|
By Mike Morrall - 11 Years Ago
|
|
Previously posted about distributor help but now need additional thoughts on the engine vibration. Car has a vibration in neutral with clutch in or out, and also when driving. Seems to come in at 2000 rpm and up. Seems to be getting worse. Was told that crank thrust bearing may be worn as end play is slightly more than is recommended. Never vibrated with original 3 speed, now has T-5. Also, same time I switched trans, I also put a blue thunder intake and edelbrock 600cfm carb on the car. Can the thrust bearing be causing the vibration? Or is it something to do with the carb set up? Already changed the balancer to rule that out. Car runs great up to around 2000 rpm. Engine does not have a miss (already went through the plugs, wires, distributor, and coil). Anything I am missing? Thanks!
|
|
By slick56 - 11 Years Ago
|
|
You would have had to put in a longer tailshaft with the T5, have you had it balanced?
.
|
|
By pegleg - 11 Years Ago
|
|
If it vibrates in Neutral, while stopped, it's not the driveshaft. You may need to pull the trans and check for a bent input shaft, then get the clutch and flywheel balanced as an assembly.
|
|
By stuey - 11 Years Ago
|
I lack experience on things like this but, how about set hand brake make the car safe then set engine rpm to 2000 so vibration is present and listen around engine with a stethoscope (big screw driver with nicely rounded handle that fits your lughole  ) may be water pump, alternator, oil pump
feel free to shoot me down its how I learn
stuey
|
|
By 2721955meteor - 11 Years Ago
|
|
it is not the crank thrust bearing ,tho if the trans input(t5) is longer than 3spd and alowing constant thrust you will ruen the thrust and crank.. i would move the trans back. remove drive shaft then loosen trans bolts slid in washers between trans case and bell snug the trans up run up engine. my guess is t5 input is to long pushing the crank forwerd. then go with early sugestion and get clutch and flywheel balenced. when removeing clutch make sure the pressure plate is in full contact with the fly wheel(posibly 1 or more bolts to long. has to be something to do with t5 conversion and the clutch ass. good luck
|
|
By miker - 11 Years Ago
|
|
I think meteor may have a point. At least some T-5 /adaptor combo's needed to shorten the imput shaft. I did one about 10 years ago. If the adaptor is thick enough to clear the imput/crank, the clutch disc rides right at the front end of the splines. We had the engine out and hand fit the trans on the bench. It clearly bottomed. We taped off the input shaft to keep debris out of the front bearing, and carefully trimmed the shaft with a small cut off wheel. One guy held the wheel, and the other turned the trans over from the driveshaft end. We checked the clearance with clay. Been running fine or 10 years.
|
|
By lyonroad - 11 Years Ago
|
Meteor's and miker's point is covered specifically in Rob Bolzon's article on T5 conversion in the November-Dec 2012 issue of Y-block magazine. Rob did note that with the input shaft rubbing on the end of the crank that he had trouble getting the car into gear. Mike M Have you noticed any shifting issues with your T5?
|
|
By speedpro56 - 11 Years Ago
|
|
I'm with Miker on this one, and you may have to install a new pilot bearing as the one in it now is probably shot from too much pressure against it and can cause a vibration.
|
|
By Mike Morrall - 11 Years Ago
|
|
The adapter is a John Mummert adapter but I never checked the input shaft length. I'll check that next. Never had any trouble getting the car in gear and it shifts cleanly. Thanks.
|
|
By Mike Morrall - 11 Years Ago
|
|
Tonight I pulled the trans back away from the bel housing about 1/8 inch to make sure the input shaft was nor hitting the crank. Still vibrates. Flywheel and clutch assy. were taken out and balanced as well. I am down to either the input shaft on the trans or something entirely different from the trans. The other change we made as the blue thunder low rise intake and Edelbrock 600cfm carb - Maybe something with the carb tuning causing a vibration? Still searching.
|
|
By miker - 11 Years Ago
|
With the trans on the bench, putting a dial indicator on the imput shaft and turning the output would tell the runout. I have a hard time believing you could bottom that enough to warp it and still shift the car.
So, the carb. I would feel that as a miss, but a light miss could feel like a vibration. I've had two occasions with the Edelbrock 600 where the float bowls were clean, but the needle/seat combination was blocked from above. One was a shaved piece of fuel hose, just a sliver, laying across the opening. It came and went, and drove me crazy. Pull the top off, remove the floats, needle/seat, and use pressure air to blow thru the fuel inlet. Grasping at straws here.
|
|
By charliemccraney - 11 Years Ago
|
|
I might have overlooked it, but it looks like you never posted about any resolution with the distributor. Bad points can allow and engine to run fine at idle and low speeds but have issues at higher rpm. You say you "went through" it. What does that mean? Have you ensured that the distributor is in good condition and operating correctly, the point contacts are good, the dwell is good, the condenser is good, the advance unit operates smoothly, the shaft does not wobble, etc?
Can you reinstall the old carb and/or intake?
Is the trans new/rebuilt or used?. If you have it out again, try wiggling the input shaft. A new or rebuilt unit should not move. A used one will and there is probably a spec for that and if it is out of spec, maybe it is the cause and it needs a rebuild.
|
|
By pegleg - 11 Years Ago
|
Check the plug wires again, AND make certain you have no shorts or cross firing. Start it with the hood open after dark and look everywhere for sparks in the wrong place. Some times you can hear the plug arc to ground as well as see it. If this fails to help, start pulling plug wires off the plugs (while running) one at a time. You may discover one plug or another has no effect on the idle speed. The rpm will drop noticeably with cylinders that are working correctly.
the above should pretty much eliminate the ignition as the cause. |
|
By Mike Morrall - 11 Years Ago
|
First, thanks for all your replies. I appreciate the great advice!
The distributor was given a new set of points and condenser by a local shop a few years ago. New wires were installed at that time as well. The car has only been driven on short test runs since then. I hadn't given much thought to the points, condenser, rotor, and cap as they were all new but I will go through it again in case there is a wrong adjustment or something is wrong inside the distributor.
The old 2 barrel carb is gone. I do have the manifold still so I could scrounge up a carb and try it if all else fails.
My next step was to remove the trans completely and check the input shaft. While it's out, I'll replace the pilot bearing and the throw out bearing, just in case either of those are bad. The trans is a used trans out of an 87 Mustang. A local shop sourced the trans and installed it so I never saw it out before it went in the car. I will now.
I did just last week, take the carb off and completely disassembled it and cleaned it out thoroughly (every passage was cleaned and checked). It doesn't appear to be dirt in the carb. I was wondering if there is a setting I am missing on the carb that I need to adjust, but that may not be the case.
I will re-check all the wires again.
Again, thanks!
|
|
By miker - 11 Years Ago
|
|
If you've got a dwell meter, try that first. Points, condensers, rotors and wires can deteriorate over time regardless of mileage. If the dwell is good both at idle and up around 3000 rpm, it tells you the points are working. Then move on to Frank's suggestion on pulling the wires. I had a coil/cap wire that slid out, burned a hole thru the cap, and couldn't find it till I tried looking in the dark. So Frank's right on about that. All this is easier than pulling the trans.
|
|
By lyonroad - 11 Years Ago
|
Suppliers of T5 conversion kits are adamant that the bell housing be dialed in before the trans is installed. You mentioned that the vibration occurs with the clutch both in and out so that may make my point irrelevant, I'm not sure. If you are pulling the trans anyway it wouldn't hurt to verify that the bell housing is centered to T5 specs. Google "dialing in a bell housing", there is a lot of help there. Good luck.
|
|
By Dave V - 11 Years Ago
|
|
Mike Did you ever figure out your vibration? I've been battling the same problem all summer with my 56 312 and T5. Although I had put about 3,000 miles on mine without any problems after the install. I first had a terrible vibration immediately after changing oil and adding Lucas oil stabilizer. Pegged an 80 psi gauge. could not hold on to the shifter handle of the transmission it vibrated so bad. Drained the oil twice to flush out the Lucas and now have 50 psi on the oil gauge but still have a slight vibration on the shifter handle above about 1500 RPM only with the clutch engaged even in neutral. Going crazy trying to figure this out. Dave V
|
|
By HT32BSX115 - 11 Years Ago
|
Flywheel and clutch assy. were taken out and balanced as well. I am down to either the input shaft on the trans or something entirely different from the trans.
|
|
By Lou - 11 Years Ago
|
|
Well this may seem dumb, but did you check the sparkplug wires for cross firing or wrong order?
|
|
By 2721955meteor - 11 Years Ago
|
|
what type of vacume advance do you have,early type with the nut on the end may have a weak spring causing early advance,they can easly be changed with small washers so as to slow initial low load advance. later typ had a alen screw insid the vacume tube that can change advance rate. hd a 302 with holey 4v that had a vibration like you describe and the isue turned out to be to much advance at part throtel .the other isue could be the cent weights under the point plate. early cent advance dist used a ball bearing plate actuated by the vacume advance ,they would become stickey,and need cleaning and new lite grease. just some more to think about ,sounds like you have had more than your share of greaf. it will probly turn out to be something simple. good luck
|
|
By Dave V - 11 Years Ago
|
|
Thanks for the replies and ideas. Ihave put about 2,000 miles on the rebuild with no problems so I'm not thinking the flywheel or clutch would be the problem. As far as too much timing too quickly It does have a newer distributor with a Mustang adjustable vacuum advance. Which direction should I turn the allen screw to slow down the advance? Dave V
|
|
By 2721955meteor - 11 Years Ago
|
Dave V (10/31/2014)
Thanks for the replies and ideas. Ihave put about 2,000 miles on the rebuild with no problems so I'm not thinking the flywheel or clutch would be the problem. As far as too much timing too quickly It does have a newer distributor with a Mustang adjustable vacuum advance. Which direction should I turn the allen screw to slow down the advance? Dave V Try it eather way small amount each time.try it first with vacume lin off(also ar you useing the right tube on the carb,gmuses manifold vacume ford uses metered
|