Introduction and some trouble shooting questions

[torlief]

Hello all, I am very excited that I recently purchased a 73 Verona to replace my other 73 Verona that is a project car I will never complete. ( I will be listing the shell and parts on here soon) The car I just bought is in good shape and has had some recent work done to it including new weber, new radiator, new brake booster and new elec ignition. I just installed new carpet and some beautiful seats that I have had for a while. I have put about 50 miles on the car so far and have some trouble shooting questions I would love some help with. 

 

-The engine starts immediately and runs very quiet, but when I let the clutch out (not in gear) if makes a metallic whining sound. Im thinking throwout bearing?

-The trans in general is very noisy. Alot more metallic whining when I am driving it. Also it feels very hard to shift into 3rd or 4th without a split second of grind as its going in. And it is also hard to shift it into reverse, I really have to push hard to get it to pop into gear.  I have a 5 speed that I am going to eventually install but I wasnt planning on doing that until winter when its off the road so I am wondering if there is something I can do now to help or are these all signs of a worn and tired trans? (I can post some videos if that would help)

-There is a clunk (which I can feel) that happens at low speed and seems to be coming from the right front of the car. I wiggled the wheel and nothing feels loose. I am going to throw it on a lift in the next few days, any thoughts what would be look and clunking around? (Haha I know thats vague)

 

Thanks much for any help!

Cheers

Travis

PS: I am in the Albany NY area and would love to meet some other 2002 owners around these parts. 

[Son of Marty]

When you have her on the lift drain the trans and look for metal flakes or bits, loosen the fill plug before draining so you know it will come out when it's time to refill, also grab the drive shaft and twist it back and forth to make sure the output flange is tight. 

As for the clunk make sure the shock gland nut is tight and the strut bearing is also tight, it may be as simple as the spring not seated in the upper and lower spring perch not being aliened and seated corectly.

[tzei]

Does g/box have oil in it? Check gear change lever support parts - should be firm.

 

Is brake caliber loose? Strut leaking oil? Strut collar nut tight? Strut upper mount ded?

[jimk]

1 hour ago, torlief said:

Im thinking throwout bearing?

That bearing only turns when the clutch pedal is depressed.

 

1 hour ago, torlief said:

There is a clunk (which I can feel) that happens at low speed and seems to be coming from the right front of the car.

Clunk can be from a loose gland nut on the strut.  The strut insert is slammed up and down with a loose gland nut when the suspension moves up and down and causes a clunk.

[Preyupy]

If you are hearing wine from your gearbox in neutral and the box is noisy when you are driving most likely you have a counter shaft bearing that is failing.  There are gear wear issues that follow along with that and it sounds like the synchronizers are going as well.  You may want to start thinking about installing the 5 speed sooner rather than later.  

 

Make sure it has oil in it and be nice to it for it's last few miles.  

[torlief]

Thanks for all this! I will do some investigating and figuring in the next few days when I get it on the lift. I didn’t even occur to me the trans could be dry but I will def check! I really hope I can get this trans to give me a season of driving. I will also check for those clunk tips as well. Cheers!

 

[Mike Self]

Also check the bolts (and their metalastic mounts) that hold the shift linkage bracket to the tranny.  If the bolts are loose, or the mounts have turned into black goo, that will make shifting difficult.  

 

But from your description, it sounds like your gearbox is getting close to its use-by date.  The suggestion to drain the oil and check for metallic chunks is a good one.  And although your car is a late enough model, if the tranny is from an earlier car, there was a problem with the ball bearing failure on the countershaft  that were later changed for tapered roller bearings.  

 

Keep us posted...

 

mike

[torlief]

Ok finally found some time to do some trouble shooting. Figured out the clunk sound, It was a fairly large stone that was stuck inside the brake rotor behind the caliper. at certain times it would get stuck in a way that made something bind in there and make an awful sound. Glad that was a simple issue.

 

Drained the trans oil and man it does not look good. Very greenish grey. No chunks on the drain plug but a fair amount of metallic goop it seems. I put in fresh redline MTL and took it for a quick spin. Overall it sounds quieter but not a lot quieter and that whine is still there. Would it be helpful to put some sort of tran repair oil from Lucas in or am I grasping at straws with a dying transmission?

[TobyB]

Thicker oil will make it quieter.

 

But nothing puts the metal back onto the bearings and races.

 

Use 4th gear as much as you can.

 

t