throw-out bearing?

[AaronR]

I had the dealer look into my clutch noise that I was asking about earlier on the board. (as a refresher... it makes a slight squeak that I hear mostly in the garage in the morning with the car off. I would probably hear it with the car on if I had a stock exhaust). Anyhow Acura of Libertyville said it is a squeaky throw-out bearing. The service writer said there is no way to grease it without doing a clutch (and my car does not need one, 20,000 miles on it) but he said it will not harm anything to leave it be. He suggested to do nothing. Is that correct? I just want to make sure I am not harming anything and I don't fully understand how this part of the car works. What to do? Any advice is really appriciated. Thanks
Aaron
94 Green/Tan #268

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Aaron,

I agree. Mine has been making a little whine for about a year now. I will replace it when the clutch goes, or the bearing causes the clutch to fail. No point in throwing away a working clutch prematurely, since the work is the same.

Just keep an ear on it!! If it gets really bad, you can always change your thinking and have it done.

Actually, I find it refreshing they did not make a big deal out of it and insist your clutch has to be replaced immediately. It tells me that they are being pretty straight up with you.

My $.02

LarryB

 

[ChopsJazz]

A throwout bearing making noise without the engine running? How odd.

 

[DutchBlackNsx]

Originally posted by ChopsJazz:
A throwout bearing making noise without the engine running? How odd.

Indeed,

You can lube a big portion of the clutch mechanics, without taking the clutch out.
I can see the fork itself being noisy, which can be lubed.
Changed the clutch oil?


Mich

 

[AaronR]

Originally posted by ChopsJazz:
A throwout bearing making noise without the engine running? How odd.

It makes a small squeak that you can hear right behind the driver inside the engine compartment. It has almost a binding sound to it as if it was a cable. It happens both with the car running as well as not running. It makes the noise only when you puxh the pedal in, not when it comes back out. The dealer said he has seen it before on earlier NSX's.
Aaron

 

[PettittsAuto]

You can try lubing the ball on the slave cylinder where it meets the t/o bearing fork. I know this makes noise on other Acura/Honda cars when dry that is why you can hear it with the car turned off. Just a guess.

Bruce

 

[PettittsAuto]

You can try lubing the ball on the slave cylinder where it meets the t/o bearing fork. I know this makes noise on other Acura/Honda cars when dry that is why you can hear it with the car turned off. Just a guess.

Bruce

 

[DaveJP]

I have the same noise..comes and goes...Dealer gave me the same diagnosis.

 

[AaronR]

Thanks for the input guys! I was really very happy that they were so strait with me. The tech told me had I gone to one of the other Chicagoland dealers they may have tried to make it sound like an emergency and prematurely sell me a clutch (which I would have bought had they said I needed). I'm happy that they didn't see me as a dollar sign.
Aaron

 

[sjs]

Hmmm… Typically when you say that a bearing is making noise it refers to the balls/rollers or bearing surface depending on the type. However, that is not what they mean here because the bearing is not rotating with the engine off. (Or even with it running until you depress the clutch far enough to make contact).

If it occurs in the short distance of free play before the bearing touches the pressure plate, it is likely either the ball on the slave cylinder push rod as already suggested (good call), the fork pivot point just inside the bell housing, or the bearing collar as it slides on the input shaft. If it happens only after the bearing starts pressing the plate then it may be the plate itself, such as the fingers binding and squeaking. I would think this is unlikely, especially since the tech would have been able to tell the difference. If you’re still curious, try working the pedal with you hand for better feel and learn where the bearing hits the plate. Press it slowly a few times to identify the amount of free play, then sharply a few to feel and hear the bearing slap the plate. Does it bind or squeak in that short range?

As for those who hear the actual bearing spinning, that’s worth doing now. As noted above, it will eventually destroy the pressure plate, but doing it now on an otherwise healthy clutch requires only the removal of the tranny, not the actual clutch.

 

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by AaronR:
Thanks for the input guys! I was really very happy that they were so strait with me. The tech told me had I gone to one of the other Chicagoland dealers they may have tried to make it sound like an emergency and prematurely sell me a clutch (which I would have bought had they said I needed). I'm happy that they didn't see me as a dollar sign.

Gee, just when I was starting to get impressed with them as fairly knowledgeable - somewhat surprising considering that they don't do a lot of NSX service work - they had to go and destroy their image by badmouthing other dealers, which is NOT COOL.

 

[sjs]

Originally posted by nsxtasy:
Gee, just when I was starting to get impressed with them as fairly knowledgeable - somewhat surprising considering that they don't do a lot of NSX service work - they had to go and destroy their image by badmouthing other dealers, which is NOT COOL.

Perhaps it was just the one tech getting a bit to chummy and speaking out of turn.

 

[nsxtasy]

Yes, that's possible...

 

[AaronR]

I don't think they were trying to bad mouth anyone in particular, they were just trying to make me feel like I was in the right dealer, that's all. In fact they only charged me $26.00 for an oil change when they quoted me $48.00. Overall it was a VERY nice visit. Sorry to get off topic, and thanks again for the help.
Aaron