A cautionary tale

[David Morris]

Hi everyone,

I thought that I should mention a small, but potentially serious problem that occurred on the way up to Crieff with Black Shadow, our Javelin.

The journey from Bath was close to 500 miles each way and on the switchback route over the A68 towards Edinburgh on the way up, I noticed what I assumed was an increasing case of brake fade. The brake pedal was getting less and less efficient. When we stopped for lunch at South Queensferry, I could see that something was seriously wrong as both the clutch and brake pedals were quite loose.

Time to investigate underneath and this showed that the two pedals share the same mounting pin, which is a long bolt running through a bracket to the left of the clutch pedal bush, then through both pedal bushes and into a captive nut on a bracket welded to the chassis to the right of the brake pedal.

This bolt had worked itself loose, to the point where it was completely out of the captive nut and only held in place by the bracket to the left of the clutch pedal bush. It could have easily dropped out onto the road. As it was, this left the pedals practically free and almost all the motion that should have gone into pulling the master cylinder plunger had been lost. No wonder the brakes felt 'soft'!

Fortunately, it was the work of a few moments to locate the long bolt back into the captive nut and tighten to restore everything to normal operation. We needed the brakes at full efficiency for the scenic run the next day!

I mention this as it could have had far far more serious consequences and can be easily overlooked. The bolt ( or at least mine ) is usually well covered in grease from the pedal bushes and probably does not often get checked for tightness. In retrospect, if you notice the clutch pedal moving the brake pedal when depressed or vice versa, this is a clue that the shared mounting bolt is starting to work loose.

It is easy to slip a socket on the bolt head and make sure it is tight and I recommend this to any owner, next time you are underneath. Better safe than sorry!

All the best,

David

[Forumadmin]

Use Loctite!

[David Morris]

Hi there,

Yes, thanks for the tip.

Unfortunately, on the way to Crieff we did not have the wherewithall to clean the bolt and captive nut to ensure that Loctite would work effectively, although I agree wholeheartedly that this would be a good long-term solution.

However, my reasons for telling this tale were more in line with suggesting that owners might like to run a socket over this particular bolt when underneath, to avoid unpleasant consequences.

If just one Jowett owner finds theirs loose, then it will have been worth the effort!

All the best,

David

[PAUL BEAUMONT]

avid, I am willing to bet that no MOT inspector who has found a host of other irrelevancies to comment on, will ever have checked such a vital component!!