Clutch Issue? need advice

[hotdog71]

Hi All,

I have a strange squeaking sound when I press the clutch peddle in

I don't thinks it the TOB because it only does it when I operate the clutch peddle and it seems to go away when the car gets warm. It's definitely something to do with the clutch and peddle movement.

I got under the car today and pulled the fork cover plate off and tried spray some lithium grease in there but it didn't really help.

I have the Steeda clutch cable and quadrant but I am thinling about putting the original back in but thought i would ask if anyone has had similar issue.

Any comments or ideas are welcome??

Thanks

 

[302GTS]

It's the throwout bearing, definitely. You've caught it early. At first, the sound goes away when the car warms up... Eventually, you'll have a very angry, and very mangled throwout bearing on your hands. When one of mine went WAY downhill, after yanking the bellhousing away from the engine, my face was covered in melted together ball bearings. I went to pull away the bearing from the input shaft, and it was semi-fused together, until I yanked on the bearing and it separated into three pieces...

Get it taken care of fairly soon, man! It'll only get worse.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

The trans will have to come out. Do not be spraying any grease in there! Do not attempt to lube the old parts install new parts.

 

[patman0911]

Please don't spray any grease up in there or your next thread will be "Why is my clutch slipping so bad?"

TOBs can make noise with the clutch out or in or both. It's a pretty common failure and it's not unusual for the TOB to go bad before the clutch disk wears out on these Mustangs. Yours will get worse and then it will fail catastrophically so don't put it off for too long and if it starts sounding noticeably worse, that's your sign to get it fixed ASAP.

 

[hotdog71]

Thanks for the advice peps!

Let me try to clarify something it only make the sound when I operate the clutch peddle. So it doesn't make any sounds when the clutch is engaged or disengaged. I notice the peddle resistance changes sometimes its really smooth and then sometimes it rough like is catching on something. The sound is most nasty when the engine is off so do you think it would still be the TOB?

As for the grease I only sprayed the fork area and not the plate and clutch it not slipping.

The biggest bummer is my king cobra clutch only has around 35-40K on it.

Is the TOB an easy change or should I just swap the clutch out too?
What clutch is recommended? I really find the cobra clutch quite heavy for what it is giving in return.

Thanks for the input peps!

 

[Icemanstang]

What clutch is recommended?

I recently just last year installed a new Centerforce DF clutch.
It is the best clutch I ever used on a Ford Mustang.
I would definitley get another Centerforce clutch again.

 

[hotdog71]

So I thought I would call Ford and get a price for the TOB which was $43.xx +tax then I thought I wonder how much they would charge to fix it so I asked but wish I hadn't at whopping $920.00 + tax just for labor

I had to check what he said so I was sure I heard him right the first time

Does it really take a day to do the change?

 

[Mustank]

Did you change the clutch yourself? If you did, then you already know how to change a tob - the only difference is the last couple of steps.

Changing the throwout bearing isn't that hard, but you have to remove the transmission to do it, so it takes time. If you're doing it on jack-stands, it could easily take a whole day.

It's always a good idea to do clutch and tob at the same time. But - if your clutch is that new, I wouldn't bother changing it yet.

The King Cobra is a decent clutch for moderate setups. If you think it's too stiff, you should probably go to the gym...

 

[hotdog71]

Did you change the clutch yourself?

The King Cobra is a decent clutch for moderate setups. If you think it's too stiff, you should probably go to the gym...

I did not change the clutch myself. Actuaclly I had Ford do it for Free when they were doing the gerabox TSB a few yrs back they had trouble with the gearbox TSB and it took them two weeks to do the fix, so I asked them to swap it for my and they did of course I paid for the parts clutch probably had about 50k on it.

I have axle stands and two hudrolic jacks one big, and one small.

go to the gym,

I just find it really heavy I mean its about 3 or 4 times heavier then the stock clutch, but heard some of the other clutchs out ther are just as good but are not as heavy.

 

[trinity_gt]

If the squeak is only present when the pedal is actually moving then it's probably not the release (throwout) bearing. If you don't hear it with your foot to the floor but hear it as your foot is moving to the floor then I'd suspect one of:

- the fulcrum point that the release arm pivots on
- the collar that the release bearing rides on on the front of the trans has insufficient lube

 

[joshjwc9]

Holy crap $920 bucks?!! Most Mustang shops around here charge an even $250 for a clutch install plus parts of course. Go with one of two brands if you are going to replace the clutch, RAM or Centerforce.

Everyone has had good luck here with both (it seems at least) and the lower level clutches are cheaper than a King Cobra and have a lighter pedal. Also, did you have the quadrant and cable installed before Ford did your Clutch the last time? Is everything adjusted correctly?

 

[hotdog71]

Hi,

Yes Ford did the cltuch install.

We installed the Steeda quad and cable adjuster kit after the clutch was fitted almost 3 years back now and yes it was correctly adjusted.

The noise which I can only describe as a load squeak/scrapping sound when depressing or released the clutch peddle and I feel the friction on the peddle like its rubbing on something and not sliding smoothly like it should. I sprayed some lithium grease on the arm and tried to get the bearing without hitting the clutch itself and it made it a little better.

The clutch has always felt really heavy and I would prefer slightly lighter since I do quite a bit of stop start as my DD over hear in Seattle Eastside area I405/I5.

thx!