Vitesse 6 Overdrive

[Bobsprott]

I a new member having recently bought a Vitesse 6 in OK condition but in need of a bit of TLC. I am giving it a bit of exercise every week and as a result have found a few issues. Up to now the overdrive has been fine, if a little slow to kick in and out but on a run out this week - nothing. It just didn't work. Where do I start? As I am new to the world of Triumphs I thought I should seek some advice!

[JohnD]

An O/drive includes its own oil pump for pressure to actuate the clutch, it's an eccentric on the main shaft.

Your symptoms are those of low oil pressure, which may be due to pump wear, wear elsewhere or blockage by wear products.

Here's an article on the Canley site that may help trouble shooting.  (I think a Vit6 has a D-type)

http://www.canleyclassics.com/technical-archive/the-d-type-overdrive

John

[dave.vitesse]

Welcome to the forum.

 

First check  the oil level in the gearbox.

 

Then the electrical connections - solenoid connections, lock out switch, column switch and bullet connectors from gearbox to loom are OK.

 

Next clean the overdrive oil pressure valve at the top of the overdrive housing, there is a spring and a ball bearing under the cap. Be careful not to lose the ball bearing. The cap unscrews. 

 

Obtaining a Triumph Vitesse Workshop Manual is a must.

 

Dave  

[Pete Lewis]

yes low gearbox oil level is the first check , the gearbox filler level on the drivers side of case sets the level for gearbox and the overdrive.

EP90  GL4 spec oil only. needs tunnel off to gain access,, can be seen from under but your  fingers wont fit ,

 

there is a switch to disconnect in 1st 2nd reverse  if this gets out of adjustment , it wont make contact when in 3rd 4th  sometimes a stiff wiggle of the gear stick to left and right will make a poor adjusted switch work for a moment 

 

Its D type  solenoid on driver side   on Vitesse6 unless its modified with a J type   solenoid passenger side

 

theres a cover on the side with 3 screws , take this off , operate the OD the solenoid should pull the lever inside a small amount the lever has a hole in it which must align with a test setting hle in the case a 3/16 drill makes a good gauge to pop in .

 

Dtypes need a relay , should be on the baulkhed but can be anywhere. you should here this click if operating on the drive with engine off in 3rd or 4th 

 

no clicks means the electrics are faulty

 

the valve dave mentions has a very small hole down the tubular spool valve  inside this can get blocked 

 

is this a gear knob switch or column switch. ,  gear knob switches suffer broken wiring , inside the stick,  this can give shocks from the  sol coil and make driving lively !!!   ouch!!

 

do the easy first 

 

Pete

[dave.vitesse]

Yes that superb gear knob switch set-up on the later Triumph models. I always fitted an in-line fuse where the bulkhead to gearbox loom connects. Easy to do.

 

Dave

[Steve C]

That switch on the gearknob may have looked neat, but it was the invention of Beelzebub, and almost designed to short out and cut through wires. A column stalk, or (as in my own car) a longer switch under the dash close to the steering wheel, gets rid of a lot of potential issues, and you can then have a nice TSSC gear lever knob (insert plug here for our excellent club shop) as well.

 

As previous correspondents have said, check oil level first, and then electricals. If it was slow to slur in and out, and then stopped working, oil level would be my bet. You need to appreciate that the Laycock unit itself is actually a really quailty peice of engineering, made to far higher standards than the gearbox itself, so engineering issues with it are rare if it has been looked after and the filters have been kept clean. Most gremlins are down to things like feed wires chafeing through or getting burnt on exhausts etc. Neat wiring will fix those.

 

Regards

 

Steve

 

 

Regards

 

Steve

[Pete Lewis]

as there 3rd OD is same as 4th ratio ( on Vit /GT6) triumph never worked on a split shift idea there is the advantage of a quick flick when gunning 3rd is quicker than a change up to 4th ,  experience with Rootes boxes is you get 6  split ratios not just 5 like triumph

but having had stalks for years and now have a gear knob switch i much prefer the stalk ..

 

Pete

[dave.vitesse]

Pete, Don't think that's the reason the gearknob overdrive switch wasn't applied to the Vitesse. It just wasn't around at the time the Vitesse was introduced and only appeared, on other Triumphs, at the end of the Vitesse production.  It was applied to the later 1850 Dolomite, the Vitesse replacement, which had the same 3 and 4  ratio as the Vitesse.

 

Dave

[Pete Lewis]

my 64 Vit6  had a gear knob set up  fitted whenever,  , but with switch and wire reliability changed it to stalks soon after we put right all the things 

that were wrong .  the 2000 has a knob switch and you never remember if its in or out without brail or a sneeky look

 

ive got a wooden knob with a £1 maplins rocker illuminated switch somewhere i made as a cheap alternative but whilst neat and nice led to show 'on'  it was impossible to fit without screwing up the harness.  

 

Pete

[AidanT]

I moved to a stalk. The switch just didn't look right in the mk1 and I'm glad I did.

 

Aidan

[Jezter]

I, too, am a new member and I have had a GT6 Mk3 since March this year. The overdrive had been working fine in both 3rd and 4th gears until a couple of weeks ago when it stopped without any misfiring. This followed my fitting of a new ignition switch because the old one had fallen out of the steering lock housing. Being ignorant of the design I thought a find screw had fallen out and become lost so I purchased a new one only to find its a push fit into the housing with no fixings! Before removing the old one I photographed it and then re-attached the wiring as per my pictures. I also checked it against the wiring diagram in the workshop manual. It was then that I realised the wiring for the overdrive had no relay and was not as the later Mk3 wiring diagram. On the assumption that because it had worked before the ignition switch change there must be a wiring fault, I've spent the afternoon checking the OD wiring for continuity and that all three switches work and found no faults. On the solenoid feed I found insulation stripped in two small places, one of which could have touched and earthed on the body. I removed the plastic cap on the solenoid and as per the workshop manual checked the resistance on the series and shunt windings and found them to be as specified. So I took a feed directly from the battery to the solenoid by-passing the feed wire but it still wouldn't operate! My assumption is that there should be a relay in the system as per the Mk2 wiring diagram.

But is there anything else (mechanical?) I should check.

My intention now is to order a solenoid, relay and wiring harnesses from Canleys.

Next challenge is to release the hidden solenoid screw fixing!

[Pete Lewis]

There is a switch in the end of the solenoid, if the contacts are corroded its not going to hold in,

some switches are cleable some are sealed

to remove the screw fit a short tube over the end of the driver to keep it on the screw head

there, s an article looming soon where we made a long threaded studding to replace the bottom screw

two locknuts to replicate the sol fixing and two 4" away to be visible beyond the end of the sol.

 

if its a D type you must fit a relay the initial pull is over 10amps the holding coil takes 0.5amp

switched over by the contacts in the end of the sol.

[Colin Lindsay]

I moved to a stalk. The switch just didn't look right in the mk1 and I'm glad I did.

 

Aidan

 

So did I.... so easy to flick on and off whilst holding the steering wheel, especially on 3rd around town centres. 

I also like it when people look at it and scratch their heads, then come up with solutions such as 'intermittent wiper flick arm'....

[Pete Lewis]

most things on a triumph are intermittent    Ha !

 

I much prefer the column stalk  and expect to convert the T2000   soon,   the is it in or out of the gear knob switch is 

no good for senior decisions .  

 

pete

[68vitesse]

There was a diagram, published in the courier l think, that used two relays so that if you changed down to first or second with overdrive selected on changing back up to third or forth overdrive was not selected until the switch was set to off then on.

 

Regards

Paul