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.

I have the EXACT same squeak. I've assumed it is just the fork needing lubed. Interested in results. Thanks!

I am puzzled. The only metal to metal contact should be between the piston and the pushrod. Is the foot in that pushrod able to float off center? I'm checking that for myself. :/

Were you able to confirm the squeak when operated by hand?

http://i.imgur.com/bUUXClW.png

Yes on the squeaking when operating the clutch itself by hand. No when operating the clutch fork by hand, even with CSS installed. I believe that a liberal application of Triflow lubricated the sides of the "master cylinder piston sub-assembly" in the diagram above. I compressed the clutch fully before spraying it good, then released the clutch, then repeated the process. Noise still gone!

I am honestly baffled. Thrilled for you but confused almost to the point of wanting to disassemble mine. I thought both ends of that piston rode on seals.

I Believe that's correct. Could be the passenger-facing seal had begun to dry out? It's 4+ years old, living in dry & warm SoCal...i can believe pulling a dry seal through the bore would cause a squeak.

Ok, yeah. I can see that. Cool! :cheers:

Update: one year later, noise still gone!

I'm having trouble figuring out what you did, did you do the same thing this guy did in this video?

https://youtu.be/8v3J1ltziG0?t=61

I have the same exact noise as him at the beginning of his video. Identical. He left a comment 3 months later on his video reporting not hearing any noises since.

Any issue with moving the clutch fork forward to help with access?

I did take one on this tonight, but couldn't really get to the pivot easily and was afraid to move the fork too far...

My squeak is still there, but I don't really think I got any grease to the needed location... Figure I'll go after it again tomorrow...

Thanks for the help!

Nope. Jam that slave piston all the way in. Pump the clutch pedal a couple times when you're finished. If you still have your assist spring installed, the pedal may sink to the floor and stay there for the first pump.

Moving the fork forward helped... Squeak seems to be gone. Clutch action seems a little smoother as well - felt very slightly gravely before.

I say "seems to be" about the squeak because it didn't always squeak, but it's been squeak free all day and I think it would have reoccured by now.

Thanks for the quick and dirty procedure, diagram, and the advice - made this fix easy.

You'll know in a couple days if you got it worked into the pivot.