Clutch noise, should I be worried?
 

So, yesterday when I was driving from the morning to afternoon there was no noise whatsoever. Everything was fine, and this morning I wake up to a weird noise I haven't heard before. It's pretty loud in my opinion, and it's a little louder outside, should I be worried?

http://vid1356.photobucket.com/album...ps5o6rlos7.mp4

It's most likely a dry clutch fork.

Nothing life threatening to worry about.

Sometimes, the point where the clutch slave cylinder's arm contacts the clutch fork gets dry and makes a squeak.

Some say @Ultramaroon , that you can sneak some grease past the dust cover on the slave cylinder onto the socket on the clutch fork which will eliminate the squeak.

A longer term solution would be to open up the bell housing and grease up the clutch fork.


humfrz

it is annoying no doubt. mine does it too.

Mine makes more of a squeaky cutting noise. I noticed it on other frses that I test drove before buying mine. Doesn't seem like it's something to worry about


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A squeak in the pedal is common, but so are bad TOB's. How many miles? And is the sound from pushing the clutch, or releasing the clutch, or when the clutch is depressed, or when the clutch is pressed in?

"Chasing speed with patience"

;)

http://vid1356.photobucket.com/album...ps5o6rlos7.mp4


humfrz

Spooky creak. Mine squeaks, but OP has more of a creaking sound. Mine creaked before the TOB croaked at 70k, but sometime before and it was on and off, definitely something to listen for though. When the clutch is pushed in, listen for even the slightest whirring noise, this may just be the begining.
I almost want to blame the weather/car temp as i have noticed that plays a role in my squeak, but lube is a good option that i should try as well. It could even be the pedal itself.

"Chasing speed with patience"

I've seen/heard it enough times with friends' twins there's no way it's the pedal. It has varying degrees of creepiness but it's always the main pivot.

Quick & dirty:
1. Detach the slave cylinder. Leave the hydraulics alone.

2. Remove the dust boot from the fork.

3. Reach down behind the fork with a finger and feel for the pivot. It's going to be tight because of the retaining clip.

4. Squeeze a decent glob of Lucas Red & Tacky #2 in there with your finger.

5. Jiggle the fork to distribute the grease as much as possible. It'll work in more on its own.

6. Put a dab of grease in the top pivot where the slave pin goes.

7. Reassemble.

http://i.imgur.com/0DDiWw3.png

Ok, @humfrz, who else needed to see this post? I know I forgot someone.

Great instructions ....... good picture!

I forget who I referred to you last time ....... hell, that was yesterday .....:eyebulge:


humfrz

Thanks for the help guys! I'll look in to in this weekend once the rain settles in SoCal:bonk:

thats neat, ive never seen a cross section of clutch assembly

I know, right? Stumbled upon it last night.

Ok, I may have to backpedal on this. @canyons thinks his squeak may be the clutch master return spring. I asked him to try an experiment.

It may also be the fork (tines?) where the TOB pivots.

Update 19 Feb: After re-lubricating the clutch fork pivot thoroughly ( a plastic spoon works well for this BTW) the noise still persisted, but only with a cold engine. Zero noise when warm ( including off but warm.) Zero noise when moving clutch fork / Clutch slave cylinder by hand.

I suspected the the return spring in the clutch master cylinder. We depressed the clutch and sprayed the internals of CMC piston assembly (located above the gas pedal) with TriFlow, and that has eliminated the clutch squeak completely in the short term. We'll see how long that lasts, may switch to other grease product if needed, or replace CMC, or both. IIRC, some dealers had suggested this as a possible cause of squeaks; In my case that was it. Can't hurt to have lubricated the clutch fork pivot too. Both these procedures are easy maintenance items.