Something's up with my clutch....I think...pretty sure...

rivas8409 · Feb 22, 2012

So I'm driving my '03 GT to work this morning and as I pull into the parking lot my car starts making this crazy noise- almost like a rattling that went away when I pressed the clutch and took the car out of gear. I had to get back into gear so that I could find a stall to park in and it kept making a strange noise- a rattling like before but not as loud.

I had been noticing over the past week or so that I would hear a sound coming from my car as I was driving that sounded like pressurized air escaping. It wasn't constant though, and on cold mornings when I'd press the clutch I would get a "whinding" noise.

I know I need to take my car in to the shop but I was hoping maybe someone on here can give me an idea as to what might be going on with my car. Any ideas?

BradleyMustang3 · Feb 22, 2012

im having the same issue with mine. first thing you want to do is get underneath the car. use a jack stand on the driver side and check where you clutch cable sits in the shift fork. there should be some play in it not a lot but enough to wiggle it back and forth a bit. if you get under there and its really tight get in your car with it in neutral and the engine off and pull the clutch pedal up towards you with the toe of your shoe then push it all the way back to the floor. do this a few times then take it for a spin to see if its corrected itself. if that doesnt help that means youre going to need a new throwout bearing. i only know because im dealing with the same issue as we speak and i have to drop my trans down to replace the the throwout bearing in my 97 gt

bhuff30 · Feb 22, 2012

Sounds like it is a throw out bearing. If so, the transmission will have to come down to replace it, which really isn't a lot of fun for such an inexpensive part. Depending on how many miles are on your clutch, you might want to strongly consider replacing the clutch and pilot bearings while the tranny is off. It won't add too much cost to replace these since the labor required is similar.

rivas8409 · Feb 23, 2012

Yeah, took it to the shop yesterday afternoon. The tech said the same thing- throw out bearing. There's about 90K miles on the clutch so he suggested replacing whole thing. I think it'll be cheaper if I bought the clutch myself and had him install it. Any clutch recommendations? I'm going to be looking at American Muscle on my lunch break.

bhuff30 · Feb 23, 2012

I am guessing a stock replacement clutch would work well for you. They are easy to daily drive and have plenty of holding power for nearly any naturally aspirated 4.6. I went with the RAM HDX last time I replaced my clutch. The pedal feels more forgiving than my previous stock replacement clutch, and it held up to the track abuse better. The stock replacement clutch would start to feel soggy after a couple of 3500rpm clutch slips (dang 3.27 gears), but the HDX would keep holding strong.

2vNotch · Feb 24, 2012

rivas8409 said:
Yeah, took it to the shop yesterday afternoon. The tech said the same thing- throw out bearing. There's about 90K miles on the clutch so he suggested replacing whole thing. I think it'll be cheaper if I bought the clutch myself and had him install it. Any clutch recommendations? I'm going to be looking at American Muscle on my lunch break.

Just fyi...I have a Spec in classifieds id let go at a steal! Pm me if interested

fshawn50 · Feb 24, 2012

bhuff30 said:
I am guessing a stock replacement clutch would work well for you. They are easy to daily drive and have plenty of holding power for nearly any naturally aspirated 4.6. I went with the RAM HDX last time I replaced my clutch. The pedal feels more forgiving than my previous stock replacement clutch, and it held up to the track abuse better. The stock replacement clutch would start to feel soggy after a couple of 3500rpm clutch slips (dang 3.27 gears), but the HDX would keep holding strong.

Right on that's what I replaced in my Mustang. Ram HDX. An Flywheel. Pedal feels great. I do a lot of daily driving an not hard to push the pedal in? Doing the breakin for 500-800 miles. Like to see how it grips when I'm able to launch it finally?

bhuff30 · Feb 24, 2012

To me, the pedal feels similar or softer than a stock replacement clutch. It actually felt quite a bit softer than my old stock replacement clutch, but that clutch had been overheat a couple times and had something like 90k miles on it... so not too surprising.

Grip on launch is good. I ran it at the track on drag radials and didn't have any issues with clutch slip. It is very predictable and controllable like a stock clutch, but holds up to the heat a little better and grabs a bit harder. I certainly don't have enough power to really test it, but I know it grips hard because it barks the tires on every powershift into 3rd.

N8Dogg98 · Feb 24, 2012

I'll hop on the Ram HDX bandwagon... I replaced my stocker 2 summers ago with a Ram HDX clutch and I really like the pedal feel, consistency, and predictability.

cronin49 · Feb 26, 2012

bhuff30 said:
I am guessing a stock replacement clutch would work well for you. They are easy to daily drive and have plenty of holding power for nearly any naturally aspirated 4.6. I went with the RAM HDX last time I replaced my clutch. The pedal feels more forgiving than my previous stock replacement clutch, and it held up to the track abuse better. The stock replacement clutch would start to feel soggy after a couple of 3500rpm clutch slips (dang 3.27 gears), but the HDX would keep holding strong.

I say if you stay N/A, go with another stock clutch. Mine lasted 65K miles, for me that was 5.5 years, 30K of that S/C er'd. If you have a Blower like me, I listened to everyone in here telling me to go Centerforce, King Cobra(I didn't think they made one for an 03), all the ussual advice. But I stepped out of the box, and, went with a "Power Brute" clutch, grabs twice as hard as the stocker, I can smoke the tires in 3rd up to 80mph if I want too. W/ 373's! (I don't).

Something's up with my clutch....I think...pretty sure...

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