So tonight while reading some of the threads I came across a post on a clunk another member had. My car upon acceleration on first take off I hear a clunk like a something sliding down the tube and hitting the bottom. What number put in a post about something he called a TT balancer. What is this and why would cause a clunk.

 

what is happening is that your TT damper is sliding in the tube ,

what will happen is that it will eventually push the bearing carriers out of the their positions.

A few ways to fix this,

One would be to remove the TT and refit a new damper and TT bearings.

Replace the TT bearings with the super bearings and then delete the damper.

A quick and dirty fix would be to pin it,
NOTE the damper is about 6 inches long.

NOTE removal of the exhaust from the back of the cats to the punkin is required ,
as well as the central heat shield.

drive either forwards or backwards , then stop.
so you hear the damper slide either way,
jack the car up ,
drill a small hole into the TT then put in a 1 inch long screw.

NOTE Make sure to measure where the damper should approximately go in the tube, reference the WSM.

Let the car down then drive the car the other way and stop, so you hear the damper slide the other way,
then drill another hole 6 inches from the other screw then put in the screw.
Now the damper will move very slightly between the screws,
and the bearings will not be moved out of position.

NOTE the only caveat to pinning is that the damper could have failed another way,
and that is having the rubber supports that hold it come off the damper.
In this case the length of the damper will be extended,
as it will be impossible to slide these supports back onto the damper unless you disassemble the TT to inspect your damper.

NOTE it is possible to use structural epoxy adhesive and glue the rubber doughnuts onto the damper.
It may still slide in the tube but the rubbers supports wont come off.
Then pinning it will be your only recourse if you dont replace the worn damper supports,
or get a used damper with good supports that wont slide in the tube.

NOTE do not use rivets to secure the damper, when unpinning is necessary for TT rebuild
the ends of the rivets will then be driven into the tube,
and make it very difficult to slide the bearing carriers out of the tube and they will get bent,

 

Is this vibration damper really necessary? There have been some posts on Rennlist about deleting it altogether. Has anyone left it out and not had any problems?

 

what you will find is that deletion of the damper will result in a vibration felt in the chassis from IIRC 4200 RPM 5 speed,
and 3200 RPM. Auto

Bill Ball posted a TSB on the damper a few years ago.

Deleting it can be done, BUT then installing the Constantine Black Sea super bearings,
NOTE these bearings are bigger and carry bigger supports and thus absorb more of the secondary vibrations so the damper isnt needed..


Bill ***** repair

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...bration+damper