follow up to issues with repeated failed throw out bearings and questionable dealership?...

[upjeeper]

I posted recently about the issues I’m having with my 2001 Cobra with 112k on it (3rd throwout bearing seems to have failed, - this one lasted 350 miles...). The short story is I bought the car knowing it needed a throw out bearing. I took it into a local dealership / performance shop who did a throw out bearing, I had them do a clutch while they had it apart. I specifically asked for an OEM t/o bearing because I had read about other people having issues.

2,500 miles later the replaced bearing started to fail, so the same dealership replaced it under warranty.



Evidently no one at the shop was aware of the Performance line t/o bearing (M-7548-A), they only put the base line (F7ZZ-7548-AA) bearing in.



350 miles later I have a high pitched tinny / chirping / cricket like noise that’s RPM related. I took it into their shop, they finally had to have a “performance shop tech” look at it. The service manager called me yesterday and said the performance tech personally owned at least one 2001 Cobra he used to race and went through multiple transmissions and t/o bearings.

The story I was told is bearings are mass produced and the noise is because the bearing doesn’t sit flat in the housing. Nothing is wrong, it’s always going to be this way. He told me if I were to take the bearing and lay it on a surface place it would wobble.



I’ve worked in medical device manufacturing quality for 15+ years, plus being somewhat a gear head and this sounds like BS to me. This is also the same shop who said the 2nd time they did the bearing work, they couldn’t get the exhaust out because a bolt was rusted in place, so they had to drill it out. If this were the case, why wasn’t this a problem the first time they did the work? My point is, I have reason to not trust what they’re telling me.



I’m $600 into the work at this shop and it should be done correctly, but I’m about to the point where I consider it a sunk cost and will take it to another performance shop I do trust.



Has anyone heard this about bearings not laying flat and therefore causing a high-pitched cricket like noise?

Any other input?

 

[01yellercobra]

There is no difference between the FRPP and the stock Ford piece. Just the price.

How are they adjusting it? Are they leaving an air gap between the bearing and clutch fingers or is it always touching? I've always adjusted mine so it's barely touching. No real issues so far.

But yeah, I've been through a couple TOB's myself. As have a few friends. But not usually within 50 miles.

It's not a machined piece of medical equipment so the tolerances are a bit looser. If it's just making chirping noises you'll be ok for a while. Turn up the radio a little more.

 

[upjeeper]

There is no difference between the FRPP and the stock Ford piece. Just the price.

How are they adjusting it? Are they leaving an air gap between the bearing and clutch fingers or is it always touching? I've always adjusted mine so it's barely touching. No real issues so far.

But yeah, I've been through a couple TOB's myself. As have a few friends. But not usually within 50 miles.

It's not a machined piece of medical equipment so the tolerances are a bit looser. If it's just making chirping noises you'll be ok for a while. Turn up the radio a little more.

i'm unsure how they are adjusting it
i know it's not a piece of medical equipment, but it's not that hard to machine something so it sits flat, especially a bearing. shouldn't bearings having tighter tolerances??
they're saying they won't do the bearing again, it's fine as it is. i should drive it and live with it for the rest of time.

 

[FleeMan]

Do you have a firewall adjuster and quadrant? It really sounds as if though it needs a slight adjustment. Buy those parts and have them install it. As the clutch wears, you can adjust it yourself on the firewall. Any time you hear a chirp, adjust until it gets to the point you cant get rid of the chirp. More times than not when you get to that point, you need a new clutch anyway.

 

[upjeeper]

Do you have a firewall adjuster and quadrant? It really sounds as if though it needs a slight adjustment. Buy those parts and have them install it. As the clutch wears, you can adjust it yourself on the firewall. Any time you hear a chirp, adjust until it gets to the point you cant get rid of the chirp. More times than not when you get to that point, you need a new clutch anyway.

all stock as far as i know

 

[FleeMan]

Fiore 96-04 Micro-Click Firewall Adj. & Clutch Quadrant Kit

Fiore 96-04 Micro-Click Firewall Adj. & Clutch Quadrant KitAre you tired of dealing with jam nuts and set screws to lock down your Mustangs clutch cable adjuster? FIORE Performance Parts has recently released a new and unique version of the firewall clutch cable adjuster.Every quarter turn of...

www.lethalperformance.com

Purchase that or from somewhere else if you can find it cheaper. Steeda makes one as well that Summit sells. Its an upgrade over stock and its a worthwhile mod regardless of the outcome.

 

[FleeMan]

Keep your stock cable.

 

[01yellercobra]

The other issue is the quality of parts has gone downhill fast the last couple of years. I've had two Motorcraft filters fail on me on two different vehicles. Not catastrophic thankfully. But both leaked and both were fairly new. One was brand new.

Are you unable to work on your own stuff or is it by choice? I'm not asking to be a jerk, just curious. If you can do it yourself I'd say spend a day under the car pulling the trans and checking it at least. Or take it to the shop you mentioned that you trust and have them call you over when everything is apart so you can check it out.

In my experience service managers generally have no clue what's going on and rely on the techs. And generally unless it's bone stock the techs have no clue as well. The "tech" that went through multiple transmissions wouldn't be my first pick.

 

[upjeeper]

The other issue is the quality of parts has gone downhill fast the last couple of years. I've had two Motorcraft filters fail on me on two different vehicles. Not catastrophic thankfully. But both leaked and both were fairly new. One was brand new.

Are you unable to work on your own stuff or is it by choice? I'm not asking to be a jerk, just curious. If you can do it yourself I'd say spend a day under the car pulling the trans and checking it at least. Or take it to the shop you mentioned that you trust and have them call you over when everything is apart so you can check it out.

In my experience service managers generally have no clue what's going on and rely on the techs. And generally unless it's bone stock the techs have no clue as well. The "tech" that went through multiple transmissions wouldn't be my first pick.

no offense taken, it's a reasonable question.
i can generally do my own work, just too busy. and i figured a performance shop should be the best ones to do the work, and for $550 or whatever labor was it was worth it (had there been no issues that is)

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

he other issue is the quality of parts has gone downhill fast the last couple of years. I've had two Motorcraft filters fail on me on two different vehicles. Not catastrophic thankfully. But both leaked and both were fairly new. One was brand new.

pretty sure I have the same BS. I hand tighten all my filters and never had an issue. this one is dripping, put a half turn with the filter wrench, still doing it - oil pressure is normal.


as for the TOB bearing - id do as suggested above, put in an aftermarket quadrant and firewall adjuster and set it so the TOB is just against the PP fingers. If it still squeaks I'd run it until it gets real loud or is always making noise - clutch pedal in and out. In the meantime I'd find a reputable mustang shop so when it comes time they can drop it, inspect EVERYTHING, replace, reassemble and properly adjust the cable.

promotionpowertrain has a youtube channel with a video on properly adjusting the cable. It sucks that TOB longevity can be a bit of gamble

i dont mean it to be insulting but make sure you're not resting your foot on the clutch at lights and such as that'll accelerate wear

 

[01yellercobra]

pretty sure I have the same BS. I hand tighten all my filters and never had an issue. this one is dripping, put a half turn with the filter wrench, still doing it - oil pressure is normal.

That's how the one on the Cobra was. It dripped from day 1. I thought I missed some drops when cleaning up as it's behind the bumper, but it never stopped. Swapped on a K&N and it's been fine since.

 

[upjeeper]

pretty sure I have the same BS. I hand tighten all my filters and never had an issue. this one is dripping, put a half turn with the filter wrench, still doing it - oil pressure is normal.


as for the TOB bearing - id do as suggested above, put in an aftermarket quadrant and firewall adjuster and set it so the TOB is just against the PP fingers. If it still squeaks I'd run it until it gets real loud or is always making noise - clutch pedal in and out. In the meantime I'd find a reputable mustang shop so when it comes time they can drop it, inspect EVERYTHING, replace, reassemble and properly adjust the cable.

promotionpowertrain has a youtube channel with a video on properly adjusting the cable. It sucks that TOB longevity can be a bit of gamble

i dont mean it to be insulting but make sure you're not resting your foot on the clutch at lights and such as that'll accelerate wear

promotion powertrain?

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

promotion powertrain?

correct

 

[FIREBALL]

My TOB was making much noise with only 5k on my original miles cobra. When I converted to a T56 at 10k I went with a quadrant, firewall adjuster and a Timken Bearing, I adjusted pedal to (old school) approx. 3/4" free play, although with a cable its hard to tell how much is free play. Anyways Ive had the Timken in for 5K with no issues. Maybe a few have had problems with Timkens but they have been around a long time, and thats all I have ever used for a TOB in many cars and never had issues.

 

[MG0h3]

It might be bouncing off the PP fingers, which would make noise.

I may have missed it, but does the noise go away when you press the pedal?

If not, it’s cooked and it’ll never quiet down.


Sent from my iPhone using svtperformance.com

 

[01yellercobra]

I put a Timken in a buddies car and it worked fine until he sold it. He probably put close to 100k on that bearing.

 

[OldSVTGuy]

Years ago, I purchased a variety of longer springs from a hardware store and installed one of them on the clutch arm to keep the throwout bearing completely off the clutch fingers. Had to drill a hole in that metal cover and fix a mounting point at an appropriate point but it's worked for years now. Put in a second clutch about 5 years ago with about 79,000 on the car and now have almost 100,000 on it. NEVER had to replace a throwout bearing (except when changing the clutch) in all that time using this setup. Best cheap investment I ever made. That original spring is still on the car. Used only FRPP throwout bearings.

 

[upjeeper]

Years ago, I purchased a variety of longer springs from a hardware store and installed one of them on the clutch arm to keep the throwout bearing completely off the clutch fingers. Had to drill a hole in that metal cover and fix a mounting point at an appropriate point but it's worked for years now. Put in a second clutch about 5 years ago with about 79,000 on the car and now have almost 100,000 on it. NEVER had to replace a throwout bearing (except when changing the clutch) in all that time using this setup. Best cheap investment I ever made. That original spring is still on the car. Used only FRPP throwout bearings.

i'm having a little hard time picturing this, would you mind sharing a picture please?

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

i'm having a little hard time picturing this, would you mind sharing a picture please?

there used to be a company (LDC maybe? theyre not around anymore) out there that made a "free play mod" that consisted of a spring and a tube it slide over with a big shoulder (so it didnt slip through the clutch fork) to do this. Maybe if you google image search that it'll give you an idea.

 

[Roots-type]

there used to be a company (LDC maybe? theyre not around anymore) out there that made a "free play mod" that consisted of a spring and a tube it slide over with a big shoulder (so it didnt slip through the clutch fork) to do this. Maybe if you google image search that it'll give you an idea.

I got one from d'agostino racing back in the day. I'll see if I can find it and put up a pic.