vibrating mk5 FINALLY fixed

[brightorangeGT 1]

Finally, after two and half years of trying to locate and fix this problem I've succeeded. The problem all along, was the polyurethane bushes in the rear suspension. When I was converting it from automatic to manual, I decided that while it was off the road, and while I was waiting for parts for the conversion to arrive, I changed the bushes for polyurethane ones - fit and forget - I thought. Thats why after a short while, I thought there was a problem with the 5 speed I put in. So I replaced it with a 4 speed, still the vibrating was there. I then turned my attention to the prop, and had it sent away and reconditioned and rebalanced. Still the vibrating was there - in fourth gear at around 40 mph. I replaced engine and gear box mounts; rear springs and shocks; exhaust system and crawled under and moved/altered the alignment of the prop and g/box mount and spacers so many times I lost count. I then decided it was the axle ratio, so out came the axle and in went one with a different ratio -3.78 - NO VIBRATION - but that axle I paid £75 for was CRAP, so had to come out. Back in went the original, and back came the vibrating!!!! Then it occurred to me to take a look at the bushes. I recalled having to use a jack to force the front lower arm into place, and that they were such a tight fit (Deflex) Which I will never use again, in fact I think this is one Mk5 that doesnt want poly bushes anywhere near its rear end!! Its not perfect, but thats because there are still two poly bushes on top of the axle which Ill remove at sometime. Ive taken out all the other poly bushes and replaced with rubber ones. I am so happy......!!!!

[btboy 50]

Blimey! Must have you driven you mad. Thanks for posting as I was in two minds to poly my latest project but think I'll stick to good old rubber!

[Mackylad 3]

Well done you! I must admit,i toyed with the idea of polybushing mine too,as you say,fit & forget. I think i'll just not bother now after that saga. Hopefully you'll get some well deserved enjoyable motoring done now that it's sorted.

[dgo 80]

Can't help but ask you to look very carefully. Do the rubber bushes just hide the problem? Many similar problems are due to alignment.or centre bearing.

Ford's workshop manual has different ways of sorting the centre bearing issue. Could the axle swap have sorted this?

Anyway good to hear you're sorted for now.

[brightorangeGT 1]

Can't help but ask you to look very carefully. Do the rubber bushes just hide the problem? Many similar problems are due to alignment.or centre bearing.

Ford's workshop manual has different ways of sorting the centre bearing issue. Could the axle swap have sorted this?

Anyway good to hear you're sorted for now.

I think the situation with MY - automatic to manually converted mk5 cortina 2 ltr is that it doesnt want poly bushes with THAT 3.45 ratio axle! Because why else did the vibrating dissapear as soon as I drove it up the road with the 3.78 ratio axle yet return with the original 3.45? Im not very clever mathematically so cant go into all the technicallities of axle ratios all I know is the vibrating has GONE!!. The axle I put in had other serious issues and was undriveable so had to come out. The car is actually better handling with rubber bushes; smoother; less harsh over bumps and a lot more stable at motorway speeds. I did fiddle around with the centre bearing several times altering and chopping and changing the angle but underneath it all looked just the same as my mk3 which has mk5 running gear so decided this area was not the problem. At one point I even bought a small camera to fit underneath to record what the merry hell was going on!! I have a mk3 which has poly bushes ( Ive just taken it off the road for restoration - thing is got no money to do it but thats another story!!) but they'll come out and rubber ones will go back in. I think different people will have different experiences with poly bushes. In my opinion the only places I would use them on mk 3 4 and 5 Cortinas are on the front roll bar; front suspension subframe; link bushes - and possibly tie bar bushes. No where else. And then I would only get Superflex which I think are the original and best; and probably the most expensive too. And yes at times this was driving me quite, quite, MAD!!!! But I couldnt stop myself. I had to find the problem and fix it even if it meant crawling underneath in below freezing conditions over Christmas!!

[dgo 80]

Can't help but ask you to look very carefully. Do the rubber bushes just hide the problem? Many similar problems are due to alignment.or centre bearing.

Ford's workshop manual has different ways of sorting the centre bearing issue. Could the axle swap have sorted this?

Anyway good to hear you're sorted for now.

I think the situation with MY - automatic to manually converted mk5 cortina 2 ltr is that it doesnt want poly bushes with THAT 3.45 ratio axle! Because why else did the vibrating dissapear as soon as I drove it up the road with the 3.78 ratio axle yet return with the original 3.45? Im not very clever mathematically so cant go into all the technicallities of axle ratios all I know is the vibrating has GONE!!. The axle I put in had other serious issues and was undriveable so had to come out. The car is actually better handling with rubber bushes; smoother; less harsh over bumps and a lot more stable at motorway speeds. I did fiddle around with the centre bearing several times altering and chopping and changing the angle but underneath it all looked just the same as my mk3 which has mk5 running gear so decided this area was not the problem. At one point I even bought a small camera to fit underneath to record what the merry hell was going on!! I have a mk3 which has poly bushes ( Ive just taken it off the road for restoration - thing is got no money to do it but thats another story!!) but they'll come out and rubber ones will go back in. I think different people will have different experiences with poly bushes. In my opinion the only places I would use them on mk 3 4 and 5 Cortinas are on the front roll bar; front suspension subframe; link bushes - and possibly tie bar bushes. No where else. And then I would only get Superflex which I think are the original and best; and probably the most expensive too. And yes at times this was driving me quite, quite, MAD!!!! But I couldnt stop myself. I had to find the problem and fix it even if it meant crawling underneath in below freezing conditions over Christmas!!

Thanks that sounds so infuriating. The reason I asked is that I have small vibration at 45mph though with rubber bushes and I'm in the process of playing centre bearing which so far I've managed to get the vibration to occur at different speeds! (Though I'm sure I have nowhere near the problem you did). Mine also changes when I fill up with petrol so must be an axle/prop angle thing somewhere...

 

Anyway great news your sorted.

[bortaf 94]

YES :winner:

sorry but i've told so many people with vibrations to get rid of the polys and rarely been believed so it's sort of confirmation for me.

oh also glad it's sorted for you :thumbup:

It's not so much the poly bush material but the change of design that causes the problems IMHO with the deflex kits they just lock everything solid in all plains, now we need to find why some dont suffer :headscratch: it seems to affect Mk3s more than Mk5's so it might be down to build qulity, i know the drive train alignment was alterd over the years because of harshness (engine lowerd, prop mount ect) so could well play a role, the Mk3 was much malined at launch for the harshness of the drive train so i'd ecpect them to suffer worse :unsure:

 

Still, glad it's sorted for ya mate :thumbup:

[bortaf 94]

Can't help but ask you to look very carefully. Do the rubber bushes just hide the problem? Many similar problems are due to alignment.or centre bearing.

Ford's workshop manual has different ways of sorting the centre bearing issue. Could the axle swap have sorted this?

Anyway good to hear you're sorted for now.

I think the situation with MY - automatic to manually converted mk5 cortina 2 ltr is that it doesnt want poly bushes with THAT 3.45 ratio axle! Because why else did the vibrating dissapear as soon as I drove it up the road with the 3.78 ratio axle yet return with the original 3.45? Im not very clever mathematically so cant go into all the technicallities of axle ratios all I know is the vibrating has GONE!!. The axle I put in had other serious issues and was undriveable so had to come out. The car is actually better handling with rubber bushes; smoother; less harsh over bumps and a lot more stable at motorway speeds. I did fiddle around with the centre bearing several times altering and chopping and changing the angle but underneath it all looked just the same as my mk3 which has mk5 running gear so decided this area was not the problem. At one point I even bought a small camera to fit underneath to record what the merry hell was going on!! I have a mk3 which has poly bushes ( Ive just taken it off the road for restoration - thing is got no money to do it but thats another story!!) but they'll come out and rubber ones will go back in. I think different people will have different experiences with poly bushes. In my opinion the only places I would use them on mk 3 4 and 5 Cortinas are on the front roll bar; front suspension subframe; link bushes - and possibly tie bar bushes. No where else. And then I would only get Superflex which I think are the original and best; and probably the most expensive too. And yes at times this was driving me quite, quite, MAD!!!! But I couldnt stop myself. I had to find the problem and fix it even if it meant crawling underneath in below freezing conditions over Christmas!!

Thanks that sounds so infuriating. The reason I asked is that I have small vibration at 45mph though with rubber bushes and I'm in the process of playing centre bearing which so far I've managed to get the vibration to occur at different speeds! (Though I'm sure I have nowhere near the problem you did). Mine also changes when I fill up with petrol so must be an axle/prop angle thing somewhere...

 

Anyway great news your sorted.

 

lowerd at all? rear UJs vibrate a lot when the diff pinion moves with wieght in the rear, or rather doesn't move with polys, gets worse the more you lower or weight up the rear, when i first polyd my Mk5 i couldn't carry 3 in the rear cos of the rear UJ vibration, sounded like the prop was hitting the floor if i pulled away hard !

[ian27 1]

YES :winner:

sorry but i've told so many people with vibrations to get rid of the polys and rarely been believed so it's sort of confirmation for me.

oh also glad it's sorted for you :thumbup:

It's not so much the poly bush material but the change of design that causes the problems IMHO with the deflex kits they just lock everything solid in all plains, now we need to find why some dont suffer :headscratch: it seems to affect Mk3s more than Mk5's so it might be down to build qulity, i know the drive train alignment was alterd over the years because of harshness (engine lowerd, prop mount ect) so could well play a role, the Mk3 was much malined at launch for the harshness of the drive train so i'd ecpect them to suffer worse :unsure:

 

Still, glad it's sorted for ya mate :thumbup:

Rob....I'm one of the guilty ones that should have listened to you about poly's....those bloody bushes ruined my car but I never believed it.

Oh well...sold it now!!!

[nogE 91]

:headscratch: as dgo says...we may just be hiding the a problem and blaming the poly bushes....but robs idea does make sense too, changing the design of things by adding poly bushes when all was designed for using rubber therefore movement is restricted.....also rob says .....we need to ask or fine out why some dont suffer....mine being one of them....i,m poly bushed through the whole car..95%deflex and a couple of superflex {rear anti roll bar and rear coil top hats}...the diff pinion alignment and prop was an issue for me too ...getting terrible vibrations at 35-40mph...but prop was rechecked for ware and ballanced and diff nose straighend ....all fantastic now .....

[bortaf 94]

YES :winner:

sorry but i've told so many people with vibrations to get rid of the polys and rarely been believed so it's sort of confirmation for me.

oh also glad it's sorted for you :thumbup:

It's not so much the poly bush material but the change of design that causes the problems IMHO with the deflex kits they just lock everything solid in all plains, now we need to find why some dont suffer :headscratch: it seems to affect Mk3s more than Mk5's so it might be down to build qulity, i know the drive train alignment was alterd over the years because of harshness (engine lowerd, prop mount ect) so could well play a role, the Mk3 was much malined at launch for the harshness of the drive train so i'd ecpect them to suffer worse :unsure:

 

Still, glad it's sorted for ya mate :thumbup:

Rob....I'm one of the guilty ones that should have listened to you about poly's....those bloody bushes ruined my car but I never believed it.

Oh well...sold it now!!!

 

err ?? no mate sorry just a general YES :unsure:

TBH untill i saw gary last week i thought you were a differant IAN cos you never had an XL :oops:

[ian27 1]

YES :winner:

sorry but i've told so many people with vibrations to get rid of the polys and rarely been believed so it's sort of confirmation for me.

oh also glad it's sorted for you :thumbup:

It's not so much the poly bush material but the change of design that causes the problems IMHO with the deflex kits they just lock everything solid in all plains, now we need to find why some dont suffer :headscratch: it seems to affect Mk3s more than Mk5's so it might be down to build qulity, i know the drive train alignment was alterd over the years because of harshness (engine lowerd, prop mount ect) so could well play a role, the Mk3 was much malined at launch for the harshness of the drive train so i'd ecpect them to suffer worse :unsure:

 

Still, glad it's sorted for ya mate :thumbup:

Rob....I'm one of the guilty ones that should have listened to you about poly's....those bloody bushes ruined my car but I never believed it.

Oh well...sold it now!!!

 

err ?? no mate sorry just a general YES :unsure:

TBH untill i saw gary last week i thought you were a differant IAN cos you never had an XL :oops:

now i'm confused!!! you must remember my green xl Rob....

[sheffieldcortinacentre 759]

i've only ever used superflex & then only on axle end & never had any probs, only found people haveing probs when fiting all 8 .

 

also had probs with other makes & models fitted with inferior quality polys esp deflex/floflex wether in fit or use.

[nogE 91]

YES :winner:

sorry but i've told so many people with vibrations to get rid of the polys and rarely been believed so it's sort of confirmation for me.

oh also glad it's sorted for you :thumbup:

It's not so much the poly bush material but the change of design that causes the problems IMHO with the deflex kits they just lock everything solid in all plains, now we need to find why some dont suffer :headscratch: it seems to affect Mk3s more than Mk5's so it might be down to build qulity, i know the drive train alignment was alterd over the years because of harshness (engine lowerd, prop mount ect) so could well play a role, the Mk3 was much malined at launch for the harshness of the drive train so i'd ecpect them to suffer worse :unsure:

 

Still, glad it's sorted for ya mate :thumbup:

Rob....I'm one of the guilty ones that should have listened to you about poly's....those bloody bushes ruined my car but I never believed it.

Oh well...sold it now!!!

 

err ?? no mate sorry just a general YES :unsure:

TBH untill i saw gary last week i thought you were a differant IAN cos you never had an XL :oops:

now i'm confused!!! you must remember my green xl Rob....

:rofl: :rofl: you two are funny :thumbup:

[bortaf 94]

YES :winner:

sorry but i've told so many people with vibrations to get rid of the polys and rarely been believed so it's sort of confirmation for me.

oh also glad it's sorted for you :thumbup:

It's not so much the poly bush material but the change of design that causes the problems IMHO with the deflex kits they just lock everything solid in all plains, now we need to find why some dont suffer :headscratch: it seems to affect Mk3s more than Mk5's so it might be down to build qulity, i know the drive train alignment was alterd over the years because of harshness (engine lowerd, prop mount ect) so could well play a role, the Mk3 was much malined at launch for the harshness of the drive train so i'd ecpect them to suffer worse :unsure:

 

Still, glad it's sorted for ya mate :thumbup:

Rob....I'm one of the guilty ones that should have listened to you about poly's....those bloody bushes ruined my car but I never believed it.

Oh well...sold it now!!!

 

err ?? no mate sorry just a general YES :unsure:

TBH untill i saw gary last week i thought you were a differant IAN cos you never had an XL :oops:

now i'm confused!!! you must remember my green xl Rob....

 

 

Yes but on here it says you have a GT so i thought you was a differant Ian :lol: