is it ok if throwout bearing is bad

yeah it should be ok for awhile.

some people drive on them for 10's of thousands of miles. mine was grinding when i got the car, it progressivly got louder, i have a feeling it would have failed soon. as long as nothing changes with the sound, i would guess it's ok temporarly.
 
ha, the infamous tob... mine has squeaked from the day i got it like 5 months ago. the funny part is that i keep my foot on the clutch a little bit so it doesn't squeal, i know that is horrible for it but it doesn't squeal does it. So by the time my clutch goes out i would have replaced it anyways because i would have had to have taken everything apart for the tob so i think it's ok :D who knows
 
This is one of those judgment calls. If it freezes up it will grind against the pressure plate springs and destroy that in no time. But usually when people replace TOB's they replace the pressure plate and stuff too so its not so bad. However when the chirping turns to grinding you will probably have to pull over and get a tow. So if your willing to risk that and you dont mind the annoying noise then keep it. Honestly, if its not chirping bad and you dont notice any changes in the sound you should be ok for a while.
 
it is recommended to put 10# of preload on the cable. this would be about like if you rest your foot on the clutch pedal to quiet the TOB. it was made to be pressed against the PP fingers ever so slightly. the noisy TOB has been a problem for many.

my two cents. good luck.
 
Yea I remember that with my convertible.... You just touch the pedal and it would stop chirping. And it would not chirp when you were on the pedal but only when you got off of it. I never adjusted the clutch on that one seeing as I only had it for about 3 months before I wercked it. And my current car came with an adjustable cable and firewall adjuster and steeda quadrant so I dunno how you could do it with the stock stuff. But yea if you could get a bit of pressure on the cable it should solve the problem without taking the tranny down. Sorry i forgot about that. Its a good thing you brought it up Hissin50
 
supposedly the stock quadrant and pawl hyperextend when adjusting, so one could supposedly dial in preload. my stock stuff was long gone when i got the car, so i dont know if that is true.

the fox guys are always dialing in preload to get rid of the crickets. :)
 
go-stang5.0 said:
Yea I remember that with my convertible.... You just touch the pedal and it would stop chirping. And it would not chirp when you were on the pedal but only when you got off of it. I never adjusted the clutch on that one seeing as I only had it for about 3 months before I wercked it. And my current car came with an adjustable cable and firewall adjuster and steeda quadrant so I dunno how you could do it with the stock stuff. But yea if you could get a bit of pressure on the cable it should solve the problem without taking the tranny down. Sorry i forgot about that. Its a good thing you brought it up Hissin50


Yea thats pretty much my situation now, is it difficult to replace?
 
ponypowa2 said:
Yea thats pretty much my situation now, is it difficult to replace?

You basically need to remove everything you would for a clutch install, minus the PP and clutch disc. So h-pipe, DS, transmission, etc. You can leave the bell housing attached though.

But if the clutch has tons of miles on it, you might as well replace it while you are doing it.

There isn't anything difficult in this project, just very time consuming. If you have someone with you that has done a clutch install, you should be able to knock it out in under 12 hours (includes time to have flywheel resurfaced & the inevitable tool shopping for stuff you don't have).

Do a search on this forum for "clutch install" and you will get plenty of hits. I think I did a full write-up of the things that "came up" during the install.
Scott
 
just bringing the thread up again for clarification...

so if you're throwout bearing is chirping, does that mean it is bad (or unlubricated), and should be replaced (or lubricated)?
(Tranny needs dropped)

OR

if you're throwout bearing is chirping, does that mean it is just typical, and clutch cable needs tightening?
(Tranny doesn't need dropped)

Thanks.
 
the bearing should not make noise, but a common crutch for it is to dial in some preload.
supposedly one is supposed to have preload on the cable (i dont have a factory manual to confirm this). it is quite common to do however.

i would probably not leave it squeaking however.

good luck and im sure the others will have more ideas for ya. :)
 
mines doin it too.. ate the stocker clutch up at the track, an went buck crazy w/a Spec stage 3... hevy ass mofo, orginaly supossed to go in a (turbo 331 95..) pedal action is like a centimeter off the floor, ran like a champ for a few weeks, but then it starts to chirping..

i have to push my clutch in to get the noise to stop..like 3/4 of the way engaged, ****in sucks, I drove to NC w/ my crew to tackle the Dragons Tail at Deal's Gap an got stuck in 5 pm peigon forge traffic..

..that sucked balls.

but i'll tell ya for conditioning a clutch leg, there aint nothin i can't take now.. after drivin this stage 3 as a d/d. theres nothin worsse i couldn't handle..

ext one i do will be either a stage 2, or a super king cobra..
 
HISSIN50 said:
i would probably not leave it squeaking however...

?
If you put a pre-load on it, it won't squeek anymore...so does this mean it's fixed? I understand you don't have the manual, neither do i, but maybe someone else can clarify this...

thanks
 
wow you guys are lucky, when my throw out bearing went it just "exploded" without warning (Thats how the guy at the shop described it). If I pushed the clutch in it would even get louder. I was emberassed just driving it to the shop.
 
okay, if the chriping means it's bad, then when I replace it, what can I do to prevent it from happening again. Especially if this is a common problem with our cars (for some it start happening a few months after a new clutch).

thanks
 
jwater7 said:
?
If you put a pre-load on it, it won't squeek anymore...so does this mean it's fixed? I understand you don't have the manual, neither do i, but maybe someone else can clarify this...

thanks
yep, i referred to it as being a crutch - the bearing is making noise. by preloading the cable (which is supposedly how the bearings are supposed to work, by design), it quiets the bearing, but the bearing is seeing more stress (preloaded). but it shuts the bearing up though. i would not leave any bearing that is making noise in there - like i said, it is just a crutch.