MTFCA Forum

We have a newly acquired car in the South Jersey T Tinkers, with a ticking sound coming from the transmission, that has all of us stumped. While driving it, any time the low pedal is depressed partially, a loud clicking /ticking sound happens.

To isolate where the noise was coming from, we removed the access cover from the hogshead and towed the car with a rope, engine off. Under 3 mph, clutch plates released, no sound. Over that, the sound began and gained volume as we pulled faster.

It’s definitely not a sound traveling up from the rear and the sound is not there while driving the car under power. It’s only when coasting and the clutch is open.

We will be pulling this engine out in November as a shop gang event and certainly get to the bottom of it at that time, but it’s a shame that the guy will loose the whole summer enjoying this car. We’re leaning towards just driving it as is until then. Any thoughts?

One possible cause that we came up with is that someone assembled the clutch stack with a small disc in there first, rather than a large and it’s snagging on the casting.

Any indication that the clicking RPM'S coincide with the engine RPM's?

Some 60 years ago I put my first transmission together not knowing you had to line up the timing marks on the tripple gears. I some how got it together. When I first drove it, there was a ticking noise when ever low band was engaged. I continued to drive it for several years. I had to pull the engine for another issue and also disassembled the transmission and lined up the timing marks and it just fell into place. No more ticking noise.

Look @ the clutch release fingers. The outer sections could be hitting inside the H/H or the clutch release arm shaft.
Had this same issue twice on customers fresh rebuilds. Sounded like a tick or dull knock. Look carefully for evidence of a lite rub mark.
That area is especially tight in an early T. The set screws holding the release arms to the shaft & the larger 3 finger adjusting screw bosses.
It took some "just so" adjusting to get consistent clearances. Its generally from the fingers having too much clearance/movement.
Try just a little parking brake handle back to take up some of the slack in the linkage as a test.

Friend recently had a similar ticking sound, similar to low pedal et. as you described. Except that there was and loud bang now & then.
Pulled the hogshead and we could see some shine on the magneto coil cores. He pulled the engine and after investigation the magneto ring was on a very slight slant causing it to hit the magnets ever so lightly causing the ticking. The current shims were way off.

With an unknown ticking, I would not drive it until the problem is found. It could be a loose part that is making slight contact with something else. The last thing you want is for that slight contact to become full contact with several parts resulting in catastrophic failure and a transmission bay full of scrap metal. Good luck.

You could try a stethoscope to narrow the location around the H/H.
Front - magnet keeper.
Clutch shaft - for fingers hitting.
Back - for transmitted rear end noise.

TRDxB2. ..... Possible 3rd main bearing cap end flange babbit is needing replacement. ??

Moxie26 wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 15, 2024 2:07 pm

TRDxB2. ..... Possible 3rd main bearing cap end flange babbit is needing replacement. ??

Haven't checked back with him. Said there were other issues but didn't ask. He just got another transmission + this weekend etc from Bob's (FATMAN) Antique Auto Parts on the way to Minneapolis

ALSO this T and been recently purchased and appeared to have some "quick" fixes, weak coils too. Issues were found when trying to get it started. Inspection pan dropped, head off nothing else found , yet .

Before I lost a flywheel magnet keeper i had just such a ticking noise. It only took a couple of miles for it to become a clunk!

Allan from down under.

My 26 TT had a clicking sound before I rebuilt it. I thought it was a valve issue....but....they checked out OK....
The cause was a loose magnet keeper bolt, where the plate was loose enough such that as it rotated around the coils the plate was flip flopping with the changing polarity making the click noise, but worse, it was slowly wearing down the metal centers of the coil.
Thankfully I decided to pull the engine at that point....as Allan states, it was on borrowed time to worse catastrophe...

You mentioned the car was newly acquired. Was it bought before it was driven? The previous owner might or might not have known about the clicking noise. If I was in the market to buy a running T I would want to drive it and listen to the engine. Maybe the previous owner could have some insight about the ticking sound from the transmission. It wouldn’t hurt to ask about it.

The car was bought off of a flipper who knew very little about the car. The sound isn’t related to crankshaft rotation, as we reproduced the noise by towing the car, with the cover off and the engine not running. The ticking coincides with the rotation of the brake drum and only while the clutch is released ( discs apart ). We initially expected an issue with the clutch finger settings but found it to be spot on with a 13/16th gap tool. Non of the fingers show any signs of impact.

Also, while driving it, either on low pedal, reverse pedal or high, it makes no ticking and works perfectly. Only when coasting and clutched.

I once had a D/S inner bearing sleeve shatter & take out the roller bearing also.. The noise sounded like it was in the transmission. I would have sworn it was a transmission problem. It made the worst noise on deceleration, especially going down hill. No noise on acceleration. The pinion was skipping over the ring gear.
Another place to consider. You might be able to detect by looking @ the ring gear teeth thru the filler plug. Stick a magnet in the grease looking for loose metal bits.

We sucked oil out of the rear and it looked very normal

Universal Joint.

Jerry, the U-joint is pretty high on my list of suspected causes also!

I agree to check the u joint. I blew a u-joint a couple of years ago while on a tour. It was always quiet and never a problem. I greased it often. That day it was quiet as usual. I came to a stop sign and stopped as usual but when I pressed the low gear pedal, it didn't move and made loud grinding noise. When we took it apart the u-joint was in about 8 pieces.
The grease cup on the u joint in this car (it's the larger one) has a zerk fitting in it but I never really knew how much to grease it, but I always seemed to put plenty in it. A couple weeks after this happened, I asked Dean Yoder, the drivingist T guy there is at this time, and he said "keeping pumping grease in until it comes out around the ball joint. Of course, one should also fill the u joint cavity by hand completely full of grease before installation in the car. Dean's comments are words to the wise. Thank you Dean!

Keith

I agree with Jerry Van - Check the U-joint. We just dealt with that issue in a friend's car.

https://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/sear ... rsal+joint. Snyder's has new !..... Possible excessive clearance in rear axle due to worn thrust washers?.... sounds travel.

Oldav8tor wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 16, 2024 4:56 pm

I agree with Jerry Van - Check the U-joint. We just dealt with that issue in a friend's car.
Diff_Bkn.jpg

Hmmm... looks familiar.

Any news???