For those of you that have been around here a while you may remember that I
have been chasing a clicking noise in the rear end of the MGA for about a
year. It showed up shortly after an autocross last year and, after a
variety of diagnostic tricks I decided that it was rear wheel bearings. I
nursed it all summer and replaced the wheel bearings this Spring. I hit
the road full of confidence and optimism. Well, the clicking noise was
still there. One of the things I did last year to diagnose the problem was
to grease the u-joints. I filled the joints until grease came out of one
of the cups and it made no difference in the noise. Well last week I went
under the car with the grease gun and pumped up the u-joints until grease
was freely flowig from all the cups. After that, I shook the joint and
noticed a little movement wheras before this it appeared tight. It took
the A out and sure enough, the noise was gone.
So, the next time you grease those u-joints, you may want to forget
keeping in neat and clean and grease the snot out of it. I know I learned
something. Also, all of the u-joints that I have l lost in the past had a
bit of a squeak to it and were fairly rapid for the travel speed. This one
was just a clicking noise and was fairly slow. Oh, well, live and learn.
Look on the bright side, I have found the noise and I now know how to put
in MGA wheel bearings.
Regards,
Bill Eastman
61 MGA no longer clicking its heels
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