Ellos.

 

My 84 GL has a fair bit of vibration through the gearstick, I had a quick look while I was cleaning out the cooling system and the bushes I could see, all rubbers in fact, are in pretty good condition.

 

This soob is the smallest car I have ever owned, body and engine size, I dont know if this is normal or not. One of my workmates said it was "a bit much", now my question is, is a slightly harsh vibration normal? It exists in most rev ranges and doesnt seem to change in intensity depending on revs or speed.

 

Any ideas?

~Fox

2wd or 4wd.

 

nipper

Dual range manual 4x4, ea81

Boxer engines are extreemly smooth running by thier nature. Vibration is a bad thing.

 

A few questions

 

Does the vibration change with

 

gear selection

road speed

engine rpm

Braking

Turning

 

Is it there when you put the car in neutral and coast

Is it there when you press the clutch in

 

Find a dead straight road, Put the car in 4wd high, is it there.

 

This is something you can do quickly. Get under the car and inspect the universal joints and carrier bearing in the driveshaft. There should be no play in the x or y direction of the universals, and no play in the carrier bearing.

 

As these cars get miles on them (and age) the universals may go bad. They can drive you nuts trying to find the source of a vibration, so we will check that first.

 

nipper

Does the vibration change with

 

gear selection - It increases everso slightly as I increase in speed, I dont think it is gear related

road speed - Yes

engine rpm - Sorta, the higher the gear, the more vibration

Braking - Nope

Turning - Nope

 

I just replaced the spark plug leads because I detected a slight miss, the performance increase was dramatic to say the least, much better pickup..

 

Anyhow, maybe its just me but I think it decreased slightly with the change of leads. I just took the car down the back (rallye track at home.. ) and there seemed to be less, however the ground down there is very clay based and it was spitting, if it was caused by bad wheel alignment the loss of traction on the clay would have also caused less vibration.

 

Most of the driving my soob does is to and from work, highway speeds and windy roads, usually with some wind.. I will check tomorrow and see how it goes, the tyre wear is relatively even, I am replacing the tyres shortly anyway. I will check the uni joints tomorrow, when the ground is dry

 

Thanks heaps for your help, and I will be back tomorrow.

The tailshaft is very secure and has no wobble.

 

The vibration doesnt change whether the clutch is in or out, it does seem to be rpm/engine speed related..

The tailshaft is very secure and has no wobble.

 

The vibration doesnt change whether the clutch is in or out, it does seem to be rpm/engine speed related..

 

So if you pop the car in neutral at 40 mph and rev the engine, the vibration changes?

 

 

nipper

I have never come across an ea81 soob without a little vibration in the gear lever - more than you would expect in most other cars. I suspect this is due to the fact that I have also never come across an ea81 soob wihtout worn out bushings on the gear lever, and have never bothered putting too much effort into fixing them.

 

The gearlever design used will always be good at transmitting vibration simply because it is connected to the gearbox in such a direct manner - unlike most other vehicles.

 

Problem with trying to sort this out on a forum is that everyones definition of too much vibration will be different, and there is no easy way to measure it....

 

Remember that, although the flat four is a well balanced design, it is still a reciprocating machine, so a certain amount of vibration is unavoidable - hence the need for rubber mounts - check your gearlever bushings, they are probably worn out.

In my EA82, it vibrates enough to cause the linkage to rattle... probably not a good thing. but mine is bad enough to make alot of noise... does yours make noise?

Theres no noise, however the vibration does cause a small (inch or 2) wobble if I dont have my hand on the gearstick.

 

The lever pulls naturally towards the right and sits above the reverse, I gather thats normal?

 

The lever pulls naturally towards the right and sits above the reverse, I gather thats normal?

 

It should pull right, but only to above 4th.... spring in gearbox should resist going to above reverse....

Hmm, I suspect some of the vibration would be because the gearstick linkage must be resting against the gbox housing, Ill have a closer look later on, I have to go out :-\

Theorectically this may work. I pulled the lever on my 81 wagon. Nothing at the bottom that is supposed to be there, i.e. bushing, clip, and rubber grommet. For the time being,I tried this,,, went to the hardware store with the shaft in hand. Went to the rubber grommet section. I grabbed the smallest one and worked it on. Re-installed and noticably less sloppy as well as less vibration. Methinks the grommet is acting as a dampener. Haven't driven it yet though, still need a clutch. Tis worth a shot. Also, the return spring if you want to call it that, may be crapped out. I also replaced that too. Total cost of both parts was less than $2.00

Well, I pulled the console apart today and found that there is definitely too much movement in the linkage, I can see why theres vibration there. I might fashion some kind of dampener for it when I get the spare time.

 

Up for a new bush I say, the 3-2 downchanges have been getting a bit notchy and rough. I place gentle pressure on the gearstick and then move it side to side a little, slips in. I tightened the linkage up today, sure enough, shifts easier.

 

Just what I would expect from a car with 230k on it.

 

I modified the interior too.. heh, photos soon.

The '85 BRAT I recently purchased had way sloppy shifter. A P.O. had attempted fix with bolt, but didn't cut the slot in the outer tube. I removed shifter, cut slot and re-installed it using a slightly stiffer spring also. Nice clean and crisp gear selection now, and no dancing of shifter.

 

Chased a vibration in my '86 BRAT for quite some time. Found it to be the rear u-joint of the driveshaft. Checked good with it in the vehicle, but found that the joint was way stiff in one direction after removing the shaft from vehicle. Swapped in another good driveshaft and no more vibration.

 

Engine related vibration could be weak motor mounts, low compression on a cylinder, bad plug or plug wire, faulty disty cap, sticky valve(s).