PDX_1ton

I have a noisy whirrly clutch sound. It is a bit confusing considering a just replaced everything.

Makes the sound when I engage the clutch. Sound increases in intensity until about 3/4 of the clutch peddle is depressed then quickly ends the last 1/4 push. There is no sound at either full depression or full release. The clutch does not slip. There is no clunking sounds.

Rebuild Engine, New clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing from Marlin crawler. New pilot bearing from engnblder. 3 new quarts of Moble 1 tranny oil.

It is only the second day of driving the truck around after the rebuild. There was no sound yesterday. Today is very very cold (8 degrees F). I'm wondering if the cold could contribute to the sound. It is hard to believe the thowout or pilot bearing is bad since they are new.

Here are my thoughts. Too much grease on the TO bearing and it is slipping until there is significat pressure on it. Least likely is the TO bearing was bad to start.

Thoughts?

(edit: Anyone?)

PDX_1ton

Bump up.

thook

Did you put the retainer clips back on the release fork?

Cold could contribute, I suppose. Too much grease seems unlikely, though. That will just sling off.

PDX_1ton

Yes I did put the clips back on. Both of them, greased as the manual says. Thook, what would it sound like if they fell off.

thook

Not sure. I've always put them back on....hehe. Just trying to troubleshoot the only parts you have to work with.........the TO being one of them.

Are you sure you torqued everything down correctly? Is the friction disk on correctly......ie. not on backwards.

PDX_1ton

I torqued it to spec and double checked the friction disk. Even had somebody else look at it. The springs and bushings where face out, towards the plate with the fingers.

I know it is strange. I could be the TO bearing, just hard to believe. (Oh and yes I put the TO bearing with the finished face towards the clutch plate)

thook

Does the sound go away at all after you've been driving for a bit or no?

Otherwise, I'm not sure what to tell you. It sounds like you did everything right.

Wonder....did you get the flywheel resurfaced?

PDX_1ton

No the sound stays around after the truck is warmed up. Yes the flywheel is resurfaced, even with the little step.

(Weather will warm up in a couple days and I will see if it continues to make the same sounds when it is warmer)

thook

Last thing, did you get the TO bearing pressed on straight?

yotakid825

my clutch does the same thing with the same kind of noise. I haven't figured it out yet , but it happened after the truck was sitting in 1.5ft of muddy water. Did you drive through anything deep enough to reach the tranny?

PDX_1ton

Thook: I'm not sure you can put on the TO bearing crooked. It just slides back and forth on the shaft. Now the pilot bearing is more likely to go in crooked because the outside presses into the whatever it is on the back of the motor. Still I drifted that in with a large flat wooden block.

Yotakid: No, it hasn't even been in the rain yet, much less a puddle since the clutch was replaced.

abecedarian

Is there any chance that the release arms, springs or counterweights on the pressure plate (the part actually bolts on to and clamps the clutch disc to the flywheel) were damaged during the install? ... like maybe the transmission input shaft bumped into the pressure plate while you were trying to position something?
The more I think about it, the more think it's likely one of the arms (or fingers if you prefer) on the pressure plate may have been bent, causing the TO bearing to unevenly contact the arms (fingers), causing noise. It would go away once the clutch is sufficiently depressed since it would then be contacting all of the arms (fingers).

PDX_1ton

Abe: I assembled the tranny and the engine outside of the bay. I was careful when mating the two. If anything was bumped it would be a figner on the presure plate.

(Sadly the compression test shows low compression on the rebuild, so I might be pulling the whole thing out. Really sucks!)

abecedarian

wow....
I just replied to your other thread.
If it makes you feel better, I wrestled for a week trying to get a torque converter in my wife's truck: first they sent me the wrong one, then the one they sent had a bent flange (to engage the pump in the trans). I must've dropped the engine in and pulled it out 12 times. Sorta dumb me for not pulling the engine and trans together, but then again I don't have room in my garage (have a motorcycle, 72 firebird and 89 celica in my 2 car garage already) to muck with it. ***For the record, when they tell you "God gave you lemons... make lemonade." tell them "F-U! I'm building a truck!"

Nutshell- feces occuri: **it happens. And I will tell you that the most common cause of 'whirring' is a failing release bearing. I can't tell you why it's failing, just that's the "statistical" most likely cause. Maybe it was installed backwards?

PDX_1ton

Thanks Abe: You are quick on the reply and always have good info. I don't mind pulling it again, as it becomes easier each time. Oh and it is so much easier to pull the tranny with the engine. Getting the picker chain set up right is the hardest part. What I don't like about pulling it again is having to buy the gaskets again and again. Oh and it is my only car (other than my bike) So getting repair parts is not easy without a friend's or girlfriend's help.

Still we do have pride when we get done and say, "That's right I rebuilt that."

abecedarian

Hey... I wouldn't say I always have good info. Personally, my target is "something no one else thought of", whether wrong or right.

As for pulling the engine, I do agree it gets easier each time... but then I start to wonder if that's because you've had that picker over your truck for too long? ...maybe you don't tighten ALL the bolts down till you know it's right? ...maybe you KNOW it's going to be wrong and are just going throught the motions for just that one... last... bit... of... validation?

Been there once, don't wanna do it again... yes, I can feel your 'gasket' pain... and I don't mean that literally.

thook

Whoa! Have the rings had a good chance to seat? Or, is it valve related?

abecedarian

spark plugs in the other cylinders still installed...
and the throttle not held open....

thook

Step 5, eh? Got me, too.

abecedarian

5b.