• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

New member needs some help......

Share this page

M

Marcus

Freshman Member
Offline
Hey There,

I am a new member and really excited to have found this forum. I am the son of a british sportscar nut - my father has owned MG's and Jaguars since before I was born and has passed his love of these classic cars onto me. My father is the happy new owner of his dream car - a 1962 Austin Healey 3000 MkII Triple Carb. He has talked about this car since I was a little boy and finally pulled the trigger on a seemingly pristine Healey Blue 3000 ................ until he got it home.

A little history:

This was a Florida car, body is in great shape, I personally detailed it for him and the body/chrome are in great shape. Interior is original, we think, also in fantastic shape - the seats were bolted to the floor - my father had this changed and new rails went in no problem. The engine is in really great shape mechanically, no drips anywhere! The engine bay also shows rather well, obviously the previous owner replaced what was needed as there are some new parts in there. The transmission and steering is where the problems are, First gear presents a whining sound, once in second, no noise - lots of power! The steering wheel has a good amount of play in it, this is kind of discomforting and something that needs attention.

I was hoping someone here might have a suggestion for me to relay to him before he starts throwing good money at the wrong problem. I will try to help as much as I can.

Thank you and I look foward to learning as much as I can from this exciting forum!
 
It would be helpful to know the mileage on the car, if it is known to you.
For the steering, first check and see if the steering box and idler have sufficient lubrication. It uses hypoid 90.
Not sure about the tranny. Again it depends on mileage. If the other gears are quiet, you may be ok for awhile. Lots of us seldom use first gear anyway. It is perfectly alright to start off in second most of the time. I would drain and refill the tranny as a first step though. I use Redline MT90, others 30 wt. oil. When you drain the oil, look at the screen or oil pump strainer to see if there are metal shavings or other debrie.
 
marcus, congrats to you and your dad on the healey, the trans problem is difficult to make a guess on since im not able to hear feel nor drive the car, it may be something you could live with for a while but theres no easy fix its going to have to come out eventually, as for the steering they are adjustable/rebuildable depending on how far gone the internals are, are you going to do this work yourself? if so buy the shop manuals, you can search our archives for answers to both your questions, if your going to let someone else do the work ask on this forum if theres anyone in your area both familiar with healeys, reasonably priced, and trust worthy, again congrates. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/savewave.gif
 
Marcus,
Ed_K will probably check in with you on the forum. He is located in Raleigh. I am at the coast in NC, but we do get together frequently and will be glad to help. There is a big British Car Show in Raleigh on the 19th of May. Why don't you and your father come over to the show and we can brainstorm on fixes for the car.
Charlie
 
As mentioned above, its difficult to quantify gear noise without hearing it, but a "singing" first gear is not uncommon in British cars from that era, often due to first being straight-cut while others are helical.
Could also be due to wear, of course.
Simon.
 
Coastalman said:
Marcus,
Ed_K will probably check in with you on the forum. He is located in Raleigh. I am at the coast in NC, but we do get together frequently and will be glad to help. There is a big British Car Show in Raleigh on the 19th of May. Why don't you and your father come over to the show and we can brainstorm on fixes for the car.
Charlie
Click to expand...

I would love to come, where is the show?????? I live in Raliegh, my parents still live in Pittsburgh but I would love to come anyway and discuss and see the show!

I have lived her for 10 years and didn't know thre was a show! Very cool!!
 
Hi Marcus, Noise in the gear box associated with first gear only, usually points to; 1] worn lay shaft,2] worn lay shaft bearings or 3] the First gear on the lay gear itself is worn. To properly access this will require removal and tear down of the gear box.

Regarding the steering. the steering box has an adjustment on the top of it which may take the slop out. End play in the worm gear/steering shaft, if present , is reduced by shimming the bottom cover of the box. I hope the info will help.---Fwiw--Keoke
 
Hi Marcus,

Others are already giving you good info about your problems. 1st gear is the only one that is not synchronized so it makes a whining noise unlike 2nd through 4th. The steering box may be dry and may also need to be adjusted for excessive play.
As Charlie said, you and your dad should come to the classic British car show being put on by our local NCMGCC at Brier Creek on May 19th. Here is a link with info and a map, https://ncmgcarclub.org/car_show_2007_2.pdf
It is right across Lumley road from BJ's .
Charlie and I will both be there and we can discuss your
difficulties. We can also take you for a ride in one of our cars so you can see if the normal noise from 1st gear in our cars is what you have been hearing as well.
Welcome to the forum and PM me if you need anything before then.
Ed
 
Back
Top