Morris Minor Owners Club

I think he means the halfshaft, which goes from the diff to the rear wheel hub. As opposed to the propshaft which goes from the gearbox to the diff.

Yes it still could be the prop or rear axle, but if it dissapears when in neutral I'd look much nearer the front of the car first (engine / gearbox).

Ok the only result we seem to have so far is that if the car is
put into neutral the vibrations disappear?? If the virbration was
caused by problems in the prop-shaft,diff,or half shaft area I
reckon the vibrations would still be there. The next question I
can think of is, does the vibration disappear if the clutch is fully
depressed? i.e. STILL IN GEAR but disconnected from the engine.
If it disappears in neutral but not when still in gear but with
clutch depressed then it would suggest to me that the fault is
in the gearbox.
Willie

Sorry, halfshaft - propshaft, had a bit of a brain blockage. I'll get my coat!

I think I better get my coat too - I missed the bit about it dissapearing in neutral.

Hi All glad its all working again, anyway my friends problem is now resolved after speaking to a bodywork shop for a different reason and mentioning the problem he suggested a different approach.
Maybe something had been overtighned and suggested that loosen everthing off and then re-adjust to the correct tensions and see if it made any difference, whereas everybody else ( various Minor specialists ) has suggested that perhaps something had come loose but could not find anything.
So she took it back ( for the 3rd time ) to where it had been originally serviced and mentioned to one of the staff what had been suggested ( it turned out he was the one who had done the service ) and he began to look a bit sheepish and said it might have been something that he had done. They put the car on the ramp and Lo and Behold the gearbox steady cable had been done up so tight that it was like a solid rod and when slackened off to the correct amount, Hey Presto the car was back to normal with no vibrations.
Has anyone else ever had this happen before as its a thing to beware of, and I confess that as this had been serviced at a specialist I would not have expected this to have occured or to have taken a non mechanic ( not even a Morris person ) to point in the right direction before they solved the problem that they had caused.

Aha! IIRC it's not a tensioner cable, or even a steady cable. It's like a seatbelt for your gearbox. It stops the whole unit moving forwards under heavy braking!

Willie will tell you if I'm right.

Hi - Never heard of that!! Mind you it's unlikely that many people would udjust the cable very tight - And they were a 'SPECIALIST' :-0
WELL - at least we were 'close' in the axle/propshaft/gearbox area.

Sorry Gareth but if it not a Gearbox Steady Cable what is it, I dont think GEARBOX SEATBELT is right, and yes you are correct about its function, because without, it becomes Fan meets Radiator time

Gearbox seatbelt is certainly one if its functions as without, fan meets radiator durng an emergency stop.
As for it's other functions- there once was a debate whether it would have an effect on judder... - the effect on increased vibration is very interesting.

yes my old saloons fan had gone through the radiator at some time, and the gearbox steady cable still hadnt been replaced !! - i have heard its an mot failure if it isnt fitted ... im going out now to look at my traveller now, it vibrates a lot sometimes and this might just be the culprit

cheers
grainger

These are my own definitions:

Tensioner - do up as tight as possible, holding something taut.
Steady - do up enough to reduce all slack. Should hold something steady
Seatbelt - well, OK, it was the best I could think of, and "do-up-so-there's-enough-slack-so-that-should-the-engine/gearbox-unit-move-it-won't-go-through-the-radiator-but-not-too-much-'cos-it'll-make-the-car-vibrate-like-I-don't-know-what-cable" was a bit long!

Think about it, Kevin - when you're driving, you don't ahve the seatbelt so tight that it cuts off circulation to your legs, but if you stop quickly (if such is possible in a Mog!) then it stops you moving too far forward. It's the same principle, only under the floor, made of steel, and probably a bit muckier.

Well, I thought it made sense. Just shows my logic, really. Hehehe

I am glad you cleared that up as I just thought that the seatbelt stopped me giving the windscreen a headbutt but we all live and learn, also I would change your seatbelts mate if they cut off the circulation to your legs or have you raised the level of your drivers seat a tad too much, and as for sense and logic ( what are they ) we love Morris Minors for goodness sake.

The steady cable is purely to stop the engine from travelling forwards
under heavy braking. So it protects the radiator and, on the Minor,
prevents undue strain on the Clutch operating mechanism which
is pivoted between the chassis and the gearbox. You take up the
slack in this cable but do not tighten so that it is pulling the engine
rearwards.
Willie

Sorry to come in so late in the disscusion (new to the board and just found the thread) im having similar problems with vibrations so will try out everything that has been mentioned.

One thing i'd like to ask,my gearbox 'seatbelt-steady cable thingy' is badly frayed/worn,would this also cause the vibrations mentioned?

Or is that a dumb question?


Cheers,
Chris

As there are no seats involved and it's more strap than belt and both seatbelt and this strap are made to check forward movement, could we use the words "check strap"?