Driveline vibrations - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

EDghia · 10-25-2003, 00:08

Hi everyone. This is the first time I have posted and new thread. Hope I'm doing this right!

Recently I have converted my I6 auto ED Fairmont Ghia to a 5 speed T5. All went well but.....

When I down change into second or sometimes third, I get a "medium" feel vibration coming through from the driveline (or what I think is the driveline). This occurs only below 45kmph and worsens as the loading is increased in the car (either by towing or having up to 5 people in the car).

I have renewed the complete clutch and re-machined the fly wheel and still no change. I have also renewed the rear transmission mount (complete) and renewed the bracket that supports the exhaust system. Still no change. Also, I have the big counterweight at the beginning if the tailshaft. The front engine mounts look to be fine as well.

The car the T5 came out of had no driveline vibration. It was the last of the EB's.

Anybody experienced this or can anybody advise on what I can try to do to alleviate this problem?

Any help would be most appreciated.

Cheers.

danege · 10-25-2003, 01:09

Are tailshafts any different between the autos and manuals?

What about the yoke or whatever its called?

xdc351 · 10-25-2003, 02:46

Check your uni joints/tailshaft. The Uni's might be rooted or the tailshaft might be damaged or need rebalancing.

EDghia · 10-25-2003, 16:33

I have been talking about this problem to a number of people recently and they are also saying the same as you guys - check the uni's or balance the tail shaft. The reason this never came to the forefront of my mind is that the car it came out of had no vibrations at all.

The tailshafts between the auto and manual seemed to be exactly the same. The only mod I did to the manual tailshaft, was to put the big counterweight front yoke on. That seemed to "smooth" things out as far as overall driving feeling was concerned.

So in saying all that, I will take out the tailshaft and get it balanced and put in new uni's. When I've done this, I'll let you all know if it solved the problem.

Cheers.

Lister_of_SMEG · 10-26-2003, 21:01

Did you change the yoke at the front of the tail shaft ? If so is it possible that the new yoke is in the wrong position. Some one with more experience may be able to shed light on this, but i read years ago that ( if i got this right ) they should be 90 degrees opposed. I believe if they are on the same plane vibration is the result at some speed ranges.

EDghia · 10-29-2003, 05:18

Hi all,

I have renewed both of the uni joins and it has made no difference.

When I originally did the conversion, the existing EB yoke and tailshaft went in. This is when the vibrations began. I changed the EB yoke to the ED yoke (which is the same, however it also has a big counterweight attached to the front of it). This made no difference as well.

The clutch that went in the first time was made by LUK - Valco (and I have purchased it from Ford spare parts department - twice now). I thought that maybe (longshot I know!) it was a faulty clutch, so I completely renewed it and machined the flywheel again. Same vibrations again, however when the second clutch was new, the vibrations were noticably "smaller" but as the clutch has become older, the vibrations have got "bigger", and as I said before, the vibrations get worse as the loading increases in the car.

My hunch is that the clutch is to blame, and I'm thinking about renewing it a third time but this time using a different brand.

Ford apparently no longer get their clutch kits through from Motorcraft anymore. They use as said above LUK - Valco.

If anyone has any other suggestions, I will be glad to hear them.

Cheers.

turbotrana · 10-29-2003, 16:43

Dont go buying another clutch mate. Take the flywheel and clutch pressure plate and even the clutch drive plate to get balanced by someone who has a good balancing machine.
Have driveshaft balanced
Check harmonic balancer as this can go out of whack and cause problems, especially on V8s
Otherwise have a good mechanic have a look at it

EDghia · 10-29-2003, 17:09

I was thinking about having the driveshaft balanced.

I wouldn't have thought that I would need to have the clutch and associated parts balanced, but I suppose when it comes down to it, that may be what is required.

I'll keep you all posted on the progress.

EDghia · 11-01-2003, 14:59

I was driving last night and got caught in a traffic jam. As we were moving along slowly, each time I was releasing the clutch to move forward, it was 'juddering' quite badly, as if it was sticky against the flywheel. It basically felt like a clutch that had just been seriously hammered.

This is what I don't understand - why would a brand new clutch behave this way, especially when the flywheel was machined perfectly flat etc?

ebs_4l · 01-04-2004, 04:18

hey edghia, if you fit another brand of clutch to your bus and it cures it, please let me know -im going through the same routine on my brothers car... eb 4.0l

fitted genuine clutch and machined flywheel -no different
fitted new engine mounts -no different
fitted brand new flywheel -no different

possibly the clutch is to blame...