Hey,
A few months back I started to notice what I thought were the signs of a worn clutch release bearing: i.e. a noisy, metallic, whirring sound when the clutch pedal was pressed. There was no noise when idling in neutral or driving along in gear. It only happened when the car was well up to temperature.
So I went about replacing the pressure plate, disc and release bearing, and I renewed the clutch cable for good measure. However, I noticed there was a fair about of endplay on the flywheel side (guessing maybe 2mm!).
It was getting late and I needed the car for the morning so I reassembled everything. Started car, clutch down, no noise...great! Or so I thought. I left the car running for maybe 10 minutes whilst the new coolant moved around the engine etc (new water pump and timing belt too).
Came back, clutch down to select reverse and the noisy, metallic, whirring sound was back: worse than before!
Removed the small half moon shaped plate on the lower gearbox (engine side) and had a look at the back of the flywheel. There was some scoring on the inner edge of it, some of which looked new. I puts some Tipex lines on the flywheel and tested for the noise again. Another look at the flywheel and a section of the lines were almost gone.
Any ideas what the noise could be?
Is it the thrust bearings that are shot, giving me the metallic whirring sound? The sound may have been made worse by the stronger force excerted by the new clutch (the fingers on the old clutch were bent). The noise I thought was a release bearing may actually be crank on block!
Or is there some other explanation? And why does it do it only when hot? Never does it when cold, not even a peep.
If it is the thrust bearings, are they replaceable by dropping the sump and removing the end caps or are the bearings a full circle?
Any assistance would be great. Don't want to wreck the crack/block if it is the thrust bearings.
Thanks
A few months back I started to notice what I thought were the signs of a worn clutch release bearing: i.e. a noisy, metallic, whirring sound when the clutch pedal was pressed. There was no noise when idling in neutral or driving along in gear. It only happened when the car was well up to temperature.
So I went about replacing the pressure plate, disc and release bearing, and I renewed the clutch cable for good measure. However, I noticed there was a fair about of endplay on the flywheel side (guessing maybe 2mm!).
It was getting late and I needed the car for the morning so I reassembled everything. Started car, clutch down, no noise...great! Or so I thought. I left the car running for maybe 10 minutes whilst the new coolant moved around the engine etc (new water pump and timing belt too).
Came back, clutch down to select reverse and the noisy, metallic, whirring sound was back: worse than before!
Removed the small half moon shaped plate on the lower gearbox (engine side) and had a look at the back of the flywheel. There was some scoring on the inner edge of it, some of which looked new. I puts some Tipex lines on the flywheel and tested for the noise again. Another look at the flywheel and a section of the lines were almost gone.
Any ideas what the noise could be?
Is it the thrust bearings that are shot, giving me the metallic whirring sound? The sound may have been made worse by the stronger force excerted by the new clutch (the fingers on the old clutch were bent). The noise I thought was a release bearing may actually be crank on block!
Or is there some other explanation? And why does it do it only when hot? Never does it when cold, not even a peep.
If it is the thrust bearings, are they replaceable by dropping the sump and removing the end caps or are the bearings a full circle?
Any assistance would be great. Don't want to wreck the crack/block if it is the thrust bearings.
Thanks
Last edited:
