The Good - The Bad
The good news is I drove her for the first time in 9 months - over 8 miles!
My original intention was to replace the worn out clutch last September but
shipwrights disease and several hundreds of dollars delayed the expected spring
time completion.
The bad news is that, on Sunday, I had her all ready for a ride and when turning
the motor over with the starter (no spark - oil in the cylinders) a terrible
SCREEEECHING noise came from the bell housing. I got up the courage after
building oil pressure to fire up the engine and the screeching noise continued (
but the motor started great!). I was too afraid to leave it running or drive
after picturing visions of the flywheel and clutch parts flying through the bell
housing and slicing my legs. I decided to wait and think about it - I was pretty
disgusted.
Monday evening after work I investigated and the noise was definitely coming
from the throwout bearing (it and all other clutch components are new and
matched). I installed the throwout bearing using TRFs tool designed for the
purpose. I disconnected the slave cylinder rod and, while the motor was running,
could make the sound stop by operating the lever so the throwout bearing was as
far away from the clutch as possible - no noise. Moving the lever the other way
produced the awful screeching noise.
I wanted at least a short drive. I figured, the worst that could happen is the
noise could get worse and the gearbox would have to come out and the throwout
bearing would have to be replaced.
The noise stopped completely within 200 yards of my driveway. I drove about a
mile and put her in the garage and did some more thinking. This morning I
started her up and for about 10 seconds the noise returned but not nearly so
loud and then quit completely. I drove 7.5 miles. It shifted great and no noise.
Is my throwout bearing bad? Did it need to break in a little after sitting in
the uninstalled gearbox for 8+ months? Is this normal? Should I begin locating
a '84-'86 Landcruiser throwout bearing and chalk it up to LBC fate?
Thanks for any advice and responses,
Mark A. Evans
1966 TR4A IRS CTC63970 LO
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