Bob_98SR5

Guys,

Just when you thought everything was fixed...

Well, seems that I have two sources of noises coming from the clutch area. Last night I removed the infamous U-bushing and went w/ Unhappy's recommendation to replace it with a spring. That solved the high pitched squeaking problem.

Apparently that was not the only source of noise. While its not as annoying, there is a low groaning noise coming from the clutch (interior) area whenever I depress it. When I press further down on the clutch, the sound can be heard.

Any guesses as to what this might be and the fix?

Thanks,
Bob

Unhappy99

Throw out bearing. Toyota did not lube them properly at the factory.

But, hey....it lasted through the warranty period, right?

Unhappy99

Wait a minute...you wrote 'interior'. Does it make the groaning sound with the engine off?

There just aren't very many moving pieces to make noise, and you know this quite well since you've disassembled all of it before. Try lubing the pedal axle rotating part. Dab a bit of heavy grease on the return spring end where it meets the pedal pin, and on the return spring coils themselves. Perhaps the pedal pin itself is rotating and needs lube.

Get down there and push it by hand to figure out where its coming from. Heavy grease is your friend.

Sucellus

Clutch master cylinder? I could imagine the push seals making a groaning noise. Just speculating though...As Unhappy suggested, stand on your head and push on the pedal to see if you can track it down. I ordered some lithium grease and plan to go to work on mine as soon as it arrives. Also, a mechanic mentioned that there is another bushing in the pedal assembly that can go out...I haven't taken a close enough look at mine though.

Also, you might make sure that the bushing arm(lever arm) is clearing the spring fully. The spring will make noise if contacts that arm--especially if the noise is at full extention.

Scofco

Infamous U-Bushing?
Tell me more. I think I have the same issue.

Bob_98SR5

Guys,

I cut the end off one of the sides of the lever arm so that it doesnt contact the Unhappy spring, so that's definitely not it.

Thanks for the advice, guys. Grease gun is gonna go to town tonight. I'll let you know how thigns go.

Scof: http://www.4runners.org/articles/clutchbush . But don't waste your time on this unless you have a little paranoia. Do the unhappy spring mod. Search "FIXED!" and you'll find your answer in that thread.

Bob

rimpainter.com

Hmmm, let me see. You screwed with the clutch assembly (new spring mod) and now you have a groaning sound. I would have to say that somehow these two things are related. Could it be that the new spring is pulling harder, causing contact in a previously un-lubed spot? I second the grease gun idea. Let us know what you find Bob.

Sucellus

Bob,
You probably have enough clearance in the arm. The reason I asked is that I broke out the sawsall and cut off the entire arm--I don't have anything like the noise like you described. Thus that would logicaly be the only difference between our setups. The only noise I have comes when the pedal first begins to be depressed. It's more of a really small squeek. I'm sure you'll track it down. Sounds like your shifting better anyway!

azrain

Bob,

Any "clicking" yet? If not, there should be shortly. That was the first sign of my clutch master cylinder making its death gasps. You'll need an ASCO/Aisin Seiki P/N 31410-35310 part. I did the slave cylinder at the same time (ASCO/Aisin Seiki P/N 31470-35120), set me back an entire $130 or something cheap like that. I rebuilt the originals and they're on the shelf for the future. I bought the parts online at www.thepartsbin.com.

Throwout bearing is kind of a "squealing" sound. That is next on my drivetrain noise ill's I'm afraid.

Mike

Bob_98SR5

Guys,

I went to town on anything that could have been the source of the groan, but after greasing all those points, the groaning sound is still there.

Sucellus: are you talking about this part when you say "arm"?


If so, i cut one of the sides off (bottom part) so it doesn't hit the spring.

Mike: yikes, that's NOT what i wanted to hear! but thanks for the part numbers. I'm gonna have to print that info out. However you gave me a thought: when I first changed out my u-bushing, i removed the master cylinder so i could take out the clutch pedal assembly. maybe its loose and b/c its not bolted on tight, that might be the source of the groaning. I'll take a look tomorrow night

guys, thanks for all the help. i'll get to the bottom of this.

Bob

Sucellus

Yep, thats what I'm talking about, Bob. Hope you track it down!

azrain

So what did you find out there chief? Changing out the clutch MC and SC are what I would consider normal maintenance at this point of the life ('98 and all.) Go take a hit off the jenday, look at it, save it for the weekend .Talk at 'ya later bud.

Mike

Bob_98SR5

Mike,

I'm definitely gonna have to do this on Saturday mah-nin. I'll let you know what I find out. Hopefully my MC and SC have some life in them. I gotta vegas trip coming up soon!

Bob

89-4run

I had my MC just replaced a month ago, fixed my problem.

L33T35T 4Runner

figure it out yet?

azrain

Bob, I'll betcha a six pack of Sierra Nevada's and a pouch of apple shisha it's either or both the clutch MC or SC. I'll see if I can't dig up the pics of what the inside of my MC looked like when I pulled it. Nasty.

Really, it's an easy repair, takes about an hour / hour and a half.

Mike

Bob_98SR5

Guys,

I tightened the nuts on the MC to see if that groan was coming from there but nope, it was not the cause of the problem.

Mike, looks like i have to head to the Persian liquor store for you. I'm going to have to wait until the end of the month to replace this as I just replaced my wife's half axle on her Camry.

Mike, would you advise rebuilding or replacing w/ a new MC/SC? I'm more inclined to just replace since its only around $130 as you said. However, how much was the rebuild kit?

Thanks as always,
Bob

azrain

Bob,

The kit's totaled $55.00 at NAPA. It was a bit of a PITA as I needed to hone the MC bore. It was attacked by water / condensation contamination. They way I figured it was that for $130.00 I get new (indeed as it turns out they are new, not reman) parts that are essentially OEM. Far cry from the $180.00 that NAPA quoted. I did not go to the dealer. The flare nut on the slave cylinder is a B!t@@ to get at, but if my fat old hands can get to it, anyone can.

IMHO, I say go for replacement, rebuild the originals and store them on a shelf for a rainy day. My clutch actuates like the day I bought it now, which is a good thing considering the amount of street driving and webwheeling I do these days! LOL.

Mike

Bob_98SR5

Mike,

Ok, great. I'll just buy the new OEM MC and the SC and i'll rebuild the existing (faulty) one later. And you can bet they'll be a write up on this one as well.

As always, thanks for everyone's great advice.

Bob

rimpainter.com

I wonder what TOR could get this part for Bob?