoint. ScarlettWill

[Phil Nottingham]

Has this just started - out of balance Torque Converter can cause this - this can happen suddenly if its breaking up internally although some tinkling/rattling can usually be heard.

Misfring through faulty plugs/leads/ignition components and even head gasket/piston/valve troubles can all cause starnge vibrations as can seized UJ's and collapsed centre mount. You have to narrow it down!

[Deleted]

Phil, it has been vibrating between 40 -55 since I bought him renewed uj's , centre bearing, bushes etc which lessened the vibration but not completly . I will wait until JW's have a look but I suspect the prop is ok as they are a very reputable company.ScarlettWill.

[Deleted]

I had a vibration similar to what your talking about in a 67 Galaxie...engine mounts were bad, lose and the rubber had perished.

[Deleted]

440, I havnt had a chance to book him back in yet but while its up on the ramps I'll get them to check engine and gearbox mounts then as Phil suggested I'll just have to narrow it down and if he still vibrates after checking everything I'll have to don my old postmans uniform find a high vantage point ( grassy knole , back and to the right!) and start taking it out on the general public , this may seem a little extreme under the circumstances but after all I'm a man with P5B problems and they are just so much meat, how could they possibly understand? ;D ScarlettWill

[enigmas]

ScarlettWill, although you may have replaced the universal joints and the centre bearing I surmise that the sliding yoke rear of the centre bearing is original and may allow too much lateral movement (splines do wear). Get under the car if you can or get it on a hoist and physically manipulate the 2 components and you may be surprised how much movement there is. Consider the vibration induced by a worn universal and similarly the oscillation allowed by worn splines. Nothing lasts forever. When I rebuilt my vehicle I took the complete tail-shaft in for balancing to a specialist company and the entire unit was put between centres on a balancing machine. The sliding yoke was still serviceable but during balancing small weights were welded to this joint to return the complete shaft to balance. I once had a similar problem with a new factory pressure plate on a manual car (Triumph) which caused it to shake violently just over 3000 rpm I was fortunate in isolating the problem (and not tearing down the engine in frustration) and took the pressure plate to a balancing specialist who welded considerable weight to one side of the component.
Similarly I once fitted a rebuilt torque convertor from a Specialist company together with a fresh auto gearbox only to find that the ignition keys "jingled" annoyingly at 35mph / 60kph. I put up with this for years until I finally got sick of it and changed it with another rebuilt unit from a different company. When I first queried this vibration I was told that all rebuilt units were balanced (untruth). Later I found out that the first company merely marked the torque convertor before separating the 2 halves, rebuilt the internals and then welded the cases back together again. Technically things should be ok but any variation in weight when replacing components causes imbalance. The second company (that specialized in building road/race components) balanced every unit they rebuilt and pointed out what was wrong with the former companies product. As an aside if the tail-shaft is in balance sometimes rotating the torque convertor to the next lug on the flex/drive plate can cure an irritating vibration. Any slight dent in the tail-shaft will also cause an imbalance. Also check the total alignment of the shaft on a hoist to see if it is properly centered and not to the left or right of the centre bearing when viewing from the differential flange to the gearbox flange.

Lastly there are people out there who pull down seemingly perfect running engines removing and balancing every rotating component from generator to alternator pulleys to wheel hubs, you name it to get the ultimate in a smooth running vehicle.

[Deleted]

d**n it ! I've just finished polishing my hollow points, and cleaning my sights . Looks like my trip to Bexleyheath clocktower to " thin' out the herd will have to be cancelled. Thanks Enigma!!! I was looking forward to an afternoons target practice Thats the great thing about our glorious forum , post a problem and you will receive every consievable answer to said problem .. and in detail, with photo's. I cant thank you guys enough, hopefully I'll do it in person at some point this year at one of the meets, I know Phil is owed a pint or two!!. regarding meetings , anyone know of any near me in Welling Kent? SW ;D

[Phil Nottingham]

I am glad you have sorted it out and thanks for letting us know. One thing about classics is that they do require regular attention or they play up. Mostly its something cheap and easy to sort however.

Unless you have a reliable, classics friendly garage nearby its best to learn how to do the regular checks and adjustments yourself so as to spot problems before they let you down

[enigmas]

Re-reading this post in relation to the prop shaft vibration (?) there's a slight possibility that since the prop-shaft can be separated at the splined joint, that when it was fitted back to the car that it may have been assembled out of phase as the splines will engage through 360 degrees. 1 spline out either way will put it out of phase causing vibration. If you have a manual the alignment of the universals can be clearly seen.

[Phil Nottingham]

There should be two arrows which are lined up alternately the UJ yokes may used as a guide although 90/180/270 degrees give mosre options