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I’ve been spending some Happy Time underneath the Series 80: cleaning, checking, and learning. It occurred to me to check the tightness of some of the more obviously important bolts, as on the differential and transmission. I was so surprised to move the first bolt on the differential and entire flat with a short hand wrench, that I proceeded with more interest. Every bolt on the front pinion carrier moved easily, 1/2 to 1 flat or more. Now, that could account for some of the seeping oil, no doubt.
There are a number of bolts on the rear of the transmission which are safety-wired, so they are tight, correct? Well…no, they weren’t. I will remove the safety wire and at least snug them up and rewire.
Obviously this is an important part of making and keeping a Car reliable and safe.
Excellent point, Randy! J found the same thing on my unrestored S80 5-p sedan. I attribute the looseness to fatigue of lock washers over the years, and have made a point of replacing most lock washers when I’ve had an opportunity to remove that fastener.
Hi Randy, Hi George,
I too have found loose fasteners on my most recently purchased Pierce Arrow.
I had several rattles coming from the chassis of my 1919 Series31 Touring car.
So I slid underneath the car with a good flashlight, and found the large ‘U”-bolts holding the rear springs to the differential to be at least a full turn loose.
All the washers were still in place, so I’m assuming that 97 years of vibration and spring flexing had produced a lot of flexing and movement of the fasteners, in effect grinding away the steel of the fasteners.
Once those ‘U”-bolts and a few other loose bolts on running boards, and brackets were tightened, the car was amazingly tight and rattle free on it’s next drive down my gravel road.
It never hurts to slide under our old cars and inspect just how well they have held up to there many years and miles on the cars..
Greg Long