Out for a short cruise . . .

[29Cabriolet]

. . . then --- clunk--- clunk --clunk-----screech. Both rear wheels locked up. With the engine still running and nothing broken visible underneath, I was thinking transmission or rear end. Don't know if this is significant, but as it sits now, motor not running, shifting through the gears "feels normal".

In any case, being a novice, I would appreciate any advice first on how to start disassembly to diagnose and pinpoint what is broken. And any hints on how to attack the repair would surely be helpful.
Thanks in advance!

[California Travieso]

Did you check the rear brakes?

David Serrano

[J Franklin]

Put the rear wheels up on jack stands and then remove the spark plugs. Next take the hand crank and if possible turn engine while someone watches and listens for problems. go through the gears while checking and see if you turn up any clues. Good luck and report back with the findings.

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by J Franklin

Put the rear wheels up on jack stands and then remove the spark plugs. Next take the hand crank and if possible turn engine while someone watches and listens for problems. go through the gears while checking and see if you turn up any clues. Good luck and report back with the findings.

agreed, but

wont even have to turn the crank: jack up the rearend safely, put trans in gear and should be able to rotate the rear wheels - one will spin opposite of the other. If it does that means the spider gears and axle shafts are OK.

Then pop it in neutral, have a buddy hold one wheel while you turn the other - driveshaft should turn. if it doesnt its something in the rearend or U joint. If your questioning the trans, drain the fluid thru a cloth and see what particles are in there and pop the top off and check the gears. Should drain the rearend as well and see what chunks you get.

Im guessing once you came to a halt with the engine running you tried to drive again? What did it do as you let the clutch out? just bog and die?

[Dick Carne]

I agree that a good initial step would be to remove the plugs, jack up the rear axle, and try to determine at what point in the driveline the motion seems to stop. Several years back, I incurred a similar experience with our roadster - turns out that it was one of the pinion gear nuts had backed off allowing the pinion bearings to be subjected to abnormal back and forth, eventually coming loose and getting caught in the ring gear. I hope that this is not the case, but it sounds very similar. Please let us know what you find.

[29Cabriolet]

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Originally Posted by SeaSlugs

. . . Im guessing once you came to a halt with the engine running you tried to drive again? What did it do as you let the clutch out? just bog and die?

Almost. Didn't really expect the car was driveable. But I did put it in gear and let the clutch out to confirm what I suspected at that point . . . that the rear wheels were locked.

Thanks to all for your suggestions!

[chl]

Had a similar experience, wheels locked up applying the brakes turning a corner. was able to back up and release the lock up, happened again a few days later. had the brakes rebuilt and everything is fine.

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by 29Cabriolet

Almost. Didn't really expect the car was driveable. But I did put it in gear and let the clutch out to confirm what I suspected at that point . . . that the rear wheels were locked.

Thanks to all for your suggestions!

Yea i suppose the brake could have locked up at the same time if you just hit them hard. Would be obvious once its on jackstands and neither wheel will budge.

[29Cabriolet]

Originally Posted by chl

Had a similar experience, wheels locked up applying the brakes turning a corner. was able to back up and release the lock up, happened again a few days later. had the brakes rebuilt and everything is fine.

I haven't considered brakes yet since they were completely rebuilt less than 2 seasons ago. Of course something could still break, or perhaps something less than perfect on the installation.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by chl

Had a similar experience, wheels locked up applying the brakes turning a corner. was able to back up and release the lock up, happened again a few days later. had the brakes rebuilt and everything is fine.

My 29 Tudor did that when I bought it. I found the left side had no parking brake, and the right side had the parking brake attached to the band with only one rivet. I fixed the brakes and all was fine.

In this case the clunking noise makes me think it's a problem in the tranny or rear end.
Does the tranny shift normally through all gears?
If not, then remove the shift cover and see what's going on.

BTW, if you hold the clutch down and start the engine, is that OK?

I just read the first post again, and I'm guessing rear end problems.

[29Cabriolet]

Yeah puttin my money on the rear end (Literally!!) I won't be able to work on it until the weekend. But will report what I find as soon as I do!

[Benson]

Did someone try to stop the car using the "Parking brake"?

The later backing plates were re-enforced to help prevent the parking brake band from shearing off the stop and jamming the brake band when someone tried to use the parking brake to stop the car.

I am not sure that Ford ever recommended the use of this brake to stop the car at speed even after the "upgrade".

[René W]

A friens model A had the same,it would not go forward but it will go backwarts.
The backing plate of the rear brake had come loose and driving forwards locked the brake....he drove home backwarts.

[29Cabriolet]

Originally Posted by Benson

Did someone try to stop the car using the "Parking brake"?

Nope

[Ray in La Mesa]

Had the same thing happen, turned out the rear end oil had leaked out and the pinion roller bearings went square.

[29Cabriolet]

Originally Posted by Ray in La Mesa

Had the same thing happen, turned out the rear end oil had leaked out and the pinion roller bearings went square.

I drained the lube from the rear end - there was plenty. Although there is a small leak, I keep the level where it should be. And maybe the good news is when I drained it, there were no broken pieces or grindings that I could see. Hopefully that's an indication that the problem is elsewhere.

[SeaSlugs]

Could be - no news is good news :P get it up on jackstands and see what you got!

[Tom Wesenberg]

I would jack up one rear wheel, shift the tranny to neutral, then spin the tire to see if it feels good.

[katy]

U-joint?

[jg61hawk]

Does it back up? Be sure the rear axle nuts are properly torqued tight. If not the parking brake can get out of where it belongs as the drums moves laterally. I didn't torque mine (years ago) and the car stopped going forward, but could back up. Luckily it was very slow speed in driveway.