Melted Throw Out Bearing

[DAEMANO]

@danthedirt
Ouch!

Thanks for the great write-up, but sorry about the bearing. New clutches all around.

[pche]

Looks like a failed bearing to me. The repair should've been cover by warranty. T/O bearing should not have failed before the clutch.

Side note, the stage 1 Exedy with a flywheel is only 400?? From where? You get the clutch disc, pressure plate and a lighten flywheel for 400 shipped? That's an awesome deal. OEM flywheel along is more than 400.

The BRZ/FR-S has a Lexus trans btw, not like the Subaru 6 speed at all. A clutch job is so easy took me 2 hours in and out.

[FRiSson]

I don't think the problem was caused by holding the clutch down at lights. Very many manual drivers do this routinely. There would be massive reports of problems if this were the case. I suspect that the original bearing was defective and that your aggressive driving accelerated a failure that would have probably happened anyway. To melt the bearings, an extraordinary amount of heat must be applied over a significant period of time. The most likely source would be a manufacturing defect or a misalignment that focused energy on the bearing.

[Pete156]

My throwout bearing has made these rattles/noises when the clutch has been depressed since the car was new. Is this noise really an issue on these cars or is my throwout bearing bad from the get go? Should I have it inspected?

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Pete156

My throwout bearing has made these rattles/noises when the clutch has been depressed since the car was new. Is this noise really an issue on these cars or is my throwout bearing bad from the get go? Should I have it inspected?

Well, Pete156, like they say in the old country "it ain't a problem, until it's a problem".

My FR-S's throwout bearing doesn't make any noise, at least none that I can hear.

I sure wouldn't want to be up in the Cascades and have a throw out bearing go out on me.

Ya might want to get an opinion from a mechanic....

humfrz

[White64Goat]

That's what "toe play" is for. Proper adjustment keeps the throw out bearing from contacting the pressure plate fingers when in neutral and foot off the pedal. I'd say it's worth a try taking it to your dealer and showing them all the parts. They may play ball and cover it or cover part of it. Never hurts to try. My Saturn has 299,713 miles on it and the original clutch and parts. No car that I have ever owned with a clutch (and that's most of them) have ever puked a throw out bearing like that.

[Halcyon Whisper]

May interest you guys with an observation from a Techie himself

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...=1#post1363860

[marinjim]

Took my 22 month old FR-S in yesterday for squeak diagnosis and is throw-out bearing that needs replacing. Covered under 5 year 60K mile Powertrain warranty. I always put the car in neutral at lights and don't ride the clutch, in fact, my 93' Lexus SC300 5 speed made it to 110K mile before needing a new clutch. I'll update when work complete, but this isn't good for a car with 24K on it.

[texasbound972]

Same issue. 44500 miles in about 18 months. Throw out bearing went out. Dealership took it apart and saw that the bearing, clutch and flywheel was blue from excessive heat. I have no aftermarket parts concerning the clutch so I want the mechanics to show me what aftermarket part I have caused this. When they called toyota they were asked several questions. One was has the car been modified and the answer was yes. They didn't ask if the clutch was modified. So how does an aftermarket exhaust or tune on the car cause the throw out bearing to go? Meeting with the head guys tomorrow to hash this out. Or it'll be a $2700 repair. Oh they also said that there was debris in the clutch fluid and I then emailed my service rep the pics I documented before showing particulates in the reservoir. They also said my brake fluid and clutch fluid had a purple hue to it and that it was stringy. Funny. I don't remember motul 660 being purple. Also brought up the Magnuson-Moss act. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnu...s_Warranty_Act

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by texasbound972

Same issue. 44500 miles in about 18 months. Throw out bearing went out. Dealership took it apart and saw that the bearing, clutch and flywheel was blue from excessive heat. I have no aftermarket parts concerning the clutch so I want the mechanics to show me what aftermarket part I have caused this. When they called toyota they were asked several questions. One was has the car been modified and the answer was yes. They didn't ask if the clutch was modified. So how does an aftermarket exhaust or tune on the car cause the throw out bearing to go? Meeting with the head guys tomorrow to hash this out. Or it'll be a $2700 repair. Oh they also said that there was debris in the clutch fluid and I then emailed my service rep the pics I documented before showing particulates in the reservoir. They also said my brake fluid and clutch fluid had a purple hue to it and that it was stringy. Funny. I don't remember motul 660 being purple. Also brought up the Magnuson-Moss act. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnu...s_Warranty_Act

Keep us updated, I'd really like something else to worry about

On a serious note, it kind of sounds like the dealership is trying to screw you a little bit. The brake and clutch fluid are completely sealed systems, there's no real reason that both of them should be purple or stringy. Let us know how it goes.

[texasbound972]

Will do. Here are pictures from certain miles and right before I took it in.

[texasbound972]

[jvincent]

WTF. It looks like someone took a dump in your clutch reservoir.

[ZionsWrath]

Yea, post update. I just noticed a squeak from my clutch pedal today...

My fluid is dark too and I just changed it a couple months ago with OEM subaru brake fluid.