boscoe Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 I just had a used manual transmission installed in my 98 forester. It seems to be running well, except the throwout bearing is chirping or clicking or whatever you want to call it. It does it in neutral, and goes away with just the faintest pressure on the clutch pedal. I'm pretty sure I've got the diagnosis straight, based on the mechanic's evaluation and past posts I've read here. The mechanic swears that this will have no effect on the longevity of surrounding parts, and just to leave it alone. Is this something that will prevent me from engaging or releasing the clutch at some point, when the bearing fails completely? It seems like it would damage the transmission shaft or tear the release lever to hell if the bearing really froze up. Also, would I be doing further damage by stepping on the clutch gently while at a stop light? All of my upbringing tells me: "don't step on the clutch while at a stop light, or you'll wear out the throwout bearing!" Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaudiggity Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 I'd replace it. Just like you said when the bearing does go out or sease up you'll be buying new clutch parts again. I just had a used manual transmission installed in my 98 forester. It seems to be running well, except the throwout bearing is chirping or clicking or whatever you want to call it. It does it in neutral, and goes away with just the faintest pressure on the clutch pedal. I'm pretty sure I've got the diagnosis straight, based on the mechanic's evaluation and past posts I've read here. The mechanic swears that this will have no effect on the longevity of surrounding parts, and just to leave it alone. Is this something that will prevent me from engaging or releasing the clutch at some point, when the bearing fails completely? It seems like it would damage the transmission shaft or tear the release lever to hell if the bearing really froze up. Also, would I be doing further damage by stepping on the clutch gently while at a stop light? All of my upbringing tells me: "don't step on the clutch while at a stop light, or you'll wear out the throwout bearing!" Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearbalu Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 I had same problem and was told to wait till it's time to replace clutch. When clutch got replaced, I replaced throwout bearing too. As far as I know the throwout bearing doesn't really spin along with the transmission shaft - it slides over the non-splined area of shaft. So you can't possibly be damaging any moving parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscoe Posted February 8, 2005 Author Share Posted February 8, 2005 I had same problem and was told to wait till it's time to replace clutch. When clutch got replaced, I replaced throwout bearing too. As far as I know the throwout bearing doesn't really spin along with the transmission shaft - it slides over the non-splined area of shaft. So you can't possibly be damaging any moving parts. This is where I get fuzzy on the details of how the whole assembly works. If it doesn't spin on the transmission shaft, why is it a bearing in the first place, and not just a loose collar around the shaft? :-\ I assumed that the outer race connects to the release lever, and the inner race was more or less tight on the transmission shaft. Obviously I've never pulled a transmission... can anyone clarify? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 The trans shaft is inside a extension housing, think of a shaft inside a pipe. The T-bearing is outside the pipe and slides on it as the fork moves fwd and aft. The T-bearing is like a 2" long pipe with a bearing attached to the end. The pipe does not rotate, but the bearing pressure surface does. Hope that helps. If you need more info, just stop at your local auto parts store and ask them to see a clutch Kit. It should have all the parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 that was the time to inspect and replace the clutch, throw out bearing and pilot bearing. It will chatter on for a while but the tranny should be removed and the thing repaired now. I just went through a simlar episode where they failed to change my pilot bearing on a clutch job. It cost me big bucks even with the dealer's screw up discount and I left that dealer over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svxpert Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 <<I just had a used manual transmission installed in my 98 forester.>> They didn't replace a $30 bearing? Sounds like you need a new shop after you make them put it in at no charge! Can I dare ask how much the bill was for the use tranny instal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscoe Posted February 8, 2005 Author Share Posted February 8, 2005 <<I just had a used manual transmission installed in my 98 forester.>> They didn't replace a $30 bearing? Sounds like you need a new shop after you make them put it in at no charge! Can I dare ask how much the bill was for the use tranny instal? You can dare, but sit down before you read further. The trans itself was 750 (had 64k on it). They also replaced the master and slave cylinder, and hydraulics, they also replaced the rear main seal on the engine (it was apparently leaking, and they seemed to think this was common for my engine) and they replaced some other plate on the back of the engine... Grand total was $1650. The reason they didn't replace the throwout bearing, was because they saw that the bearing and clutch were pretty new (I did have the clutch replaced at 90k, about a year and a half and 10k miles ago, by a different shop). I appreciate the fact that they weren't pushing unnecessary repairs on me, but it would have been nice if they had forseen the future and pushed that 30 dollars. The shop is eger suzuki and subaru in Norristown PA. Just a data point for anyone shopping for a mechanic in the area. All in all not a bad place, but I couldn't convince them to put in a new bearing for free... And while I'm creating data points, don't take your 98 forester manual to an Aamco for transmission work. That was a disaster, and was more expensive than this job. It only got me 10,000 further miles down the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naru Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 Sounds more like a transmission input bearing to me especially if you had no noise previous to the trans swap. Pilot bearing only turns when the clutch is disengaged(pedal down). Not familar w/the forester,but,on 99% of cars the throwout bearing also only turns w/the clutch disengaged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscoe Posted February 9, 2005 Author Share Posted February 9, 2005 Sounds more like a transmission input bearing to me especially if you had no noise previous to the trans swap.Pilot bearing only turns when the clutch is disengaged(pedal down). Not familar w/the forester,but,on 99% of cars the throwout bearing also only turns w/the clutch disengaged. Let me see if I understand what your saying... When the pedal is down, the t-o bearing is pushed up against the fingers of the pressure plate (which are spinning with the flywheel), while the transmission shaft is presumably not rotating at all. So the outer race of the t-o bearing is spinning with the engine, and the inner race is sitting still with the transmission input shaft. Of course, if the bearing is shot, then the transmission might be spinning a little bit, which would make it hard to shift, right? When the pedal is up, and the trans in neutral, the transmission input shaft is spinning with the clutch, and so is the inner race of the t-o bearing. The outer race would sort of be left free to spin or not. What I don't understand is how the release fork is connected to the t.o. bearing, because it seems like both races will spin at one time or another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 The release fork pushes on one side, the clutch pressure fingers on the other. The bearing slides free on the shaft. So, the bearing face that contacts the fork does not rotate. The other face will often rotate even with the clutch pedal up, because the fingers are still in slight contact with it. If the noise goes away with only slight pressure on the clutch pedal, then the TO bearing is worn. If you have to press the pedal far enough to actually disengage the clutch before the noise dissappears, then the main bearings in the gearbox are worn. Slight pressure just takes up the slack in the TO bearing and quietens things down. Sometimes, if the clutch linkage has too much freeplay, the bearing face will clear the fingers completly with the pedal up. A worn bearing will then only squeal under slight pressure, because that gets it moving. The noise disappears when you press harder. My girlfriends Ford Fiesta is doing this. Every gear change is accompanied by a short skreak! from the TO bearing.....and Ford has not provided any cable adjustment facility....ARGH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 If the clutch is down and you have a squeak it can also be the pilot bearing and that is a heck of a lot cheaper than a gearbox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscoe Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 The release fork pushes on one side, the clutch pressure fingers on the other. The bearing slides free on the shaft. <snip> My girlfriends Ford Fiesta is doing this. Every gear change is accompanied by a short skreak! from the TO bearing.....and Ford has not provided any cable adjustment facility....ARGH! Ok, so the bearing is not connected to the transmission shaft, it just slides on it loosely. That clears the concept up for me. The irking thing about this is that my clicking occurs when I'm driving also. In terms of the clutch parts, it's no different to be driving in gear than to be stopped at a light in neutral, AFAIK. But whenever people describe the classic t-o bearing symptom, they describe it while stopped and say 'it goes away when you're driving'. Mine kind of comes and goes while I'm driving, and of course it's less noticeable because of excess noise while I'm driving. Any thoughts on that symptom? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 Adjust the freeplay in the clutch cable. The mechanism is on top of the gearbox, middle rear of engine bay. Under the intake piping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny Clark Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 The throw out bearing only spins when it is actuated by the clutch lever. Ususally, if the bearing is bad, it will make noise when the clutch depressed. If the cluth is depressed, you may try to give it some Prozac, but I digress... If the noise goes away with slight pedal pressure, you have another problem. Maybe the installation of the bearing wasn't done right, or as others have pointed out, the pilot bearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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