Vibration and Ping!

[Vernon]

I have owned my latest Traveller for about 4 months and am experiencing slight vibration between Drive and Overrun. There is no vibration when the engine is driving or braking (overrun), only in between the two. There is also an occasional metallic Ping sound when moving off from stationery. Could this be Propshaft U/Js or something more serious?

[bmcecosse]

Could well be - or back axle twisting on the springs if the 'perches' are rotted out.

[mogbob]

Check out your Propshaft UJs as you suggested, whilst you're underneath , wheels chocked and on axles stands , look at the bolts clamping the springs to the rear axle, bolts on the springs to body / rear shackles . Rear shock absorbers bolts would produce more of a clonk than vibration but it sounds as though something is loose and it might well be a combination of things.
Further forward is the Gearbox restraint cable a) in position ? i.e. Have you got one or has a previous owner not replaced it and b) correctly tensioned. Are both the rubber engine mounts and rubber gearbox " sound and still flexible " not perished /soggy ?

Ping ? ..... that might be brakes. Springs or brake shoe retaining pins with incorrectly adjusted shoes. Has the car stood for long ? Might just need a clean up ( wear face mask ) , " non friction " surfaces treated to a bit of Coppa-ease , leading edges of the brake shoes filed with a slight chamfer and general optimum adjustment.
From your description it doesn't sound too serious but best investigated before it becomes so. Just work your way through the
possible causes and let us know what you turn up.
Bob

[martin418]

sounds like a prop joint

[Budgie]

I have been meaning to post a similar query on here for some time but never got around to it until today after reading your "ping" plight. I have experienced this myself for quite a while now but with me it tends to be when I'm changing gear and usually upon release of the clutch, it's a definitive metallic "ping" and happens more often than not , yet not every time!

[dudload]

i too get this ping, normally at the lower end of first gear when pulling away. to me, it sounds like a metallic disc getting pulled/sucked from one end of a chamber to another. still haven't figured out what it is.

[Chipper]

Yes, my 1970 Traveller occasionally does it too. It does sound as though it may emanate/resonate from the propshaft area, which, being a hollow tube, would amplify such a sound.

Could be slight play in the propshaft UJ, gearbox/diff bearings or maybe the clutch springs being transmitted through the transmission.

Another possibility is the exhaust system flexing as the car accelerates - again, a tubular system would tend to amplify any sounds created within it.

It's all quite characterful though!

[simmitc]

As suggested, this is almost certainly the propshaft UJ and should be inspected as soon as practical. The fix is cheap and simple. Although people look at the joint and think that it must be impossible to take apart,, if you just follow the instructions in the manual then you'll find that it usually works well.

[MikeNash]

Vernon,
Try reaching underneath and tapping the propshaft with something like a spanner. I bet you get the same ping! If so, you may have worn propshaft bearings or perhaps (if you're lucky) just a loose coupling which ten minutes with a couple of small spanners will sort out for you.

See http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... le#p557547

Fortunately the bearings are remarkably cheap and not too difficult to fit. Regards, MikeN.

[biomed32uk]

I also get the ping when leaving first gear, I think it's the actual gears pinging, as you are taking straight cut gears out of mesh when leaving first gear its that point where the teeth are leaving each other.

No proof but that's my theory to the ping, the wife noticed it and when she picks something up with a car it must be noticeable.

The vibrations and other noises are not normal though, and as said need investigating. Unless you know the history of the car it really is worth going right through it for your own peace of mind, I found loads of horrors and continued to do so for quite sometime. The worst being the steering column to rack pinch bolt missing, and I didn't spot that for a year, and only then when I was working in the car and pulled myself up on the steering wheel for the whole lot to come off !. Scary, very scary indeed.

[bmcecosse]

The ping could be from the clutch centre plate springs.... and/or the centre plate beginning to break up. Been there - done that!

[Vernon]

Thanks for all the replies/suggestions.
I shall replace the propshaft U/Js next week and let you know if that cures the problem.

[minor65]

My blue minor every now and again let's a ping from one of the universal joints when taking off (always taking off easy - I may add, no dropping the clutch ). An has done for the last 15+ years. There is no vibration or play from them and greased regularly. So I have no intensions of changing them.

[ferret76]

I had a similar ping. Discovered it was the adjustment nut on the clutch linkage flicking the return spring as the clutch was released. I took the spring off and reattached it with the hooks facing in the opposite direction. No more ping.

[bmcecosse]

Easy fix!

[Vernon]

Well, having replaced the propshaft U/Js the vibration and ping has disappeared
However, the front U/J moves slightly in the yolk which suggests wear in the yolk
If the vibration returns then it looks like a new (second hand) propshaft will be required.
I'll leave it for now and see how it goes.