Joe---This is a new one for me. If you hadn't replaced the throwout
bearing carrier (with a bronze one) I would have suggested that this was
a good bet. The fact that this sound you hear doesn't appear right away
after doing a witch dance makes it more difficult to diagnose.
At this point, I would not take the tranny back out to examine the
clutch. Drive your car to a station that has a lift, and take a page
from Vance's book, by bringing a long pipe flattened to an oval shape
on one end. Be prepared to disengage the clutch with this pipe as many
times as necessary to try getting the "noise" to show up.
Does the sound change if you operate the clutch with different engine
speeds?
Let us know what you find!
Dick
Joe Davis wrote:
My clutch proplem has really turned out to be a delema. The clutch works
great. It is a LUK with the Gunst bearing preloaded per his
instructions. The clutch engages smoothly and silently about half way
through the pedals travel. I've not measured it, but it seems great to
me. The pedal is a bit heavy (I was warned), but I like it that way. The
problem I'm having is a dragging sensation throughout the the pedal
travel. There is also an accompanying "spring" sound which iminates from
under the car. This can be heard from twenty feet away. Of course, when
the engine is running, the sound is drowned out, but the rubbing
sensation is still there.
The sound/rubbing sensation is there even with just 1/4" of pedal
movement on either end of the pedals travel.
All the components of the hydraulic and mechanical mechanisms of the
clutch are new except for the slave cylinder which was about 3 years old
when I finished the car this spring. To me, it felt like the problem was
in the slave cylinder itself. When my wife stepped on the pedal there
was a vibration in the cylinder (not the bell housing). It felt like the
plunger was dragging. Someone suggested I disconnect the slave, put a
length of pipe on the lever and try to recreate the sound. This sounded
like a great diagnostic tool. But, II don't have a lift, and I can't get
the car high enough in the air to use a pipe long enough to get the
leverage to move the clutch. So....I got a new slave cylinder and
installed it. I was thrilled to find that the problem was resolved.
Unfortunately, the problem reappeared about 10 miles down the road! this
didn't make sense. (again the clutch functions fine). So I disconnected
the push rod from the lever thinking maybe things arn't lined up right,
reconnected everything, got back in the car and the clutch is silent!
Problem resolved (again). I pumped the clutch, and on the 18th time, the
problem reappeared. I repeated the procedure, disconnected and
reconnected the push rod, and again the clutch was silent up to the
fifteenth push! Iv'e repeated this at least 6 times with the same
results. It takes at least 10 pushes to recreate the problem.
I'm convinced there is a problem with the LUK pressure plate. One
of the fingers is probably making the sound/rubbing sensation in the
pedal/vibration in the slave cylinder. Why the problem disappears when I
disengage the pushrod for a minute and reappears with use is beyond me.
Once the problem reappears, it is always there. If I leave the car for a
minute or days, it is there the first time I push the pedal. I
disconnected the pre-load spring thinking this had something to do with
it. It doesn't. This is bizzare. Joe Davis
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