confused.. throw out bearing noise?

fords response to noisy TOB's was to put out a TSB directing that preload be dialed into the cable to eliminate the noise. IIRC, its about 10# of preload.

tbadair said:

how would you put preload on the tob???

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you do it via dialing in preload on the cable (same thing as when he pushes the pedal a little and the noise dissipates).

the amount is really immaterial, unless it's excessive. just adjust a little at a time till the noise goes bye bye. cool?

neg. you are not putting enough pressure on anything to even begin to load it up. some guys have run even more preload just to be able to engage and disengage the clutch (or else they bottomed the pedal first). all that is happening is that the fork is putting some pressure on the TOB. i raised a stink about it a while ago (thought it could prematurely wear the tob out), and many told me there was no problem in doing it. and many do. thats all i can tell you. if the search function ever works, we can pull up old stuff like that. LOL.
BTW, other cars call for preload, and some hydraulically actuated clutches have preload in them. cool?

no problem. i tried to find some old threads that i remember about this, but the search thing is kaputt.

i do know that some people have done a clutch job and found that the brand new TOB was noisy right off the bat. they all did the preload thing and no one has complained. and if it saves a trans removal, good stuff. and as i recall, that was your idea in your first post. trust your ideas.

Heh....mine does the same too.

It is very common for brand new throwout bearings to make noise right out of the box (my brothers spec clutch t/o bearing did this) It doesn't mean that they are bad.

Like others here said, simply adjust your clutch cable tighter. Now, I am not sure if you have bought an aftermarket aluminum quadrant and firewall adjuster yet, but if you haven't, this is one clear example why you need one!!!

If your throwout bearing is squeaking, you are adjusted wayyyy too loose, and are probably not disengaging all the way when you step on the pedal.

If your quadrant setup is stock, try pulling UP on the clutch pedal, the press it down again, this will actuate the self adjuster. However, just by the adjustable type, save you many headaches in the future. I would suggest either steeda or upr.

The pressure plate/clutch design of these cars is designed to have constant pressure on the pressure plate at all times, this is how it is supposed to be (I burnt out two clutches before I learned this the hard way)

When your clutch is adjusted properly, the pedal will sit aprox the same height as the brake pedal, maybe a little higher.

To know when to stop tightening the cable, depress the clutch pedal. Right about where it is even with the brake pedal, the clutch pedal becomes much stiffer, this is the actual point of disengagement. adjust the cable until BEFORE that point, and you should be all set, and you won't have anymore throwout bearing noise. Good LUCK!!!