Shriek under hood - may not B belt
 

So here's my headache for the last few months.

Every time I go from a full stop, or a very slow roll , I get a loud-as-hell shriek from under the hood as the clutch engages. It often lasts several seconds. This also happens in reverse.

All of the belts are new (replaced them during last winter) and tightened properly.

If I feather the clutch while engaging it, with lots of RPM, I can sometimes avoid the shriek. But not often. And it's virtually unavoidable when engaging the clutch under a load (ie fatass in the passenger seat, pulling away from a stop when heading uphill.)

I no longer suspect that it's coming from the belts. They're all from the dealer - no aftermarket.

And this may be another clue:

I get very fast thumps, and sometimes a wobble (the whole car lurches like I've popped the clutch) from the drivetrain when engaging the clutch in 1st, and sometimes 2nd. Sometimes, if I've shifted into 2nd and am letting the clutch out and give it some gas b4 the clutch is fully engaged, I get a lot of *very* quick thumps that disappear when the clutch is fully engaged.

I haven't had time to go over this with my mechanic.

I just replaced the driveshaft, so it isn't that nor the u-joints (which I had originally suspected.) Now I'm wondering if it's something inside the transmission, or maybe it's the flywheel. The clutch is a 6-puck copper ACT racing clutch that's less than a year old, so I'm certain that it's fine. I had also suspected the diff, but that has been replaced and the symptoms continue...

-bump-

Bad throw out bearing it sounds like to me, or perhaps pilot (but that usually desinigrates, not squeels)

Bad thorow out is right. Mine did that until I replaced it. $33 at Napa, but you have to drop the tranny or pull the engine to get to it. Kind of a pian to slide on to the slave, but not too hard. I had completly broken off a finger of my TO bearing!!:eek:

Thank you! I'm on it! :D

And looking forward to nixing another long-standing annoyance with my FC. This has been a rockin' summer for getting the girl in shape. :D

Awright, got an appointment for Wednesday. They estimate about 3-4 hours labour and they're going to do the pilot bearing as well - they say it's a good idea to do both at the same time.

Now when she shrieks, instead of cringing I'm grinnin'. :D

Awright - finally got my girl back! Shop was so busy they didn't get to her until today.

Both bearings were replaced and... NO MORE SHRIEK! :D And the lurch has *mostly* disappeared. I was lucky, and managed to reach my mechanic after I was done delivering pizza tonight. We wound up talking and hanging out for over an hour. It was time well spent. And when I told him about the lurch and he checked it out... and he laughed at me. The car lurches when I engage the clutch because it's a racing clutch. A 6 puck copper ACT racing clutch. The lurch is a fact of life from now on because of the way this thing grabs.

'Ya don't want it to lurch? Then dump it.' That was the message. :hah:

I also managed to snag console and clock bezels to replaced my smashed ones, plus get some other trim pieces I've needed AWA advice on parts. $40 and 3 bottles of MMO can get you a lot of goodies. :D

My thanks again to all for your generous guidance. :)

So I Just threw away $300. :(

The squeal is back.


When the mechanic pulled the bearings to replace them, he said that they looked fine. He put new ones in anyway. So it seems pretty clear that the source is elsewhere. Still something in the tranny. But what?

Did you get a chance to look at your flywheel? Perhaps it is warped/worn too badly.

I wasn't there for the surgery. He didn't say anything about the flywheel. I will ask just the same next time I see him.

Update

Put in a new (to me) tranny a few weeks back.

The shriek is still there, happens more frequently and the pitch is a little different.

Yes, I'm thinking flywheel, too. And, no, we were so wrapped up in swapping the trannies as quickly as possible that no one thought to look at the flywheel. :doh:

Guess I'll have to live with it until I get inspired to drop the tranny again (PITA.)

Thanks for listening. :)

i get the same problem, though its pretty rare. i think its my water pump! is bearing and seal is getting really bad and starting to leak all over the place and its making other sounds too. I ordered up a new one, ill see if that fixes it. I dont know how the water pump could make that sound though, maybe when the fan engages or somthing. its kind of a long shot, but possible.

I've got a used water pump in there now. Hmm...

its not the throwout bearing. i have a noisy throwout bearing on my T2.

the throwout bearing is the bearing that the clutch sits on the when car is in neutral and the clutch pedal is released. which would only make the noise when he is sitting still, with the car out of gear and the clutch released.

How hard is a throwout bearing replacement? I got a squeal when sitting still with the car in neutral. I thought it might be my starter somehow, cause that thnig is going bad fast!

Re: Shriek under hood - may not B belt
 

You have answered your own question. It is the clutch assembly (flywheel/disc/pressure plate). If it changes by feathering the clutch and different loadings on the car. You think the thowout bearing or pilot bearing can tell the differnce if you have a fat passenger or going up hill? NO. Neither can the fan belts, water pump etc. Could be trans or diff but that wouldn't vary much based of feathering the clutch or not. you would also beable to hear the sound comming from a different area of the car.

Either the clutch is used up all ready or the flywheel or pressure plate is messed up. When I first read the description of the problem my first thought was you have worn the clutch disk down so a rivet is now contacting the flywheel or pressure plate. Your mechanic hopefully inspected these parts when he dissassembled the clutch.

Guess you could be moving the crank in and out when pressing on the clutch. I don't know much about that.

My .02

I will follow up on your ideas. Thanx. :)

after i replaced my waterpump, the shriek never came back.

The throw out bearing is fixed in place on the clutch fork, with the rotating part that contacts the pressure plate when the clutch is applied, it also sits on the pressure plate when it's not applied, still spinning with the pressure plate regardless of what gear it's in because the pressure plate is always spinning. That's why it worked for rico :)

yeah i think you're right now that i am looking in the FSM. :) ass.
i guess i just noticed it sitting in neutral cause my motor was so damn loud while accelerating.

Amur_ - still got the squeal? From the sound of it, i'd believe it could be the water pump. never thought of it though- sorry.
if you want, we can give it a listen. i've got some metal pipe we can use like a stethoscope.
ttfn- malahyde

I'm pretty sure that I've changed out the water pump since the squeal first started. I'll have to check my log book for the car (if I even remembered to note it. :D )

Also, it might be kind of hard to listen that closely for the sound. It only happens when I'm engaging the clutch and I'd rather not run over the listener. :)

Btw, it's happening even more frequently now. Like when downshifting from 3rd to 2nd at high revs, there's a brief but loud metallic shriek.

I didn't note the water pump changeout in the fuel log, so I can't say for sure when I did it.

Okay, visited with my 7 mechanic tonight. Shot the shit and then went for a drive up and down the strip in front of the shop.

It is NOT the clutch nor anything to do with the clutch assembly. Ivan has been working with these clutches (ACT 6-puck copper) for years in both street and race apps. He knows what a dying/bitched clutch assembly sounds like and this ain't it.

He believes that it is something to do with the belts/pulleys. Since the shriek happens at the top of the pedal, his thought is that since that is when the engine is torquing (and twisting) hardest that maybe one of the pulleys is briefly brought into contact with... something.

When I have previously poked around under the hood I was not looking for any indications of anything like that. But I will be next time, which should be Friday. I'll check back when I have some more news. :)

what your describing sounds just like the problem i had! like i said before, its probably the water pump bearing. My car only did the shriek every now and then. then it got more frequent, finally i replaced the pump and it has never happen again.

its not THAT hard to replace... ok its a pain in the ass, but still, you can do it and its pretty cheap.

I know all about swapping out the water pump. :)