× 1-800-946-2642 Home My Account Social / Forum Articles Contact My Cart
Shop Now
Select Your Car Type Sale Items Clearance Items New Items
 

 Correct Engine Stabilizer Adjustment

 Created by: Rosebud
   Forum Width:     Forum Type: 

 Posted: Aug 18, 2017 04:11PM
Total posts: 8382
Last post: Jan 13, 2022
Member since:Feb 7, 2006
Cars in Garage: 0
Photos: 0
WorkBench Posts: 0
Maybe you are feeling the harshness of the heim joints. I notice it when i drive a Mini with all poly joints installed as apposed to the usual rubber, i can only imagine how harsh a heim jointed Mini would be for road use.
Try converting the upper one to a normal rubber set up or the factory stabilizer on the side of the block to rubber joints, a lot of owners run poly on the engine side and rubber on the bulkhead side.
You could also try disconnecting the two lower ones to see if it changes things.

If in doubt, flat out. Colin Mc Rae MBE 1968-2007.

Give a car more power and it goes faster on the straights,
make a car lighter and it's faster everywhere. Colin Chapman.

 Posted: Aug 18, 2017 02:30PM
Total posts: 1368
Last post: Jul 20, 2023
Member since:Jul 15, 2008
Cars in Garage: 0
Photos: 117
WorkBench Posts: 1
US
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Moffet

Try this: with the bonnet open, the engine and handbrake off and the transmission in gear (probably 1st or 2nd so the engine does not crank), push and pull on the slam panel, trying to move the car back and forth. There will be some gear slack to take up, but once it does, the torque against the crank will try to rock the engine. This method applies more torque than you could trying to rock the engine by hand. Observe what happens.  The engine should not rock at all.
I checked everything I could think of for any looseness. It all seemed fine. I rocked the car back and forth in gear as Dan suggested and didn't see any movement of the engine. I shortened up the 3 engine stabilizers by a ¼ inch or so. Although they were plenty tight before, they're even tighter now. That seems to have helped some. The drivetrain slack I think I'm experiencing isn't associated with any sound or clunk. It feels well dampened, but seems excessive to me.

It could be just my imagination and it's possible that I'm simply unfamiliar with how much drivetrain play is normal for a Mini. The last manual transmissions I have owned were a late model 911 (no perceptible drivetrain play) and a 50 year old VW Type II Double Cab (Play? Who cares?). Stay tuned... I'll soon have some other phantom issue to obsess over.

 

Michael, Santa Barbara, CA

. . . the sled, not the flower

      Poser MotorSports

 Posted: Aug 16, 2017 12:44PM
Total posts: 10232
Last post: Mar 26, 2024
Member since:Mar 24, 1999
Cars in Garage: 0
Photos: 0
WorkBench Posts: 0
GB
Even with a standard engine steady, you shouldn't get excessive rock or jolting as described.  With three, you should be rock solid.

Something else is loose.

 Posted: Aug 16, 2017 12:43PM
Total posts: 9528
Last post: Mar 27, 2024
Member since:Aug 14, 2002
Cars in Garage: 0
Photos: 0
WorkBench Posts: 0
CA
Not sure about adjustable ones, but stock ones with rubber bushings - hard rubber - don't move at all. The adjustables shouldn't either, IMHO. There should be no play, especially with heim joints. The adjustments are intended to tilt the engine a little bit, twisting against the engine mounts to ensure the carb etc. does no contact the firewall.

Try this: with the bonnet open, the engine and handbrake off and the transmission in gear (probably 1st or 2nd so the engine does not crank), push and pull on the slam panel, trying to move the car back and forth. There will be some gear slack to take up, but once it does, the torque against the crank will try to rock the engine. This method applies more torque than you could trying to rock the engine by hand. Observe what happens.  The engine should not rock at all.

Note the steadies may be fine but the firewall brackets, especially the stock ones near cylinder 4 are prone to failure.

On my car, the lower one had come lose (lousy welds followed by bodged lousy welds) and the dogbone end was supported by only the large bolt-on top plate (with the heater hose openings/ master cylinders on a righty). The stress caused metal fatigue, eventually tearing a larger hole in the plate. I found this while trying to solve a "cric" or "clunk" sound in the passenger foot-well - without the engine steady doing its job, the on/off power torque of the engine was causing the subframe (and possibly the whole front clip) to flex. The tail end of the subframe was flexing the floor, causing a metal fatigue crack to form in the floor pan.

Once you confirm that the engine steadies are not moving  (or fix them) , move on to the engine mounts, making sure they are intact. If so, check that the subframe is properly secured.

.

"Hang on a minute lads....I've got a great idea."

 Posted: Aug 16, 2017 11:07AM
Total posts: 1368
Last post: Jul 20, 2023
Member since:Jul 15, 2008
Cars in Garage: 0
Photos: 117
WorkBench Posts: 1
US
I've always had what I consider to be too much movement in the front end. I went searching for the cause and discovered my ball joints needed replacing. That solved, I still have to take up drivetrain slack during hard acceleration and deceleration to avoid an alarming jolt. Everything else is tight without excessive play.

Rosebud has three (3) aluminum aftermarket engine stabilizers fitted with heim joints; one (1) at the top-left of the engine and two (2) on the left and right lower part of the engine. These stabilizers seem tight enough but I thought I'd try getting them a bit tighter. Here's my question: Is there a correct method of tightening them? In other words, should they be pulled tight, or pushed tight? It there a correct pattern of tightening them; i.e. top one pushed and the bottom ones pulled, or perhaps the reverse? Am I being obsessive again? Never mind answering the 2nd question. I think I know the answer to that one.

 

Michael, Santa Barbara, CA

. . . the sled, not the flower

      Poser MotorSports