Rattling/bearing noise when clutch is out in neutral.

[matchtheclown]

As in the topic.

When my clutch is out and I'm in neutral i get a regular clack which I have been mistaking for tappets (it's not very noisy).

I realised it goes away when I put the clutch in.

So it's a bearing in the clutch somewhere. I was just wondering if it was a part I should be worried about catastrophically failing on me :|

Cheers.

 

[minik1971]

sounds like the throw out bearing to me, probably best to have it replaced but I don't think it will give you too much trouble. Some others on here will no doubt give more advice.

 

[Kitty's VR4]

Hugh, definitely sound like the thrust race (throw bearing) is stuffed, it will start chewing into the fingers of the pressure plate if left to long...IMO

 

[matchtheclown]

I thought it might be the thrust race.

Awesome.

Just let me....

 

[Guest]

They are only few dollars to buy, the cost is all in the labour. However first you could always try replacing a portion of your gearbox oil with a bottle of Lucas Oil Stabilizer and it will help tell you whether you have a worn gearbox instead, and possibly save you a heap of work.

I recently help change the clutch, throw out bearing (aka thrust/clutch release) & spigot bearing on a Subaru but afterwards the gearbox was still noisy. So we put in some Lucas stuff and the box went really quiet, almost like new. The difference from clutch in and out was hardly noticeable whereas before it was louder than the engine when idling.

Do you need to fully depress the clutch for the noise to go away or can you just slightly touch the pedal to take out the play?

 

[matchtheclown]

I'm pretty sure the noise goes away once i have any pressure on the clutch pedal.

The oil stabiliser isn't a bad idea. I have changed the gearbox oil recently.

 

[Kitty's VR4]

Thrust Race...........

 

[Guest]

If it's any pressure on the pedal that stops it, in that case it's a pretty safe bet it's the thrust race. Lucas won't help that, you need to remove the box and replace the bearing.

 

[matchtheclown]

I'll get it done when I get meek to do my 100,000 service which I just don't have time to do.

Goodbye 2 grand :-/

 

[Guest]

I'll get it done when I get meek to do my 100,000 service which I just don't have time to do.

Goodbye 2 grand :-/

Or spend a couple of hundred on an awesome set of tools that will last you a lifetime, and set aside a weekend with a mate doing it yourself. Just think of how much cash you will save, it's a strong incentive, and a great way to learn more about your car.

 

[matchtheclown]

I have the tools it's just the time I don't have.

Also I'm getting pretty sick of working on the ground. If I had a car hoist
I would have much less complaints.

 

[Guest]

Fair enough. It's a pretty time consuming job, and not the best time of year to be lying about on the ground.

 

[SiliconAngel]

Weak Its not a job I recommend doing without a transmission jack, but if you have one and four good axle stands that can get the car nice and high its not that bad a job without a lift.

Put it this way, how much do you usually make over a weekend? If its less than $1000 then its worth finding the time to do it yourself

 

[matchtheclown]

I need to buy 2 more stands :-/

I don't make $1000 on a weekend, but occasionally I will punt $300+ on booze in a night :-(

 

[matchtheclown]

Having a closer listen last night I think it might be a little more sinister than just the thrust race.

Anyhow I grabbed some of the GB oil stabiliser stuff which I'll drop in. That should get me to me when I do my 100,000 and etc. etc. etc. etc.

 

[twisted32]

If the rattle goes away when you depress the clutch, I suspect it is the input shaft bearing in the gearbox. Mine did this until a few weeks ago. If you do a search over on club vr4 you will see a lot of info on it.
Having said that, if it is not really noisy, I would not worry about it. I had my input shaft bearing replaced only because I alread had the gearbox out to do the clutch. The bearing itself was around $20 from a bearing supplier (p/n in the p/n thread), a new input shaft seal approx $20 and $200 labour for a mitsi specialist to break open the box, pull/push new bearing and check endfloat and shim.
I was actually warned by the guy that did the work, that it might not eliminate the noise, as is common, even when new. He used to work for Mitsi for years, and said it was commonly referred to as roll over noise by mitsi.
If you do not have much metal on the gearbox drain plug, I would not worry about it until you need to do the clutch. If however it is making chunks of metal (bearing race), then I would do it asap, before it stuffs your input shaft seal, and runs the gearbox dry............