17 replies to this topic

[CdnAustinAmerica]

I have a bit of a mystery, I have this clunk I can feel through the pedal when taking off from a stop, and at other times, I can feel it in the brake pedal as well sometimes when I come to a stop and the momentum shifts back. Sometimes when I change gear too. Its a '76 but it must be an early one as it has a solid mount subframe - no rubber mounts and the smaller two bolts per tower arrangement.

Both upper and lower steadies are good, engine mounts are good, rear subframe bolts are good, actually replaced all of them recently as one or two had the nuts back off, nylocs now. 

All balljoints are good, just changed the lower arms to stock ones as my adj. minispares lowers had already completely worn out, that was maddening. CVs are within a year old and fine. Cones are a year old and knuckle joints. Tie rods are good. Toeboards are not cracked either, I thoroughly checked those too.

 

I'm at a loss, it does not sound good at all!! It does not happen in the chilly weather in the morning to work but does in the afternoons now that it has warmed up.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

[nicklouse]

Top engine steady.

 

dismantle it and I bet you will find something broken.

[Earwax]

Is the clunk the back of the carb hitting the firewall - steadies might be okay but too much tilt - an adjustable one may reduce the tilt 

 

just throwing ideas out for you to negate

 

If remote gearchange check the rear rubber mount

 

if rod change ( as is more likely) maybe the rod change support bush /rubber - on diff housing  ??  Good luck

[Spider]

Sometimes you can find them by putting the car in 1st or reverse (engine off) and rocking the car back and forth while looking under the bonnet. A helper can also be useful here.

[CdnAustinAmerica]

Top engine steady.

 

dismantle it and I bet you will find something broken.

I've checked it and the bushes were fine. 

Its a minispares adjustable one, the threads were a bit loose, So I did the locking nut tight. but I've found quite a few things off with their stuff, like their adjustable tie bars - the bolts to the lower arm are too loose fitting from new. Replaced them with ones made to spec.

Is the clunk the back of the carb hitting the firewall - steadies might be okay but too much tilt - an adjustable one may reduce the tilt 

 

just throwing ideas out for you to negate

 

If remote gearchange check the rear rubber mount

 

if rod change ( as is more likely) maybe the rod change support bush /rubber - on diff housing  ??  Good luck

Its adjustable already and I've moved it as far forward as I feel comfortable

 

I'll have it on a buddy's hoist tomorrow, I'll check the support bush, thats a good idea, I replaced it dec '24 after my rebuild but these days a lot of parts are naff, so much so I know someone who's getting stuff made to his own spec. My minispares lower arms were so bad after 5 years that the balljoint was proud past the threads! my uppers with 250k km on them are just fine.

 

 

Sometimes you can find them by putting the car in 1st or reverse (engine off) and rocking the car back and forth while looking under the bonnet. A helper can also be useful here.

Thanks I've done that but it wouldn't replicate without the engine running, had them stand next to it on an incline (with the hood open) while I launched it in first and rolled back a few times, nothing conclusive

 

Could it somehow be the rack? Do the inner tie rods make noise under load somehow? I think the bushes are ok, I levered on the rack arms (? the bit in between the inner and outer tie rods/track rods) 

 

It sounds very similar to years back when I had the engine steady bushes go bad, switched to the one piece bushes after snd they last longer.

 

Thanks for all the advice. Open to any other suggestions, when I find a solution/answer I'll post it here, hopefully that will help someone else in the future.

[miniGTS]

Check the nuts on the U-bolts holding the steering rack.

[Spider]

Could it somehow be the rack? Do the inner tie rods make noise under load somehow? I think the bushes are ok, I levered on the rack arms (? the bit in between the inner and outer tie rods/track rods) 

 

Yes, most definitely. There's a Bush in the passenger's end of the rack. When they go, they do make a clunk, when powering on, on braking and bumpy roads.

When you jack up the passenger's front wheel, and rock the wheel back and forth on the 9 / 3 O'Clock, it may not make the sound, but you'll feel considerable free play. Just be sure not to confuse any movement though, with flex in the toeboard,

Another possible source of the noise is cracking in the floor / toeboard around the subframe mounts.
 

[CdnAustinAmerica]

 

Could it somehow be the rack? Do the inner tie rods make noise under load somehow? I think the bushes are ok, I levered on the rack arms (? the bit in between the inner and outer tie rods/track rods) 

 

Yes, most definitely. There's a Bush in the passenger's end of the rack. When they go, they do make a clunk, when powering on, on braking and bumpy roads.

When you jack up the passenger's front wheel, and rock the wheel back and forth on the 9 / 3 O'Clock, it may not make the sound, but you'll feel considerable free play. Just be sure not to confuse any movement though, with flex in the toeboard,

Another possible source of the noise is cracking in the floor / toeboard around the subframe mounts.
 

 

 

So the left side? Mine is LHD so I guess the driver's side for me. Nothing over rough roads really just off and on the power mostly or low speed, or I can't hear it at speed.

 

I checked the toeboards throughly.

[CdnAustinAmerica]

Check the nuts on the U-bolts holding the steering rack.

They seemed tight

[Spider]

So the left side? Mine is LHD so I guess the driver's side for me. Nothing over rough roads really just off and on the power mostly or low speed, or I can't hear it at speed.

 

I checked the toeboards throughly.

 

 

 

I say 'passenger's side' as I didn't know if yours was RHD or LHD. Passenger's side is just that. In your case, the Right Front Wheel.
 

[Earwax]

you mentioned the tie rod bars  - recheck the bushes? - the softer ones can perish BUT the Poly type ones can crumble ? ( looks okay but rubbish internally)

[bpirie1000]

Check under the drivers seat for a bottle... rolling back and forth as you accelerate....

[CdnAustinAmerica]

you mentioned the tie rod bars  - recheck the bushes? - the softer ones can perish BUT the Poly type ones can crumble ? ( looks okay but rubbish internally)

They're good, just replaced them a month ago with better adjustable ones, still checked them last week when I swapped to Cooper steering arms, one of mine had worn out

[CdnAustinAmerica]

Potential update - even though they were tight, the lower front subframe bolts were gacked - the thread was mostly gone, mine are unusual as it is a late Canadian Mini with the funky bumpers - they're much longer than standard. So even if they look/seem tight, take them out and check if you're having the same issue.

Had to take them out to take off the Canadian bumper uprights - its the bumper that goes across the grille - to fix a short that turned out to be from another canadian part - my turn signals had shorted internally. I can show photos is anyone is curious, you'd find them ugly but its a perfect tool/parts shelf when working on it. 

[Earwax]

thanks for the update