Squeal/whistle sound disappears when I depress clutch pedal slightly

[sweetp01569]

I have a question about a curious sound I have. I have a noise that I suspect is related to the clutch. It's not very loud, but a little annoying, almost like a slight squealing or whistling sound in the transmission/engine area. It disappears when I just slightly press on the clutch pedal, to remove the free play on it, but before I start to engage the clutch. If I adjust the free play out of the clutch pedal with the adjustment bolt (not clevis pin) at the top of the clutch pedal stop, the sound disappears. However, I worry that I may be engaging the clutch slightly by removing the free play, and don't want to wear anything out when my foot is off the clutch pedal.

Does anyone know what would cause this sound? Does something in the clutch/transmission always rotate until I press the clutch pedal that is causing the sound? Removing the free play, but before adding any pressure to the pedal, eliminates the noise. Has anyone on this forum experienced this?

Thanks,

Paul

[Delorean Industries]

I have a question about a curious sound I have. I have a noise that I suspect is related to the clutch. It's not very loud, but a little annoying, almost like a slight squealing or whistling sound in the transmission/engine area. It disappears when I just slightly press on the clutch pedal, to remove the free play on it, but before I start to engage the clutch. If I adjust the free play out of the clutch pedal with the adjustment bolt (not clevis pin) at the top of the clutch pedal stop, the sound disappears. However, I worry that I may be engaging the clutch slightly by removing the free play, and don't want to wear anything out when my foot is off the clutch pedal.

Does anyone know what would cause this sound? Does something in the clutch/transmission always rotate until I press the clutch pedal that is causing the sound? Removing the free play, but before adding any pressure to the pedal, eliminates the noise. Has anyone on this forum experienced this?

Thanks,

Paul

most likely a failure of the throw out bearing.

[David T]

most likely a failure of the throw out bearing.

Or the pilot bearing. Doesn't really matter since to get to anything in the clutch you have to remove the transmission And once you do that you are probably gong to replace it all, it doesn't pay to put any of the old parts back. You are correct in knowing that you must leave some freeplay in the linkage. The sound will only get worse until something fails. Figure on doing the clutch in the near future. You *could* check the oil level in the transmission. If it is the input bearing and running dry it would make noise and go away when you step on the clutch. Not likely but easy to check.
David Teitelbaum

[Ron]

It sounds like you may be hearing the throwout bearing. Yes, the clutch spins when the engine is running and when you press the clutch the throwout bearing is pressed against the clutch making the bearing spin too. If the adjustment is too tight, the bearing will spin all of the time and cause premature failure. It could be dry from being over heated, but less likely. Try giving it MORE free play and see if it goes away. If not, suspect the pilot and/or transmission input bearing.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Test if the sound disappears with a little throttle. Just want to make sure it's not a vacuum whistle.

[sweetp01569]

Test if the sound disappears with a little throttle. Just want to make sure it's not a vacuum whistle.

I'll do that but why would the sound disappear when slightly depressing the clutch pedal if it was a vacuum leak? I'll double check though. Thanks, Dave!