Speaking from experience... if its the TO bearing, then it could fail
totally at any time (like on the Blue Ridge Pkwy enroute to the VTR in
Asheville, but that's another story). When it does, it usually takes out
one or more of the "fingers" of the diaphragm, thus requiring a complete
clutch replacement. But actually, that's what I would recommend anyway...
a complete replacement of the entire clutch assembly. The job is quite a
pig to do, so you may as well change all the stuff in there while it's open
and accessible. Unless you have mastered the art of "clutchless shifting",
you don't want to risk being a long way from home when it finally decides
to quit. Besides, Winter is coming soon and that makes a great project for
the dark time.
>
> You could probably go for quite awhile (as long as you can stand the
> noise) with your present TO bearing and not create any other problems
> but YMMV. My old TO bearing was wobbly and sounded like a baby rattle
> when I replaced it but I'd had zero problems of any kind, no noise, no
> shifting problems, nothing. It's condition though was appalling and I'm
> glad I had a reason to change it before the trip.
>
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