>I have a 73 TR6. The car runs great and I'm currently using it as a daily
>driver in the Sacramento, CA area. Recently I noticed that when I start the
>car and 'gently' back up or pull forward something towards the rear of the
>car feels like it 'breaks-free' (sort of like it was initially
>binding/frozen). I think its coming from one of the wheels but could be the
>differential. This only occurs when the car has been sitting for an
>extended period of time (like overnight). Once I start driving the car it
>does not reoccur and the car drives fine. Is this the harbinger if bigger
>problems to come? I put the car up on a rack at the local service station
>to check the u-joints and did not notice any excessive play. The drive
>shaft was recently rebalanced with new u-joints so I do not think that was
>the problem. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Michael:
I had a similar experience once in Portland, Oregon, about 300 miles
from home. Something in the drivetrain began to slip or break free
momentarily
it was as if I stepped on the clutch for JUST AN
INSTANT. It didn't happen at regular intervals, just sort-of random
although it did seem to be happening with increasing frequency. It
was the strangest thing. The next morning I discovered the problem.
We were on our way out of Portland waiting at a traffic light. When
the light turned green, I stuck it in 1st and let the clutch out. At
that instant there was a loud THUNK from the rear end and then Ka-Bam
Ka-Bam Ka-Bam Ka-Bam Ka-Bam and there was no drive to the rear
wheels. Yikes! I thought I had finally blown the diff, but when I
finally tore into it, I discovered that the large nyloc nut which
secures the drive flange on the right side of the diff to the right
side inner axle shaft had been loosening for some time. It finally
became so loose that the it would spontaneously rotate the woodruff
key inside, which is supposed to locate the flange around the inner
axle shaft and the flange would momentarily spin around the shaft
until it caught the woodruff key again. This apparently got worse
and worse until finally the woodruff key actually split the drive
flange open, allowing the inner axle shaft to spin within the flange
without ever transmitting power to the axle shaft. I installed a
used but good new right side inner axle shaft/drive flange assembly
and eventually made it home, albeit a day late.
Now this may or may not be your problem. Some TR6s don't have the
big nyloc nut and instead have a castellated nut with a cotter pin,
which would prevent this problem. Trouble is, you have to unbolt the
axle shaft from the drive flanges on both sides in order to gain
access to the nut. I strongly suggest that you check this out.
While you're there, re-torque the nuts on both sides to make sure
they're tight. You may be able to detect excess play in the drive
flange by grabbing it and rotating it back and forth, but I'm not
sure you can rely on that if you can't detect any slop in this way.
Only way to be sure is to unbolt the axle shafts and have a look.
You may not be able to exert enough force on the flange to reveal the
slop, depending upon how loose it is.
Best of luck.
--
Pete Chadwell
1973 Triumph TR6
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