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.
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).
i have also been inquiring recently about this. someone recently said that he had a TOB from a KC clutch work great, while a ford TOB (presumably the same part #) failed (as i recall).
i would just ensure that a quality TOB is used. some are plastic and i dont like that. a quality metal TOB from Ford would be my best bet. this is a good question (who makes a bulletproof TOB). so ill ask again, for ya.
I would replace it if I was you. Mine chirped for a while, then all of a sudden after a high speed pass it exploded, took out about 3 teeth out of the PP and part of the damn bell housing blew out too. I was lucky, I just had to push start my car and drive it 45 mins home and had to shut it off when I came to a stop light. Seriously though, take steps to make sure that your car is good to go on the street, if in doubt, throw it out! (thats what we do with parts on planes anyhow)
I'll most definately be changing it soon. I'd just like to know what I can do that will expand the life of a throwout bearing, since it seems to be problematic with our cars.
Maybe this is a good candidate for starting another thread...