Yet another TOB question

[JetBrett]

Like a lot of 99+ mustangs, mine has a noisy throw out bearing. The clutch seems to be holding fine...for now. A replacement throw out bearing is about $30.00. Before replacing it -I'd rather not grease it- I'd like to know what is causing it to squeak. Does anyone know if it just a case of some of these being defective, or is there another process at work here?

 

[Ajax_02GT]

If the noise goes away when you press the clutch pedal, try adjusting it like I suggest in this thread:

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=473752

I've read enough posts where people said replacement TOB's (Ford or aftermarket ones) eventually started making noise again to convince me it's a design flaw or something. Other than the noise when tension is off of it, everything works perfectly. Clutch pedal works fine, shifting is fine, clutch doesn't slip, etc. I don't think they are defective because when I press the clutch pedal it gets nice and quiet which suggests that is it working as it is supposed to. However, my theory is that when tension is off of it that there is enough play that it is jingling around on either the input shaft, pressure plate, or clutch fork to cause the noise. I'm no expert though and all I know is that adjusting the setup so that more tension is put on the TOB keeps it nice and quiet like it should be.

Unless a new TOB comes out that is proven to eliminate the noise, I'm not changing mine until either it starts making noise all the time or when I have to replace the clutch, whichever comes first.