Advice please - front suspension - minor maintenance?

[mudguard]

First proper blat of the year yesterday morning, through largely empty country roads in east sussex, kent and surrey, so wonderful it brought a tear to my eye, I have to admit....

Anyway, when looking over the car after the winter, I've noticed a bit of lost paint and corrosion on the front suspension - see pictures. I don't think the wheels are about to drop off or anything, but this looks like something I could tidy up by myself easily without any dismantling.

You can also see in the background of the pics that the steering linkages are not shiny. They've always been like that (it's a 14 year old car) and I've not been worrying too much about them.

So my question - what would you do? 

[simon_h]

If you mean the top ball joints I'd just brush paint a bit of black on after cleaning a bit. 

The steering arms once clean just paint or take the ends off and put on some heat shrink to cover. 

[mudguard]

Thanks - yes - top ball joints.

Will "any old" gloss black metal paint do?

[simon_h]

I suppose so. I'd probably get a spray can of satin black paint, mask it all off and blow it over tbh.

[Paul McKenzie]

Hammerite Satin Black spray - perfect match for the powder coat

[mudguard]

I used weathershield gloss, came up a treat. Decided to leave the steering arms au naturel as they shined up very nicely. 

Spent so long admiring the result that I feared I might be showing early symptoms of the incurable disease of polisheritis!

Then - a bombshell! My happy bubble was burst with a huge bang when I checked underneath the car. The underside of the gearbox is damp with oil, but not dripping. 

Oh no! - there are no circumstances under which this can not be a very bad thing! it was shifting beautifully yesterday - as always.

Thanks heavens it's still under warranty. Will call CC tomorrow.

[SM25T]

Possibly leaking from the speedo drive on the offside of the gearbox if you have this type of sender.

[mudguard]

To my (novice) eye it appears to be leaking from the gasket between the bellhousing and the gearbox. This picture shows the shininess, but what it doesn't show so well is what appear to be liquid track marks running down the end plate of the gearbox, perpendicular to the ground, just to the left of the gasket.

[John Vine]

Yes, that does look like a gasket leak.  If so, it's an engine-out job -- one for CC to fix for you. 

Other possibilities could be a leak from the gearbox lid gasket or an oil seal.

Try washing off the oil thoroughly with petrol, go for a brief blat, then have a close look when you get back.  This may help to pin down more accurately the location of the leak.

JV

[mudguard]

Thanks John. I've spoken to CC and they do want to see it, but I'll have to sit tight for a couple of weeks before a slot is available.

I take it from your suggestion that this is likely to be heat/movement related? This does seem to be the case. I left a sheet of paper under the gearbox overnight and no drips at all have appeared on it, so it seems to settle when cold. 

So next thing I'll do is warm it up and drive it, then repeat the visual and paper check. I'm reluctant to wipe the oil off because I don't want to have nothing to show CC when I take it down there!

[John Vine]

At assembly, the gasket between a 5-speed gearbox and bellhousing should be coated on both sides with a silicone sealant.  It could be that the sealant wasn't properly applied, or that the gasket was damaged in some way.  And yes, it could easily be heat/movement related.  It's also possible that the bolts holding the two together aren't tight enough!  You're not going to know until the two are separated.

From the quantity of oil you've reported, however, I wouldn't lose too much sleep -- that leak is minor, although it does need fixing.

I take it there are no leaks from the gearbox lid or filler plug?

JV 

[JonL]

I had something similar on my 1.6K which was the rear crank seal leaking (slowly) into the bellhousing and then to the outside world. Might be worth them checking when they have the engine out. I kept driving as it was a very small quantity. 

 

[mudguard]

Thanks - I'll keep driving!

I didn't notice the oil at the end of last year, and neither did CC when they serviced it. So it seems like a small, new, leak, only with heat and movement. There's probably plenty of oil left, at least for the next couple of weeks and driving it down there.

Good to have the reassurance though that it does need sorting and that I'm not sponging on CC's warranty with trivial problems. Not that an eventually-seized gearbox is a trivial problem.....

[mudguard]

Quick update on this. The sheets of paper show it's definitely not dripping when the car is sleeping on the drive, even after a blat. However, after a blat I think I can see more oil on the gearbox. So it's minor.

Still going to take it down to CC for them to look at on Monday, especially as another unrelated problem with the car has emerged 

Judging by the experience of the other couple of warranty issues I've had, I've total confidence that they'll sort these things for me.

[Nigel Riches]

Hey, look this car is assembled out of loads of old bits of  '60s, 70's, 80's perhaps '90s, components, oil leaks were "de rigueur" then, so why not relax and accept these little cars of a certain age are likely to be incontinent.

If my 1982 car didn't leak I'd be worried there wasn't any oil in it.

Nigel.

[TomB]

Indeed, I take Nigels view.  I have a drip from the gearbox drain nut and occasionally from the front of the gearbox.  Just put some cardboard down on the garage floor to collect the drips.  

[John Vine]

Well, yes.  But in an ideal world, it shouldn't leak.  So, as the car's under warranty (and no doubt the OP paid a premium price to CC to include that peace of mind), I think he's correct to be seeking CC's advice (and fix, if necessary).  And who knows, it might just be an oil seal?

JV

[mudguard]

Yes, JV. I did my homework on the price and discovered that I was paying a significant premium to CC versus PH private classifieds. As a total Seven newbie, and with little car knowledge, I was happy to pay that premium for peace of mind. 

Also I think it's at the very least fair play to let CC see the car with a problem in its early stages rather than expect them to pick up the tab for any later, more expensive consequences.

I don't care about any oil on my drive. I just care about the car and being fair to CC.

[mudguard]

A super-friendly and personable CC technician took a glance under the car when I dropped it off. After about 2 seconds he said gearbox oil seal, common problem with K's, not a biggie but does need fixing and dead easy for us to do it. Mentioned engine out job in much the same casual way as I would describe placing laundry in the washing machine. I guess if you do it every day....

As always it was a wonderful blast to get down there, tempered by an almost coming-together on a roundabout in Crawley. I've taken to routinely using the GoPro and this demonstrates that's a good idea. Fortunately the other driver noticed their mistake with plenty of time to correct it and I was applying avoidance tactics in case they didn't.

[Jonathan Kay]

Well done: I'd want it fixed.

Fortunately the other driver noticed their mistake with plenty of time to correct it and I was applying avoidance tactics in case they didn't.

What a strange line the green car took: any explanation from the layout?

Jonathan

PS: Does the 7 always sound like that on the recording? And in real life?

[John Vine]

Result!  And well done, CC.

Speaking of laundry, I trust that roundabout incident didn't add anything unpleasant to the regular load.  Good clip, though, and useful had events triggered an insurance claim.

JV

[mudguard]

The Seven sounds very strange at the moment due to the second thing CC are looking at for me, which is some sort of loud rubbing noise coming from the offside rear wheel, aligning with one wheel rotation, disappearing on jacking-up, and disappearing (sometimes) after rest. I have no idea what it is, but CC believe it's just a brake pad problem, in which case I'm happily paying for it, because all friction materials are my responsibility under the warranty. However, the pads and disks look to be in pretty good shape. That noise dominates the clip especially as I approach the give-way.

Subtracting that noise, the GoPro mic position and the tendency of its housing to resonate with the rollbar, makes the Seven sound strange through it anyway. All of its noises such as the K-rattle at certain revs, and the whining of the diff etc, are just part of its character!

The only explanation for the other driver's actions I can derive from the road layout is that the other driver didn't spot that the roundabout is 3 lane. They approached in the middle lane, which on a typical 2 lane roundabout would be the right lane, so they drifted towards the right lane on the roundabout proper. Only I was there, in the correct position for the right approach lane. 

No high-temperature washes needed today! Luckily I saw the situation arising soon enough to apply rational avoidance tactics, rather than instinctive panic!

[mudguard]

There's a healthier car to be heard on an older clip, although there is more wind noise (it's Scotland after all!)

As you can see - and hear - the RAF were kind enough to scramble a few jets to fly in formation with us.

[Garf]

Just back to the original topic (but glad to hear the problems are getting sorted).

I also did the same this Jan/Feb ... like you in situ but I used Hammerite Satin Smooth paint. I also kept the top of the lower wishbone as neat and polished it up a bit (can't be seen in the pics) but the top one just didn't want to come up the same so remained black.

Problem is as I'm now replacing the hoses for silicone ones at the moment and i have good access inside the car so now painting a number of rusted areas of the frame ... 1995 1.4K SS .... so needed it! 

[mudguard]

Got the car back today. CC only took two days over it - I just couldn't collect until today.

They've had the engine and gearbox out and replaced the gearbox nose seal and the bellhousing gasket. 

The rubbing noise was from the wheel bearings, not the brake pads. Apparently it just needed tightening. Bit puzzling as I was under the impression it was kept at the right tightness with a split pin. Anyway....

SWMBO was with me, not wanting to miss the glorious weather. It was easy to convince her that the best route home from Gatwick to Croydon was via Petersfield. It was less easy to convince her that plenty of WOT was needed to "check that CC put the engine back in correctly".

Of course being a Seven the journey wouldn't be complete without something else happening - and that something was the decorative stainless steel sleeve around my CAT deciding to make a bid for freedom at 70MPH. Fortunately its escape didn't do any damage to my car or anyone else's, and I was able to retrieve it. It will need to be made cylindrical again before refitting! A job for tomorrow, maybe.... 

Gearbox sounding noticeably quieter and happier now. The car just pure joy as ever.