Morris Minor Owners Club

A Friend has just asked if I could post her problem of suffering from quite severe vibrations running throughout the car when on the move, especially at speeds above 40MPH, she has had a few people look at it but no joy, any suggestions as this has been going on for a few weeks now and she is getting reluctant to drive her beloved ( can`t blame her )

dampers - i bet you - check they are all full

cheers
grainger

propshaft and differential? I'd check them for wear.

Could be the Hardy-Spicer joints on the propshaft - see if there's any sideways movement between the spiders.

Try a s/h "known to be good" differential and see if that helps?

Failing that... tyre pressures too high...?

I'll get my coat.

If it is always starts at a certain speed and gets worse as the speed
increases I agree with Gareth, propshaft out of balance due to
failing Universal Joints,(or,have you just had a new diff unit fitted)?
Otherwise......wheel balance but it would have to be very bad to
cause trouble at 40mph. Has it started recently,and if so, was it
after you had something done to the car?
Willie

Hi All, the dampers are less than a year old and show no signs of leaking fluid, the diff has not been touched in the last couple of years of ownership, the propshaft joints all seem fine and there are no signs of balancing weights or anything missing, and the problem is not of the wheels out of balance type of shake but of a definate vibration, what does not help is that it is not the same all the time and varies in severity and it started to occur about 4 - 5 weeks ago and there has been no major work done on the car for a while just a basic service but this was done a few weeks before the problem appeared.

Could it be just one of those things that appears for no aparrent reason, I wonder?

I'd have a look at the differential as my first port of call. Well, I say "I", but that would be a bit of a complicated job for me, so I'd get someone else to have look at it!

Good luck!

Mmmmm......Ok. If you have a steep local gradient is the vibration
still there if you engage neutral and coast down at over 40mph,or is it
only when the engine is pushing the car along? Are the rear springs
still firmly anchored to the chassis? There are rubber mounts on the
engine and the gearbox.....are they still in one piece. There is a
small cross member on to which the gearbox mount sits...is it still
bolted firmly to the chassis members?
If you get really stumped it might be worth taking it to an MOT depot
for a thorough underside check.
Willie

Willie
Thanks for the above I will speak to the owner over the weekend to see if any of the above apply although I am almost sure there is not a problem with the rear springs.

Hmm..
Depends what you mean by severe vibration -
I had a front propshaft joint go, and at 40mph it felt like the car would explode.
It also depends what driving condition (accelerate, coast, slowing, braking... Does it happen in neutral even with the engine off, or only in a certain gear...?)

I'd have mentioned the propshaft joints first, then the tyres / balancing. but as usual I'm beaten to it. ;-)

A defect I've seen with tyres is they go a funny shape, but it's not always easy to spot. Jack the wheel just off the ground (3mm to 6mm ... 1/8" to 1/4") then spin it by hand. If the tyre catches the floor or noticeably wobbles around then don't drive much more on it if you can help it.
front tyres you will feel the vibration through the steering wheel - rear tyres have to be very bad before you feel it.

Gearbox is a possibility. they tend to show by a shaking rear view mirror - Does the car behind turn into a figure 8 shape?

Did it develop suddenly or over a few weeks?

I've also had similar, usually at around 45-50mph, but the opposite of propshaft universal joint(s) being worn/slack one of them was tight through not having greasing facility (no nipple fitted) and must have been on the point of seizure. The vibration, however, did not suddenly appear for no apparent reason, it was a gradual worsening over time. Did the usual checks for u.j. wear but there wasn't any. Was only able to determine problem after disconnecting and removing propshaft to check u.j.'s. Rear joint would move but only with force, front was o.k. Changed both anyway, with grease nipples fitted, vibration gone.

Now that..Olonas, is very interesting in that it could only be
detected by disconnecting the prop shaft. would never have
suspected that but,then,as a matter of course I wouldn't dream
of fitting UJ's without grease nipples!! There is no substitute for
regular greasing eh??
Willie

Oh, behave!

It's a Morris, Gareth, not Austin!!!!!

was that a rofl ??

Correct Willie, totally agree. The "nippleless" u.j.'s were already on the Traveller when I got it. I also inherited "nippleless" u.j.'s on my saloon. Waiting for the vibes to commence or excessive wear before replacing.

I spoke to the owner and after Olanas problem I asked to make sure that the propshaft uj`s were ok and yes they were and they had grease nipples fitted and had recently been greased. The rear springs have been checked out around the fixing points and they seem fine. The suggestion from Willie about does going downhill make a difference, She has discovered that when put in neutral the vibrations dissappear and this was without a downhill test so it looks like the problem only appears when under load. I also queried the greasing of the propshaft, this had been done at the time of the recent service, and although the problem occured after the servicing it would appear the car was driven home and then a holiday was taken and then the car was only used in traffic for a while afterwards so the problem may well date back to the servicing although what can have caused this to occur after a service I am at a loss to explain .

Clutching at straws a bit but was the oil changed in the rear axle and or gearbox? Just wondered if wrong viscocity oils may cause something like this i.e. too thin in rear axle or too thick in gearbox? Could the input shaft bearing in the axle be worn/collapsed (the one that supports the propshaft flange). Maybe this could be checked using a block of wood and small bar to try moving flange. However the oil seal would probably leak in this case. Would something simple like an incorrectly adjusted engine steady or broken steady mount cause this problem?

My hapeth:
Could be a slightly bent halfshaft. I seem to remember reading about this on another website.

Petee - apologies for being "clever," do you mean propshaft?