Richard Ince Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 At Cadwell Park on Saturday I experienced a vibration in my R500. We had the tyres checked and they were not out of balance. The clutch pedal was transmitting a vibration as well. On Sunday on a new set of tyres it was worse. The headlamps were moving about and the stearing wheel was moving from side to side as though the wheels were seriously out of balance. After the race we noticed that one of the Altenator bolts had fallen out. On Tuesday, on the same tyres a test upto 100MPH revealed no vibration! Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 Richard, The vibration occurs at speeds greater than 100mph? Fat Arn Visit the K2 RUM site See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Ince Posted August 1, 2002 Author Share Posted August 1, 2002 Arnie Yes, but on Sunday it was apparant at all speeds on the track. I thought the new clutch might be playing up but on Tuesday the pedal had no vibration. Engine mountings are OK as well. I was worried towards the end of the race that we would not finish. On Saturday I had a cockpit electrical fire between Mansfield and the Hairpit and lost all dash instruments. Difficult to part the wiring loom and defend Doug Newman going into the hairpin. I do not think this was related but the vibration might have chafed the wires together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swiss_Tony Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 Clutch out of balance? Just a thought. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Ince Posted August 1, 2002 Author Share Posted August 1, 2002 I thought that but why did it not occur on Tuesday. I am going to have the engine out to check the Quarter Master clutch wear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 Richard, I was pointing out the obvious......... Seriously, check the prop UJ's for play and check the grease nipples (if fitted) have not fallen out . Also check the flange bolts where the prop is bolted to the diff. These things can work loose and be a little intermittent at times. Does it jump out of gear in higher gears??? Fat Arn Visit the K2 RUM site See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Ince Posted August 1, 2002 Author Share Posted August 1, 2002 Will check, the power of the new clutch might have done some damage. However nice to run for 5 races, 3 test days and Le Sept all on the same clutch! Makes a change from the standard R500 clutch. I am sure they have another fault. Last year mine kept breaking covers and then straps. This year they appear to fail in the centre by the springs. Not only me, Jules Martin had exactly the same failure at the weekend with a standard engine. Has never jumped out of gear. Do Vauxhalls have this problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Woods Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Try booking it onto a rolling road so you can see it running at speed- if the vibration is in the engine / drivetrain / rear end you may find it. I've not been near a rolling road for years so this next bit may be wrong, however if the RR has front rollers which are linked to the rear ones (ie so the front wheels on the car go round as well )it would help you check out the front end as well. I dont know of any RR's near you but I've heard good reports for SCA in Norwich (Tel 01603 789909 ) although I've not tried them myself. Nick P8MRA - The green one with red wings Edited by - Nick Woods on 2 Aug 2002 09:14:29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Richard, Imbalance in the prop will cause the 6 spd box to jump out of gear. The more viscous clutch caused my U/J's to have the grease nipples fall out. You will not break a QM clutch with an engine of your torque output - its rated at at least 400lb/ft! - a conventional clutch will however withstand far far less abuse, hence the strap a centre plate failures - I had the same situ with my car years ago. I would suggest that it could be the flywheel bolts loose, but thats probaly a long shot. Check these external items before having your man pull it all apart! Fat Arn Visit the K2 RUM site See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 I've had tyres balanced which didn't account for the fact that they were slightly out of "round". On the machine they were fine, but it led to fairly serious vibrations one the road. Eventually I managed to get the fitters to accept this state of affairs (you could just see the difference when they were rotated slowly on their balancing machine) and take them back in exchange for new ones. This was on a standard car though. I've not had any troubles of this types with ACB10s although its my experience that they going out of balance quite quickly, but you've checked that though... Worcs L7 club joint AO.//Membership No. 4379//Azure Blue SLR No. 0077//Se7ens List Tours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Alternatively, I also found increased vibration when I played with the toe setting. I originally set it dead parallel, but to try to increase straightline stability to enable my wife to drive I added a small amount of toe-in (a whole turn on each side). This led to an uncomfortable high frequency vibration which made my hands numb after a while. I returned the toe to parallel and it all became fine again. Probably a red herring, but... Worcs L7 club joint AO.//Membership No. 4379//Azure Blue SLR No. 0077//Se7ens List Tours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swiss_Tony Posted August 3, 2002 Share Posted August 3, 2002 Richard My standard vx clutch had a fairly short life. Approx 300 road miles! It was a new standard clutch from Caterham. It broke up the first time it had a quick pull away with 032r tyres on. The linings fell off one side of the clutch and a couple of springs broke. With hindsight it was a bit stupid to fit this. I was hoping to get a little more use than that out of it. The new clutch is a QM twin plate clutch and this has survived a lot of abuse. Sprints trackdays etc James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted August 3, 2002 Share Posted August 3, 2002 James what sort of power are you running? My standard VX clutch has handled lots of use. Race starts etc. Admittely only on standard power. You could have had a duff one. Steve My racing pics here Hants (North) and Berkshire area club site here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swiss_Tony Posted August 4, 2002 Share Posted August 4, 2002 Steve When the clutch went it slipped before it broke.The flywheel showed signs that it got very hot. The pressure plate is now in use in another car and this has had no problems at all. I can only assume the standard clutch plate was not man enough for my car. iirc Arnie has broken a few pressure plate drive straps in his time.I think he was using a paddle plate at the time. Not sure how long they lasted him though. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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