[Mg-t] Stabilizer Link Repair

[lawrie]

Nels,

The best way to get that nut behind the water pump pulley started on its thread is to hold it with a long pair of needle-nose pliers and screw the threaded rod into it. Then you can assemble the more accessible pieces to the rod with no difficulty.

The reason these engines have a stabilizer is because the mounts are so low and so close to the center of the engine's torque axis. Other engines have their mounts more to the side, higher and further away from the crankshaft.

As to why your stabilizer bracket broke - twice - I wonder if you are tensioning the rod correctly? The idea is that the rod should hold the engine in a relaxed, upright position, rather than pulling or pushing it to one side. The other important things are that the engine mount and the gearbox mounts should be in good condition. If they are old and oil-soaked, they will permit excessive engine movement which puts a strain on the engine stabilizer bar.

Cheers,

Lawrie Alexander

>  -------Original Message-------
>  From: Nels Anderson <nels at flightsim.com>
>  Subject: [Mg-t] Stabilizer Link Repair
>  Sent: 09 Nov '08 06:26
>  
>  For the second time since I've owned my TD the bracket that holds the
>  engine stabilizer link assembly to the front of the engine block has
>  broken. In an ideal world this would be an easy repair, since all it
>  requires is removing 4 nuts, replacing the broken bracket with a new
>  one, and re-installing the 4 nuts. Unfortunately, one of the nuts is
>  behind the water pump pulley and is virtually inaccessible. The last
>  time I did this repair I spent two weeks trying to get the nut back on
>  until finally a younger friend with smaller and more nimble hands was
>  able to get it started.
>  
>  After that experience I'm dreading doing the repair again. I was
>  wondering if anyone had any tricks that would make this easier?
>  
>  I'm kind of curious about the link itself. Other engines I'm familiar
>  with don't seem to have anything like this, so why do our TD engines
>  have it?
>  
>  For reference, the link is part 1 in this diagram; the bracket that
>  broke is part 5:
>  
>  http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=32714
>  
>  --Nels Anderson
>    1953 MGTD
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