Throw Out Bearing? Pressure Plate? Help?!

[elark0]

Hi there! I'm new to the forum, haven't posted yet, but I've been lurking and reading for a while...I apologize in advance if this is ridiculously long...

A couple months ago, I let my boyfriend take my '99 Cobra Convertible out for errands...a few hours later, he called me at work and said, "There's something wrong with your car."

He told me that while pulling out of a parking lot, all of a sudden the car started making a screeching noise. He drove it home, and said it shifted okay, but the clutch felt "funny" or "a little loose". The car screeched when the clutch was pushed in, but the noise went away when the clutch was let out...otherwise it drove fine, but he smelled something funny, too.

The car didn't have any problems when I drove it a week earlier, so I was wondering what the BF did...after months, he's still not used to my clutch...although he claims he drives better when I'm not in the car...guess we'll never know

I bought the car with 33k miles on it in 2005. She now has about 82k (used to be my daily driver), and I've never changed the clutch. I'm pretty sure it's NOT the stock clutch, but don't know for sure, and have no idea what kind it is or when it was put in. I brought it in to my local Mustang shop and had them do a once-over on her in April, I was worried about the wear and specifically asked about my clutch, and the guy that drove it said the clutch felt fine, and I've never felt any slipping or anything, so no worries. In May I bought my new daily driver and put the Cobra in the garage...a couple weeks later, this happened, and she's been sitting ever since.

I started her today to make sure my battery hadn't died or anything, and the screeching started with the clutch pressed in on start up. I let the clutch out, the screeching mostly went away...but I started hearing strange noises that sounded like belt noises or something under the hood. I turned the car off, and my boyfriend pointed out the strange smell - which is a smell I've always associated with the cats burning off, like if I don't accelerate hard for a while, then punch it.

After a few minutes, I turned the car back on and let it run. This time, it didn't screech on start-up, but the weird "belt noises" continued. I slowly pushed the clutch in, and it shuddered pretty hard on the way down, but otherwise went in like normal. Strange smell continued also.

I've heard/read the same few things that could cause this problem: Throw out bearing, pressure plate, etc. But I haven't found anything exactly like my problem, and I've heard conflicting things....a bad throw out bearing makes noise when the clutch is in, others say when it's out, I don't know what the symptoms of a bad pressure plate are, so I don't know what's right. And I'm afraid to go to a mechanic because a lot of them are scum and try to take advantage of little girls like me The guys at the Mustang shop near me are pretty good, but they're about half an hour away...I don't want to drive the car and chance making things worse just to get it looked at, and I don't want to have it towed yet because I can't afford to get it fixed right now.

When I finally bring it in, I just want to be prepared. I e-mailed the guys at the Mustang shop and asked about pricing for dropping the tranny and checking out the throw out bearing and possibly replacing the clutch, but then he started talking about replacing the clutch fork, ball stud, pilot bearing...and those are words I've never heard before. And they were used in the context of, "Once we're in there, we'll look and tell you if this stuff is bad..." and I don't know if I'd trust that. Plus, cost is sort of an issue at the moment, my stupid daily driver has needed a lot of work and has been eating up all my "extra" money.....and I don't want any surprises in the form of, "Oh by the way, you need this replaced, and it'll cost you an extra $400 you don't have."

SO...first of all, is there a definitive way I can tell what is wrong, without going to a mechanic? If I replace the entire clutch assembly, what all should be included in that (or maybe I should ask, what exactly is in a clutch kit?)? What would be separate part charges? Any other surprises I should be prepared for?

And any recommendations for a clutch? This will just be my "fun" car, no serious racing or anything, my current clutch is pretty hard and I like it that way...the Mustang shop guy told me Ford, a friend with a Cobra said King Cobra....I just have no idea!

Any help or advice would be appreciated!!!! Thanks!!!!

 

[Uncle Meat]

Definitely sounds like a bad throw out bearing and possibly the clutch itself is fried too (causing the odor you're smelling). You state that everything checked out fine in April, but your boyfriend has been driving the car lately and he's not really good with a manual transmission huh? All it takes is a few weeks of amateur clutch use with a lot of riding and slipping and there goes the clutch.

As for recommendations.... if the car is basically stock and will be used primarily as a daily driver I'd suggest you replace any worn or broken parts with stock Ford replacements.

U.M.

 

[elark0]

Yeah, the car was fine in April. The boyfriend only drove it 3 or 4 times after that, and I bought my new daily driver shortly after it was checked out, so the Cobra was sitting. When this happened, no one had driven it in about 2 weeks. I was the last one to drive it, and it was fine.

Even if I let the boyfriend drive, he wasn't driving it all the time - he drove it MAYBE once a week for the time we've been together (10 months at the time, and he says he's still not used to it?!??), if we went out somewhere together and happened to take my car. And he didn't drive THAT bad, his only problem was not letting up the clutch fast enough when shifting. Yeah, I know that wears on it, but as little as he drove it, I didn't think it could fry the clutch that quickly. Well crap, if he drove it slightly bad once a week for almost a year, I guess that is a lot.

But either way, it was fine up until this day. If we blame his bad shifting or not, is it normal for this to happen at the drop of a hat? I would have figured if the clutch was going, it'd be a gradual thing, not be fine, then all of a sudden be crap. Or is that how the throw out bearing dies?

Any way I can prove this is my boyfriend's fault? I'm trying to guilt him into helping me pay to fix it, since HE broke it!

 

[Uncle Meat]

Well if the clutch was on the brink of going out to begin with all it would take is a small amount of abuse to put it over the edge. Considering the fact that you've put almost 50K on the car in just two years also points to the fact that it's probably just wore out and needs replacement!

You can try to guilt trip the boyfriend by telling him that his "riding the clutch" has prematurely worn the throwout bearing and clutch. Tell him you're cool with that though and willing to split the cost of parts & labor.

U.M.

 

[Price1]

82,000 on the clutch is a gift it its original! Most of mine have gone out in the 50,000 - 55,000 mile range WITHOUT abuse (I'm older and wiser now). And, yeah, sometimes the clutch just "goes" all at once. The screeching is, as Uncle Meat noted, the TOB. The smell is, also as UM noted, the clutch slipping/burning - it should smell like "hot brakes." As far as the fork, pivot ball, they seldom go bad. But, they aren't expensive, either. Make sure they replace the pilot bearing, too (it's in the flywheel and the tranny input shaft rides in there). It's cheap (as a part) but not always the easiest thing to get out. You should also get the flywheel resurfaced - it's maybe $50-$75 extra to do this.

Good luck - although I'm not sure your boyfriend "broke" it as it was probably on its last legs anyway. If he'll help you with the $$$, he's a keeper.

 

[elark0]

Thanks guys!

I just called the Mustang shop...apparently the price he gave me included a Ford clutch, the throw out bearing, pilot bearing, and resurfacing the flywheel, too. I guess I was more prepared than I thought! He said the only wild cards might be the ball stud and the clutch fork, but those are a lot cheaper than I thought they'd be.

So far, the price looks to be around $600-$650, depending on the stud and fork, which might bring it up to $700. Does that sound about right?