Re: Hop skip and a jump

["Dean W. Cains" <dwc@xxxxxx>]

Hi Mike:

It's a bit hard to tell exactly what you're feeling, but I had a similar 
experience quite a few years ago with a '72 Spider.  It turned out that the 
fuel pump was leaking, quite a bit, and as the car sat parked, the fuel 
would puddle around the contact area of the right rear tire.  It would soak 
into the rubber a bit, only where the tire was touching the ground, and 
when driving and accelerating hard, the tire would slip when the 
fuel-soaked came around to contact the pavement.

I'm just shooting in the dark here, but what I felt sounds a bit like what 
you're describing.  I'd bet $$$ it's not the axle straps, nor the 
driveshaft, and even if you needed a driveshaft, every decent sized city 
has a driveshaft repair shop that will charge much less than the cost of a 
new driveshaft.

Perhaps your rear shocks are worn to the point where they aren't 
controlling the axle properly, and the tires are actually jumping off the 
road as you're accelerating?  Just another guess, but probably a more 
reasonable one than my fuel leak idea.  Same symptoms could occur from a 
broken shock mounting point, missing fastener, or disintegrated shock 
bushings, too.  All those things are easily checked and repaired.

Let us know what you find as the cause of your trouble.

Regards,

Dean
Lutz, FL
'74 & '87 Spider Veloce's


At 01:59 AM 7/8/2003, you wrote:

> Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 01:50:27 -0400
> From: "MikeyB" <MikeyB@domain.elided>
> Subject: Hop skip and a jump
>
> Hi All,
>
>      Once again I'm hoping to prevail on the greater knowledge of the digest.
>
>      I'm having a problem with my 1988 Spider Quad. w/ standard transmission.
>
>     When accelerating I feel a hopping or grabbing feeling from the area of
> the right rear.  It appears at around 2200 RPM and continues until
> approximately 2800 RPM.  It is most apparent under hard acceleration.  The
> problem was originally only appeared in 1st gear, but now is just starting to
> appear in second gear as well, (again, only under hard acceleration).  The
> problem is definitely increasing with use.
>
>      An examination of the undercarriage revealed that the right axel straps
> are becoming abraded by metal behind the axel.
>
>      My mechanic diagnosed the problem as a transmission mount.  We replaced
> the mount, but the problem remains.  He is now calling for a new drive shaft
> (ugh!  $$$$).
>
>      Do any of you have any other possible suggestions for causation??
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> MikeB.
>
>
>
>      Do you have any suggestions???
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