Clutch Squeaks at the end of travel... clutch fork?
 

Here's a video clearly demonstrating the issue:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2TWE33PRVs"]2016 Subaru BRZ Clutch Squeak - YouTube[/ame]


Took it to the dealer today and the mechanic tried to explain to me that I was hearing a spring squeaking and it was nothing to worry about... the only springs I'm aware of are behind the pedal and the sound is definitely not coming from inside the cabin or anywhere near the steering column. It sounds like it's coming from the clutch fork in the middle of the engine bay right on the transmission, and the sound is way louder if you're under the car or have your head under the hood.

What can I do to fix this? I'm under full warranty and the best advice the tech could give me was call 1-800-SUBARU3 and complain... yeah thanks that helps me out a lot.

Mechanic is wrong. Transmission must be removed. Clutch fork and TOB must be removed, cleaned, and regreased at the appropriate points. I have experienced this and repaired it myself.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...82#post2689582

Do you think the throwout bearing will be damaged at this point or just dry?

The mechanic insisted that it wasn't the TOB or I would hear a constant squeak following my release of the clutch all the way back to resting position...

I'm so tired of mechanics ignoring advice - it's a waste of both of our time and I don't just have unlimited time to go without a car as an employed college student.

Nothing wrong with your TOB yet. Once you start getting the crunchy feeling at the bottom of the pedal throw, that's the gritty mess gouging up the snout and the bushing on the TOB carrier.

The squeak isn't actually the TOB. It's the main pivot of the clutch fork. But the botttom line is it all dries out and what used to be grease cakes up.

I have noticed a crunchy resistance in the pedal that matches up with the timing of the squeak, but it seems minor so far.

Why is all the grease dried up after only 14k miles...?

Read through my posts in the thread I linked. I do my best to explain what I believe to be an inappropriate choice of lubricant.

I've read through that whole thread, lots of interesting info there and your photos were very helpful.

So basically all the dried up lube sludge needs to be cleaned out and replaced with better lubricant. How can I ensure the dealer isn't going to just go and put the same shitty lube back on it again... where I end up with this problem again in 15k miles? Is this something should do myself in the garage even though I have the full warranty and the prepaid service package? I've never dropped a trans but I've replaced suspension, done oil changes, dropped the front bumper off, etc.. :bonk:

I don't have a lift obviously, just 4 jack stands and a low profile jack.

*sigh* I don't know the long term answer. I have an extended warranty that was included with the CPO package even though I didn't want it.

Trans drop is a big step up. Tough choice. Maybe you can try a different dealer. @Tcoat has had good luck with dealer service. I have experienced nothing but frustration every single time.

I don't have any fancy tools either. A floor jack and stands are enough for just about everything.

In the meantime I've been reading a DIY on dropping the transmission and it looks like about as much fun as I expected, lol. I'm going to take a wild guess and assume a Subaru tech isn't authorized to use any lubricant not approved by Subaru themselves... which means I'm SOL long-term if I don't do this myself.

What lubricant would you recommend as the best for this case? Anything else I should go ahead and do while the trans is dropped? Any good little aftermarket parts? I had the trans fluid changed already so that's irrelevant.

I personally don't buy into the weak fork theory, especially for a stock clutch. They're breaking because the TOB eventually binds on the snout. I dug into mine because I started feeling it.

I've driven mine for about five months since I cleaned and re-lubed everything with the #2 red extra tacky. Still feels fine but I don't know if it will hold out. It's just a trial run at this point.

Maybe the answer is to call the Subaru hotline.

Just cant trust the dealership mechanic....I am taking my car in for axle noise and morning clutch squeak noise...good luck to me..

So, does it make the noise when running? Many parts on a car make weird sounds when not being used as designed. The clutch fork and TOB are supposed to function with the engine spinning not with it off. That noise would not worry me at all unless it happened when the car was running.

Good point.

@treminaor , if either the clutch doesn't squeak or you can't hear it, with the engine running and changing gears while going down the road ...... I wouldn't worry about it ...... :iono:


humfrz

Gents, this is one time I'll emphatically disagree with you. The pivots are bone dry. I'll leave it at that. :cheers:

I have never had mine apart so will have to concede to you on this one. Mine makes no noise though so don't know what is different between them all.

I've wondered about that. I think it's a matter of the kind of miles. I do 90% stop&go congested and use the hell out of my clutch. You do highway miles for days. I bet if we took temperature readings in the bell housing we'd find the difference.

I'd buy your used car over mine in a heartbeat. Well, except mine hasn't ever seen road salt. :D

That could be it. I do very little city driving. Still find it odd that the OP's being a 16 with so little miles on it would have the lube dry up/disappear though. It makes no sense. That is why I asked if it did it while running.


Actually I thought we established that it was my vastly superior shifting skills that has preserved mine!


https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media...yybx4jmapd.gif

Well, yeah, that too. No need to rub it in. :barf:

It does happen just as loud when the car is idling or I'm shifting from 1st to 2nd. Once I get going into higher gears it either stops happening, or (more likely) I just can't hear it over the road noise anymore.

I drive my car pretty hard, the way it was built to be driven in my opinion - so I wouldn't say I'm at all easy on my clutch but I certainly don't grind through gears or abuse it in any other way - I know how to drive and I certainly didn't learn on this car.

I do however take advantage of freeway onramps, I race light to light frequently, I launch the car, I like to have a good time with it (haven't tracked it yet). However every other aspect of the car is still in great shape, the tires and brakes are no where near worn yet so I can't imagine the clutch should look any worse if the proper lubrication had been used from the start.

Well, now, there ya go .....:eyebulge:

You went and used up all of the clutch fork grease and didn't give it a chance to grow some more ..... :rolleyes:


humfrz

Question:

@Ultramaroon , I thought you had a method of sneaking past the rubber boot and lubricating whatever makes that squeak ..... ??


humfrz

That's how I drive my cars, never had a problem with grease turning to sludge before this. If I was going drive it like a grandma it the whole time I would have bought a manual Corolla and called it a day.

I did see that mentioned in a topic but it seems you're just adding more grease to the sludge mess instead of cleaning it properly and applying it fresh...

Well, I would agree that if you have to drop the transmission to get to the clutch fork, one might as well clean it up good and lub it with some fresh HD stuff.

However, it's my understanding that the clutch fork is a piece of metal that is pushed on one end (that has sort of a socket) by a rod (that comes out of the slave cylinder), pivots in the center on a ball and socket thingy and has two forks on the other end that pushes against the TOB (release bearing).

Now, where is it squeaking ....... I reckon at one or more of those contact points .... ??

So, if that is the case, and one could reach the squeaking joint from sneaking past the rod boot to get some grease in there ...... that would solve the problem ...... although it wouldn't be all clean and pretty and may require more grease from time to time.

Now, it appears that we have four possible methods for dealing with the situation.

* the @Tcoat method ..... which is to ignore that the problem exists, because his old worn out ears can't hear the squeak.

* the @Ultramaroon method ...... which is to drop the transmission, clean it up and lubricate it with a HD lubricant.

* the Bubba method ..... stick the plastic tube from a silicone spray can, past the rubber boot of the slave cylinder rod and pull the trigger until the fork stops squeaking.

* the humfrz method ....... ignore it although it may wear out the parts after a few hundreds of thousands of miles


30 minutes to ....... turkey time !! ......... :drool:


humfrz

Oh believe me I went and pumped that clutch 20 times. There is no squeak, crunch, pop, whine, or any other noise from mine. Although you are correct that even if there was a noise like that I would probably ignore it as long as everything still worked 100% OK.

I was not insinuating in any way that you did anything or did not know how to drive. Take it to another dealer or speak to the service manager at the one you went to before and try again.

^^yup, this^^

OP, if you just grab the end of the fork and pull it back to compress the slave piston, you can get a few good jiggles of the fork about the main pivot. That will quiet it down for a little while.

Tcoat & humfrz are good guys. We just cut up a LOT. No offense intended.

I's jest ah messen wich ya there, @treminaor ...... sorry if I upset you .....:bonk:


humfrz

It's cool guys I thought you were being serious about how I drive the car :bonk:

I guess I'll try to pick up some lubricant this weekend and fix it myself spraying under the boot.

In other news I noticed the little rubber stop that the clutch pedal arm hits against in the footwell is chopped in half from wear lol, I guess I should replace that with something.

You know those adhesive backed felt pads? Perfect. I'm still on my first one after 2 years.

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1020384J

Exactly what I had in mind, could have sworn I had some laying in a drawer but I'm still searching :iono:

It's the rare "actual" upgrade. That rubber thing is a POS.

Ended up using some rubber drawer liner and 3M tape until I finally find those chair leg pads somewhere. Seems to work great so far but probably won't last as long as a chair pad.

Still gotta figure out what spray lube to pick up today too.

Be careful about spraying anything in there because you don't want to get anything on the clutch disk, pressure plate or flywheel. Most of the time "Bubba" just screws things up.......:eyebulge:

@Ultramaroon ....what should he try to get onto that "socket" and how best to do it .... ??


humfrz

https://youtu.be/GJ6atGhmVU8

I picked up the Lucas Red #2 tube and a grease gun. Waiting to get info about where to point it in there lol.

Oh, the pivot? I've come full circle on the lithium spray. I don't think it hurts anything to stick a little spurt in there but it won't last as long as the lithium complex stuff.

Haha.. NICE! I'm working on that now. gimme a few more mins.

We will remove the dust boot over the fork. You will have to unbolt the slave cylinder and slide it out of the way. We won't touch the hydraulics.

There should be grease around the end of the pin and grease in the divot on the end of the fork. If it's good, I collect it together and mash it back into the divot.

Using a 14 mm socket and a long extension remove the 2 mounting bolts. They will be super fucking tight and they will let go with a snap.

The outer heater hose will be a bit of a pain. Just fold it up and back a little.

When the cylinder comes loose the piston will extend the pin. There's a little spring on the wet side that pushes against the piston but the boot will keep everything together.

Move the cylinder aside and pop the dust cover off of the fork.

Rock the top of the fork forward and reach down the back of the fork carefully with your finger. You will feel the pivot pin in the socket.

Mash a good ball of grease in there with your finger. Then jiggle the fork back and forth a bunch of times.

Notice at first how the TOB binds a little over the guide. That's what gets bad enough to break the fork. It will clear up a little when you work it back and forth but it really needs to be cleaned. The clutch material sticks in there and acts like sandpaper.

Reinstall in reverse order.

Enjoy.

^Pics?