scoobypete

New Member
Evening all

As youre all aware ive been having fun and games with the cooling on my 2.5 dse over the last week,hopefully sorted now but today ive got an annoying vibration on acceleration that starts around 30mph and continues up to about 45mph before smoothing out...

Its predominantly felt through the steering wheel but everything on the dash is rattling about as well...

Can anyone tell me what the symptoms are of the ujs going before i go out and start pulling it apart...

It cant be the wheels,ive just had 4 new tyres fitted and balanced with less than 500 miles on them plus it feels a bit strong for balancing.

Sorry for the rant,i could really do without this just now.....:boom:
 
dont think so wammers,they were the wheels that came with the car with 18in tyres on...just seems odd that its been fine till today,just been out and had a lie under it and pulled the props...no movement anywhere :/
 
If they're on their way out, UJs can often give a brief high pitched squeak when pulling away.

Have you checked all your suspension bushes underneath, maybe one has been gradually deteriorating over time so you don't really notice and has now failed suddenly to cause the vibration?
 
Just been out and had a lie under it,all seems fine in prop land,no movement anywhere,nothing missing,nothing appears broken....slight,very slight turning movement in front prop,say 1 to 2 mm either way when rotating side to side but the whole thing moves not just part of it if that makes sense,went out for a drive,tried it in lo range,then back into hi...still there but doesnt seem as bad,maybe just me tho.
pic below of car,not sure if original wheels or not,have seen other p38s with them on,have just been out and had another look,all weights are there,inside and out.

IMAG0538-1.jpg
 
Just been out and had a lie under it,all seems fine in prop land,no movement anywhere,nothing missing,nothing appears broken....slight,very slight turning movement in front prop,say 1 to 2 mm either way when rotating side to side but the whole thing moves not just part of it if that makes sense,went out for a drive,tried it in lo range,then back into hi...still there but doesnt seem as bad,maybe just me tho.
pic below of car,not sure if original wheels or not,have seen other p38s with them on,have just been out and had another look,all weights are there,inside and out.

Original P38/D2 Hurricanes so you can rule out the need for spacer rings...it might sound obvious but check matey has fitted all the same tyres and same sizes.

Is the vibration constant when you accelerate hard through or gently? What about braking through that speed? If you get it through the steering wheel as opposed to the base of your seat then it would point to wheels/brakes/steering/susp components on the front.
 
It's always worth checking the UJ's with a couple of strong screwdrivers/levers .. If they've ran without grease, for instance, for a while they could be dry inside and be extremely hard to move, hand/arm pressure sometimes isn't enough.

I'd also check the Anti-roll bar bushes and links.
 
Its definately through the steering wheel,is more noticeable on acceleration,more so up a hill under load (what is it with this thing and hills?) if you accelerate hard its less noticable cos im going past the range where it does it quicker...doesnt do it under braking or coasting to a halt.....

gonna go back to tyre place this morning,get himto double check it all before i start pulling everything else to bits...i just find it odd it started doing it almost instantly,no build up or nothing...
 
Just been up the tyre place,all balancing rechecked..all ok

the vibration however seems to have got worse overnight...its now emanating through the whole car....on acceleration feels like somethings dragging,is also now doing it on slowing down but not through the brakes.....

whilst up on the ramp we poked,prodded,pulled,screwdrivered...nothing obvious

F*%ks sake........ :(
 
Next steps are pretty straightforward. You have ruled out wheel balance so as johnlad says drop one prop shaft at a time and see if it stops. I am assuming you have ruled out the vibration coming from the engine? Maybe a fin was knocked off the viscous fan when you where fixing the cooling problems.
 
Brand new viscous fan,nothing broken on it yet.....

heres the odd thing,just been out and moved an 04 plate mondeo estate on the trailer,thought the weight would make the vibration worse...nope,it made it dissapear completely.....havent unhooked the trailer yet so gonna see what it does now without all the extra weight...


oh,and it didnt overheat so fingers crossed thats that fixed ;D
 
Brand new viscous fan,nothing broken on it yet.....

heres the odd thing,just been out and moved an 04 plate mondeo estate on the trailer,thought the weight would make the vibration worse...nope,it made it dissapear completely.....havent unhooked the trailer yet so gonna see what it does now without all the extra weight...


oh,and it didnt overheat so fingers crossed thats that fixed ;D

The viscous fan wasn't a Britpart unit by any chance? I recall a few threads about britpart fans self destructing after a few miles.
 
well,it was the prop....took the trailer to shropshire sunday to collect an old datsun,and it was obvious on the way back as i had a squealing emanating from underneath :/

drove home fairly gingerly (60mph) i think the torrential rain made it slightly easier as it cooled/lubricated it ever so slightly...

got underneath and whipped the front prop off yesterday,both u/js completely shot to pieces,no needle bearings in one,both all cracked with evidence of having been extremely hot....

oh well,off to tim frys again tomorrow then....
 
Being that it is only between 30/45 I would say it was a wheel balancing weight they do normally show affect between 5070 mph sometimes more than one weight can be
Stuck on at a time.
 
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