Mercury-BA

Howdy Guys! I have been living with one hell of a shuddering problem that comes from the ass end of my T5 packing 2003 BA XR6T when I am releasing the clutch. I changed the diff bush and had no real improvement. I have been driving with it for a few years now but I am finally in the place to spend a bit of money on her and fix her up. I am pretty sure it is a clutch issue, and I have a sneaking suspision that the previous owner installed a new clutch (possibly some sort of a button clutch) that rather than feather, has the old on/off approach. So the shuddering would be coming from the buttons skipping across the fly wheel partially engaging. The shudder is only there when I am taking off but yeah, it can be quite violent if I dont time the release right. I know the old BA's have a bit of a problem with diff shudder but I am hoping to change the clutch and perhaps the fly wheel to alleviate this bastard of a problem. Does this sound like a valid theory? Anyone know of any good clutches for city driving that doesnt make my drive train suffer so badly? Anywhere decent in Perth that actually knows how to work on a car? Thanks for any input!

G'day everyone, Havin a bit of trouble with my 03 BA's gear box. Its the usual T5 box, but yes, for some reason it started playin up a few months ago and feels like its gradually getting worse. What happens is, as I go from 2nd into 3rd, rather then the gear leaver returning to the center of the H pattern as it normally does, it kind of sticks between 1at and 2nd. With a bit of a wiggle it will move into the center where I can then change into 3rd and 4th, but then when I go into 5th, unless I make sure I am holding the leaver rather hard to the right before I push it into gear, it will grind a tiny bit as if it just isnt quite aligned properly. Reverse is a bitch, I have to basically move the gear leaver up almost into 5th and then slam it down to get it to gear... at which point when I take it out of reverse my reversing lights stay on! Ahhhh... it seems every day something else is going wrong with this car... as I am sure many of you can relate lol Anyone got any ideas?

yeah I am not sure either, I figured they would just lop the spline off at the weld and machine a new one and weld it back on, balancing it in the process... but I guess we will find out. I just hope its cheap cause this car is chewing up my savings lol

Oh well gents, rang around and only managed to find ONE place that sell a suitable bearing. Ordered it, and $750-f*cking-dollars later put it in. It was the right size however the bolt holes that mount the joint to the diff were all about a mil to small, so I drilled them out (voiding my 5 year warranty that came with the bearing), put it, bolted it all together and took it for a spin. I managed to make it down my driveway in reverse and put it in first before I heard that delightful crunch noise and hear the tailshaft spinning, but me not going anywhere. I pushed the bastard thing back up the driveway and looked at it the next day. The spline on the tailshaft was obviously weakened some how broke and was now just spinning in the joint. SO, I am gonna get the local automotive joint to fix the tailshaft... While I was at it I also did my diff bush, changed it out with the super-pro one, so I will let you know how that goes as well... when I get the thing back on the road... ugh

Yeah I knew the brass-button would put a bit of stress on the drivetrain, and yeah, looks like she finally gave up the fight. Is there any stronger ones in the market that anyone knows of, and cost? I will have to do the ring-around at work tomorrow I think... oh well, gives me a chance to put the new diff bush and do all the other little nigly upgrades while I wait for parts lol

Hey guys and girls, After a 8 months of owning a BA Turbs... I have had my first serious mechanical failure. My diff bush is shagged (the OEM one) which gave a fair bit of play in the diff since I first bought it, and last week I ordered a SuperPro bush to put in but it appears it was too late. I am honestly not sure, but my hypothesis is that due to the unsecured diff allowing play and knocking in the drive line, must have just put too much pressure on the bearing located just in front of the diff and BANG... no drive and bearing components all over the road and f*ckin grease everywhere... So yes, jacked her up today, dropped the tailshaft and pulled the remnants of the bearing out. I am just posting this in the hope that someone might know the technical names for these parts in the photos, considering my local auto shop is run by morons, I would prefer to tell them exactly what I need. The tailshaft is fine, it is just that bearing before the diff, and the housing (where the ball-bearings tried to explode out the side), and the dirt/grease seal that sits on the tailshaft. The spline of the tailshaft you can see in this photo slid into the front of the housing and then connected to the bearing... Anyone got any different ideas on the root cause of this problem? And does anyone know the actual name of this bearing/housing set up? Feel free to post your opinions...

G'day guys and girls, I have noticed in the forum quite a few people talking about traction control. My traction control in my 03 BA XR6T doesnt appear to do anything at all really, if I start spinning the light will flash on, but the car doesnt break or ease the throttle or anything, and if I spin it for more then 2 seconds or so the light will just stay up on the dash even once I have stopped spinning, at which point I cant make the light go away until I turn the car off. It is strange compared to other cars I have driven with traction control, in which you can actually feel the computer cutting power until you regain traction, if anything, you would call mine a traction indicator rather then control lol. Not that that is any problem for me As for my cruise control, it is just plain temperamental... it will turn on just after I start the car and I can use it any point from there on, however if I have already been driving for a while and attempt to turn it on, it will not come on at all. It occasionally cut out and turn off completely when I put my foot on the break, at which point I cant turn it back on until I turn the car off and then back on again. It is the strangest thing and is quite annoying when I wish to do a long drive... Any one know anything about these two oddity's? lol

Yeah mate, I fitted one to my 03 BA. Good power gains and is apparently good for plenty more if I choose. I gained about 23 rear wheel kilowatts from the cooler alone, and was advised by the mechanic to gut out the from of my air box or just at a typhoon CAI (which is still on the to-do list lol). I live in >40 degree temps and the car doesnt seem to be affected by the air being drawn in through the original hole in the box at all. As has been said above, just add a FPV CAI or, the cheaper option, grab a hacksaw and cut out the front of the box behind the headlight.

having a feel now, the stock bush is defiantly shagged. it is cracked and uneven and all sorts. Correct me if I am wrong, but normally there is just a bolt that slides though the bush into the diff, in the place of this shaft. This random shaft is defiantly connected to the diff considering when I pull it downwards the whole diff moves as well. So unless the dodgy *beep* before me snapped the original bolt and didnt have a spare, so stuck this shaft through with the nut and washers as spacers, and now the shaft has gradually started undoing and sliding further and further out... Does anyone know the size/dimensions of the original bolt that came out of the diff? cause when I do the bush I am definitely going to replace that random shaft if I can.

yeah I know, it looks f*cked to me hey, I am gonna get it up on a hoist next weekend and have a proper look underneath. Yeah ever since I bought it it made some knocking noises. I knew that the XR's were renound for the diff shudder, and mine was no exception. Its got a brass button clutch in it so I assumed, and from the advice from my mechanic friends, that would add to the shuddering/knocking. I have a bad feeling that this is going to cost me a lot of money hey Oh well, please keep the opinions coming

G'day guys, I am in the process of changing out my diff bush to get rid of that horrible clunking noise it makes when I drive it, and I was under the car the other day just to have a look at it and well, it looks completely different to any set up I have ever seen, in life and on the forum. I took some photos, and even if I am lookin at the wrong bush (I am fairly sure I'm not), the shaft that is sticking out the middle of the bush is actually rubbing on the spare-tyre well so yeah, I dont imagine it should be like this. If this is not the usual diff bush, does anyone know what it is, or why there are 3 washers and a nut that just sit on the shaft protruding from the bush. If anyone has any idea what this is, or why it is like this, then please offer your opinions Cheers guys