car started to vibrate only when moving off from stop as i pull away any ideas please

The car is vibrating, or the engine is vibrating, or is it the steering?
A bit more information is needed really, otherwise any answers will be complete guesses.

front end of car not steering.sorry nodge same as if you hold out your arm and shake it,no rattling noise, only when pulling away slowly,other than that nothing when car gets moving p.s. nodge got horn working now just as you said clock spring thanks mate for imfo,

A heavy slow vibration as you pull away, can often be attributed to an inboard drive shaft CV joint.

Is it a manual? Sounds like clutch judder.

thanks grumpygel yes manual is it a problem,new clutch only 20000klms old no slipping but did get a clutch smell 1000klms ago when reversing up steep slope my fault.not smelt again after that

With my L Series diesel (manual obviously but PG1 not Getrag) if I pull away with low revs it will often 'kangaroo hop' up to (say) 4 times before it settles down. Only pulling away from rest in 1st and never on other gear changes once moving. The more throttle I give it, the less likely it is to do it.

I'm not sure why it does it. There's loads of oil on the (the outside) of my engine and it drops a spot or 2 (or 3) on the drive each time its parked up, so there's 2 big marks on the drive depending which way round its parked. Dunno where it comes from - no levels drop noticeably! Where the bell housing meets the block at the bottom there appears to be a gap (that's supposed to be there not a fault) and its filled with a mesh/foam material that's soaked in oil. So whether the main seal or gearbox seal is leaking and engine or box oil is getting on the clutch - that's a possibility.

Another possibility is that I cooked the clutch a number of years ago maneuvering the boat, that may have done something to the plates. I'm not sure if it started about then, I definitely didn't put 2 and 2 together back then but whether it was I don't know. As with you I don't get any slipping of the clutch, it functions fine other than this judder issue.

The other possibility is its just worn out, its done about 230,000kms.

I dunno what your issue is - but mine is definitely the clutch.

GrumpyGel said:

I dunno what your issue is - but mine is definitely the clutch

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The PG1 box is well known to suffer clutch judder on engagement.
It's caused by a combination of things, all related to sticking of the release mechanism, and dry splines or bearing slides, or both.

The TD4 Getrag box doesn't generally suffer the same way, as the operating mechanism is completely different in design.