New clutch squeals at idle

Clutch misadjusted causing the throughout bearing to spin even when the clutch is disengaged?

Did you also change the throw out bearing?

Noise when idling with tranny in neutral, clutch engaged?

Probably not throw-out bearing; noise would get worse when clutch pedal depressed.

Probably not clutch friction plate; slippage highly unlikely with no load on engine.

Could be the face of the throwout bearing is just touching the fingers of the pressure plate. I can see where this might make a little noise; does the sound go away with light pressure on the pedal, or do you have to depress far enuf to dis-engage the clutch?

Could be the transmission input shaft bearing; I had a similar issue with a Suzuki Samurai I once owned.

FWIW, the input bearing can be damaged by inexpert handling when mating the engine to the tranny, either as a result of supporting the weight of the engine on the tranny input shaft, or from forcing the engine/transmission mating (by using the bell-housing bolts to pull them together) in the event of improper clutch alignment.

Could be something else entirely; use a mechanics stethoscope (a $10 item at the auto parts store) to pinpoint the sound.

ByeBye! S.

Steve Jernigan KG0MB Laboratory Manager Microelectronics Research University of Colorado (719) 262-3101

Steve,

Thanks for your thoughts. Still no resoluti> Could be the face of the throwout bearing is just touching the fingers

The sound changes as the clutch disengages, and goes away when it's fully disengaged.

Ouch, I hope it isn't this. Sounds pretty likely though. :-( In any case it can't be diagnosed without pulling it apart, I guess.

I thought of that, but how do you get to listen to the different parts of the clutch/gearbox, it's encased? The sound is clearly coming from there.

Mostly I rely on what makes the sound change, and correlating that with the actions of things (particularly the bearings). Sometimes it comes out wrong (I recently thought a spring that had popped out of a disc was a seized pilot bearing) but it's worth a try.

The throwout bearing normally doesn't spin unless pressure is placed on the clutch pedal, so that doesn't match the symptoms. The pilot bearing (must be what they call a "spigot bearing" - goes in the flywheel to support the end of the input shaft) spins when the pedal is depressed enough to disengage the clutch, so that also doesn't match.

Sadly, the input shaft bearing (which can be damaged if the tranny isn't properly supported during removal and reinstallation) fits the profile: spins when the clutch is engaged, but not when disengaged. If that bearing is the squealer, it will show up when you jack up the wheels (can this be done with just the front wheels on the Subie AWD?) and rotate a wheel by hand while the tranny is in gear and the clutch depressed. Shifting to neutral would stop the squeal, even with the clutch disengaged.

I don't see any solution but to remove the tranny again :-(

Mike

Thanks for your quick response. I'll let you know how it goes. Unfortunately the engine work was done 200 miles from here, so I'm not going to just "take it back to the store" :-(.

The Subaru dealer service folk think that the clutch throwout bearing was fitted incorrectly and the coupling has come loose. The slave cylinder lever seems to wobble about even at idle when it should be still. I haven't seen the throwout bearing, but he mentioned forks and some ball arrangement which he thinks wasn't tightened correctly.

So they're going to pull the tranny, 6 hours work... the earlier repairer seems prepared to take responsibility as long as he gets some evidence from a 3rd party that it was their fault, so we'll see, negotiating now.

Here's hoping! Good luck, Clifford.

Mike

Ok, all fixed - except the cash ($AU770). The throwout bearing has two clips, only one of which was fitted, so the assymetric pressure caused failure after only 7000km. Also, there was no grease on the face of the gearbox where the bearing was in sliding contact, so the face was scored and had to be linished back. So all up, a plainly incompetent job for which I intend to make the repair shop pay. They're reputable and claim to stand by their work, so it shouldn't be too much drama, I hope.

Clifford Heath.