Is my clutch dead?

Your TOB is shot, no doubt at all. But I have an idea.

My guess is the TOB is barely touching the pressure plate fingers, and the spinning of the pressure plate is causing the squeaking of the TOB. I have an idea which might eliviate the squeaking problem. This also, in turn, should take the wear off of the TOB bearings, and prolong it's existance. Soon, it will explode, and you will absolutely need to replace the TOB.

Is it possible to get some bearing grease on the TOB through the clutch dust cover? I can't remember.

If you remove the dust cover & disconnect the clutch cable, you might be able to get some bearing grease on the TOB where it makes contact with the pressure plate fingers. OR, you could put bearing grease on the pressure plate fingers, where it makes contact w/ the TOB (very tips of the fingers, ya know?).

Either way, as long as the contact point of the TOB/Clutch Fingers is lubed up, you might save yourself a completely blown TOB.

You are still going to need to replace the entire clutch assembly. No point in removing the transmission & not doing everything. This might give you some time to save up money and get a good clutch, not a stock replacement. Remember, resurface the flywheel, and replace the pilot bearing & rear main seal also.
Scott
 
Is the clutch burning? Can you smell it? When you get on the car in the upper end of 2nd and 3rd gear does the car seem like it's hesitating or just not going? That's the clutch.

The squealing sound like everyone else said is your TOB. When mine squealed at a stop light, I would pull the pedal up (towards the steering column) till it wouldn't budge anymore. The squealing went away. It would come back the next time you disengaged the clutch in, but it was a temporary fix.

Whenever you buy a clutch for a car, most people will say SPEC III. Those who do simply don't know what they are talking about. Just like a cylinder head and intake manifold, you cannot put too much clutch in a low powered car. The type of clutch needed and power output of the car are directly related. With that said, I know most people are SPEC stage I or II fans. I like my King Cobra clutch, and after 900 miles and 13 months of use ( :rolleyes: ) my pedal has not gotten any harder to push in.

Most people have problems with the TOBs that come with aftermarket clutches. The TOB that came with my clutch squealed after 100 miles. My Dad explained to me that Fords had a huge problem with the TOBs and actually redesigned a new TOB that was less prone to squealing. I've had mine in for about 600-700 miles and it hasn't made a noise. This is not to say that a Ford TOB is the be-all-end-all, but it is "supposed" to help. For 45 bucks a pop, it can be a big risk to take if you are on a tight budget. I get all my parts for half price :D.

Sorry for the long post, I didn't mean for it to end up being this long. :rolleyes:

Joe