Rangi246

Looked at the planet gear again, there are definately no etched marks on the gears anywhere. I can see two notches inside each gear wheel on opposite sides (there are two of them).

Thanks for your help. I've disassembled the OD and there are no broken gear teeth, circlips or scoring anywhere. In fact I suspect the previous owner has had the OD off before as its got all new O rings, annulus looks like new, cone clutch appears fully reconditioned and the bearings are new as well. I can't find any play in the rear annulus bearing but did find a bit in the sun gear and bearing (sideways play). I'll replace the clutch and sun gear bearings and see if that makes a difference. I also noticed that previous owner has used a fully sealed bearing at the back of the annulus? I'll also have another look at the planet gears again and see if I can spot the etched marks. The Buckeye website says they don't need lining up on a J type overdrive???   

It didn't leak oil from the back when the drive flange was on. As soon as I took it off it leaked out though, quite badly. Is this a sign the bearing is a bit stuffed? Any idea where the marks are on the planetary gear and how they line up? I've had a look and there a some notches on the inside of the cogs. Mark

Thanks for your help. I put a new prop on and tested the car. The vibration is a little better but still not good. I removed the prop and decided to test the gearbox on a hunch. Turns out the vibration is coming from the j type overdrive. As soon as its engaged it vibrates badly. I've removed the gearbox as I suspect the od needs pulling. I havent done an od before and am thinking the bearings need replacing but is there anything else that it could be? Mark

I didnt think of turning the prop around. Ive just checked the sliding spline. As it slides, it has a minute amount of play left and right when twisted, about 1mm in total. Is this an acceptable amount or is it pretty worn?

Hi All Our car has a vibration at 50-60mph that's driving me completely nuts!!! I'm hoping someone here can give me some suggestions before I get really fed up and sell it - that's almost where I'm at! Its a 1965 Vitesse 1600 with an 1850 Dolomite J type overdrive gearbox. So far I have balanced the flywheel and clutch, replaced the halfshaft UJ's, replaced the front and rear wheel bearings, had the diff professionally rebuilt with new bearings and seals, rebuilt the brakes (front and rear) replaced the propshaft UJ's and had the propshaft professionally balanced.   On Saturday we went for a run to visit some friends and the vibration seemed minimal so I didn't think much of it at the time. The car sat for about an hour and a half and then we proceeded to drive home. As soon as I hit the motorway and the speed came up to about 50mph, the vibration felt like the car was going to shake itself to bits (I'm talking REALLY bad here). It felt like it was coming from the centre of the car and could be felt through the driver and passengers seats and it was especially bad through the gear lever. Its definitely the worst its ever been!!! I had to slow down to about 30mph for it to cease. When we left the house, the diff and gearbox would have been cold and warmed up over the drive. Would the heat build up from the diff and gearbox make any difference to it? After much swearing and cursing, I removed the propshaft and am going to run the car and test the gearbox at 55mph while stationary to try and eliminate the front end. I doubt it's the gearbox or anything in the rear end as its all been replaced/rebuilt. I don't think the propshaft is a Vitesse one either. It has the sliding spline at the front and I can't detect any play in it - but that doesn't mean its not there. Would a brand new propshaft work? With new UJ's and balanced up? This is all I can think of trying now. Mark    

Hi all The OD (J Type ex Dolomite) has been playing up for a while now and engages perfectly but refuses to disengage, meaning no reverse available. I had no luck in solving the problem with the box in so removed it and have been able to bench test it with an electric motor. So far i've managed to rule out all the electrics, have replaced the solenoid, replaced the oil pressure relief valve and changed the gearbox oil but think the problem is internal and the cone clutch might be sticking. After testing it remains engaged but disengages if left for a few hours so im quite puzzled. Before I remove the OD unit for a look see, does anyone have any ideas about how to fix a sticking cone clutch? Cheers Mark

Hi I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get a new bolt for the centre of the rear spring? I am in the process of giving the Vitesse's rear suspension some much needed TLC and after removing the rear spring, found the bolt rusted on solidly so I had to cut it off. It also had a few rubber spacers at the end of a few of the leaves so would appreciate any knowledge on sourcing some of those too. Thanks Mark

Hi everyone As part of the rear suspension overhaul i'm currently undertaking, I dropped the diff out of the car (65 Vitesse) during the weekend. Its an HB prefixed diff and hasn't shown any problems to date. When I was having a look at it I noticed I could hold the input flange at the front of the diff and twist a small amount of play in each halfshaft flange. It wasn't much, maybe up to 5mm? I was wondering if this is normal and what other way's there are to test for wear/play in the diff? Any help would be much appreciated. Cheers Mark

No it doesn't disengage when the speed drops down. Its stays permanently stuck on until it cools down and at some point disengages during the night. Thanks for the website Nick, i'll have a read. Cheers Mark

Hi Nick Yes, i'd say the oil on the dipstick (the whole dipstick) is more like a frothy greeney browny colour. The dipstick has always had nothing but oil on it and has always been constantly at the full level. It now looks like its extremely over-full, well past the mark by at least 10mm. I've never seen this muck before and it doesn't smell like petrol......

So to add to the OD woes I am currently having, I suspect the car (1600 Vitesse) has now blown a head gasket. I check the engine oil regularly and did so last night only to find the level was all of a sudden very high. I took the car for a quick trip around the block and after checking the oil again, found it had returned to its normal level but had also changed to a rather thin greenish colour, not like oil at all. I checked the water level and had to top it up a bit too. I checked the oil level again this morning to find it had gone very high again. Am I correct in guessing that the head gasket has blown and there is water leaking into the sump? Also, the car had a new head gasket only 5000 miles ago. Is it normal for them to blow so regularly? And finally, where can I get a good quality head gasket set from for a 1600? The last one I got was from Rimmerbros but if there is a better one around, a push in the right direction would be much appreciated. Cheers Mark

Ok, checked the relay and everything is nice and clean and working as it should. I took the solenoid out of the OD and connnected it back up to the terminals/wires. Flicking the dash switch with the ignition on had the solenoid clicking in and out as it should. OD will still engage normally but refuses to disengage. Any other thoughts on what could be wrong?

Hi everyone, i'm hoping you can give me some help as i'm stumped... The car is a 65 Vitesse running a reconditioned Dolomite 1850 gearbox and J type overdrive. My problems started not long after the new gearbox was installed. The overdrive would engage and disengage perfectly but about 6 months ago it did slip in and out of overdrive all by itself a few times. After this one off occurrence it settled down and all has been normal, until a fortnight ago. I went to use it and the overdrive engaged perfectly, but wouldn't disengage. After a while it popped out and then it wouldn't engage at all. Using the wisdom on here, I checked the electrics and topped up the gearbox oil to find all was in order. I then tested the solenoid and found it wasn't working at all now. I have since replaced the solenoid with a brand new one and now the overdrive will engage nicely but refuses to disengage again. I've even tried driving along with the gearbox tunnel cover off and giving it a good smack with a rubber mallet but it remains stuck on. I could tell it was still engaged because when I pushed the car backwards, the OD snagged the car and it wouldn't move backwards (yes I have read about not driving it in reverse with the OD engaged and was VERY careful). The next morning I decided to see if the OD was still engaged so I pushed the car backwards again and it didn't snag. In fact the car is once again perfectly driveable (apart from the OD which I am now reluctant to use). I can only assume that it somehow managed to disengage itself sometime during the night. I'm at a total loss and don't know all that much about the overdrives. Does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem might be? Thanks Mark

Thanks Pete. I removed the springs and got the carb needles centered and the pistons falling as best as they would go, put them on the car and you're right, they freed up nicely and were working well. Balanced them up nicely but they're running very very rich for some reason (even got black smoke from the exhaust). I took it for a drive and after about 200m it lost power and felt like it was running on 3 cylinders. I nursed it home and examined the plugs,  they're all sooty and black and no amount of turning the adjuster up to lean out the mixture seems to help. Have I missed something? Mark