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1966 122 w/ M40 approx. 180K
A couple of days ago after downshifting to 2nd and letting out clutch, a couple of clunks could be heard that seemed to originate below the passenger firewall. After stopping I revved the engine to see if it was exhaust or engine related but all seemed fine. Several more runs through the gears were without incident. Later upon accellerating in 2nd a breif squawk came from the passenger footwell area. Again at least a dozen more runs through the gears were fine. Then after shifting into 2nd during a right turn onto a steep hill there were a series of 3 or 4 clunks from the floor board area.
I got under the car once home and found three of the four front driveshaft bolts could be turned by hand. They were snugged up and the car taken for a test drive. Although there were no major unusual noises during the two mile test drive, I though I could detect a bit more vibration through the gas pedal when in 2nd than when in any other gear.
While under the car I noted that all three of the U joints seem to make a little bit of clicking noise when the driveshaft was rotated quickly one way and then the other. Also the rearmost U joint was pretty rusty looking. Before taking the test drive the rearmost U joint got a healthy greasing thru the zerk fitting. Unfortunately that was the end of my grease supply before the other two joints could be lubricated.
There haven't been any strange noises in any gear but 2nd and the strange noises only occur at low RPM/ high torque events. Oh yeah - I am in the habit of leaving the car parked in 2nd gear and don't know if that might be contributing to the percieved 2nd gear problem.
I have a spare M40 in the shed but would appreciate any suggestions of other things to check before swapping transmissions.
Thanks,
Joe M in WV
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