I'm getting a loose-sounding rattle only when the clutch is engaged, no sound otherwise, including while in neutral. Car is shifting fine. What should I check? Need to get this fixed myself, no $$$, and would appreciate any advice from the pros.

Joe

 

Check the throw out bearing.... I had one go bad in a BMW years ago... ONly made noise when I pushed the clutch.

 

Thanks for the thought. The research I've done also supports this as being the problem. Bearings are cheap, clutches are a little more costly, but I'd really like to salvage my current clutch if possible. My question is: how difficult is it to replace just the bearing? I have limited experience with this sort of a job and want to do it myself with the guidance of my forum brothers. Would this be a resonable undertaking?

 

The fact that you have side exhaust makes the job much, much easier. Getting the underneath exhaust out of the way was always the worst part of the job for me.

Unbolt the driveshaft at the trans, unbolt the shifter, remove the rear trans mount.

Then unbolt the bolts holding the trans to the bellhousing. You can now slide the trans back far enough to remove the TO bearing from the snut of the trans. There is enough room to reach your hand into the bellhousing to fit the replacement TO bearing (make sure you get a bearing that is the same length!!) into the fingers of the clutch pivot fork. Now carefully re-insert the trans back into place. Because you didn't need to move the clutch, everything within the bellhousing should line up nicely.

A helpful tip is using long bolts of the same size as hold the trans to the bellhousing with the heads cut off. If you finger thread two such 5-6" headless bolts into the bellhousing they make a great guide to slide the trans back into place. Once trans is where it needs to be, replace with original bolts.

In any case, try to determine that the pilot bearing or bushing in the tail end of the crank is ok. It can be changed without removing the pressure plate assembly, but it is not fun. Bad bushings will quickly ruin a TO bearing and the clutch.

Also, make sure that your shifter is lined up properly when you reinstall. When you disconnect it, take a look at the fingers moving the shifter rods, you will see that there is a slot that aligns when all the fingers are in the neautral position. If you fit this with a simple key that you can easily make and adjust the rods to this neautral position once the shifter is bolted back into place, you will be rewarded with very slick shifting. I can't tell you how many badly aligned shifter gates I have driven with in other guys cars. A real Pain in the Butt. They don't know what they are missing!

Chuck

 

The fact that you have side exhaust makes the job much, much easier. Getting the underneath exhaust out of the way was always the worst part of the job for me.

Unbolt the driveshaft at the trans, unbolt the shifter, remove the rear trans mount.

Then unbolt the bolts holding the trans to the bellhousing. You can now slide the trans back far enough to remove the TO bearing from the snout of the trans. There is enough room to reach your hand into the bellhousing to fit the replacement TO bearing (make sure you get a bearing that is the same length!!) into the fingers of the clutch pivot fork. Now carefully re-insert the trans back into place. Because you didn't need to move the clutch, everything within the bellhousing should line up nicely.

A helpful tip is using long bolts of the same size as hold the trans to the bellhousing with the heads cut off. If you finger thread two such 5-6" headless bolts into the bellhousing they make a great guide to slide the trans back into place. Once trans is where it needs to be, replace with original bolts.

In any case, try to determine that the pilot bearing or bushing in the tail end of the crank is ok. It can be changed without removing the pressure plate assembly, but it is not fun. Bad bushings will quickly ruin a TO bearing and the clutch.

Also, make sure that your shifter is lined up properly when you reinstall. When you disconnect it, take a look at the fingers moving the shifter rods, you will see that there is a slot that aligns when all the fingers are in the neautral position. If you fit this with a simple key that you can easily make and adjust the rods to this neautral position once the shifter is bolted back into place, you will be rewarded with very slick shifting. I can't tell you how many badly aligned shifter gates I have driven with in other guys cars. A real Pain in the Butt. They don't know what they are missing!

Chuck

P.S. Gritty dirt getting into the bellhousing is one of the main causes for TO bearing failure. Make sure you have a good rubber boot in place around the pivot fork and that the lower tin cover just behind the drain plug is a nice tight fit.