It was an intermittent sound when I let the clutch out to engage first gear. Best way to describe it is a “Vooooop”
It would only happen when I was letting the clutch out and starting to roll in first gear.
It only happens when car is warm and in intermittent
Then when car is fully warmed up and I restart the engine and gearbox in neutral and clutch engaged, when I push clutch pedal in, I some times hear the same “Voooop”
If you look up inside the bell housing access hole under the car you can see the throwout bearing and the graphite insert with a flashlight. If you put a long thin screwdriver in, the test is to try rotate the graphite insert. Mine rotates easily with a screwdriver.
What if you simply push the clutch in an inch or so until the bearing barely contacts? I think the 3.8 bell lacks the hole you’re speaking off. It only has the fork hole, a hole on the top over the flywheel, and a round hole underneath, pretty close to the front edge of the housing. I don’t think the bearing is visible from that one.
I think I’m victim two. When I first got it on back on the road in fall it was silent except the the slippy sound a new clutch disk makes. Now if I just barely press the pedal, it makes a clattery sound. If I keep pressing it goes away, I’d guess because the pressure ceases the slippage.
I hate this F’ing car. I’m serious, any of y’all have an extra garage bay and 20 hours on your hand, feel free to make me an offer. I’m F’ing done. I got all of 300 miles out of this new engine and it has to come out again? F this bullshit.
You can see the throwout bearing and graphite from the lower underside inspection hole on the 4.2 litre
For me, the sound does not happen when you take up the clutch free play. It happens when the clutch is disengaging, but not after it is fully disengaged.
I think you and I should be optimistic.
My local garage says it can go a long time with the slipping grapgite bearing and
Sounds like a Hail Mary, Dennis. You might be advised to prepare for plan B and have a new TOB and a shop crane at the ready in case the repair attempt goes south. Otherwise drive the car and keep an eye on it, and plan for an engine out in the off season.
Jeez. I can’t offer any encouraging words to you either, Erica.
Between this and defective chain tensioners things are getting spooky for simple parts failing quickly and costing big money and trouble. Anyone know what the major suppliers are saying about these kind of critical part failures ?
I had a problem with a new servo I bought that was manufactured offshore.
Quality was very low. The casting of the cylinder had bubbles in it so the rear seal leaked. The assembly used wrong components and the rear three bolt locking plate was assembled so that it was scoring the stainless steel rod.
Amazingly the replacement servo I was sent had the same problems and which I luckily found as I took it apart and inspected it first, rather than install and find the same problems and have to remove again
I had a chat with the principal of the supply house that sold me the defective part and was offered a complete gasket set in compensation, which I failed to take up. I guess I should have. Replacing that damper isn’t nearly as onerous as a TOB but regardless requires a fair bit of work, which I still haven’t worked up enough energy to do - I’ve been driving the car without exceeding 4000 rpm instead, and then not sustained. It’s been almost 4000 miles so far. But I’m missing my Italian tuneups and those glorious G-forces pushing my old butt into the seat at WOT, so will probably bite the bullet sometime this summer.
By all mean, Dennis. If it works you will be a troubleshooting trail blazer!
One of the Metalastic steering rack mounts in my E delaminated years ago. As a temporary fix I cleaned up the mating surfaces in situ, coated them with a generous application of cyanoacrylate and pressed it back together. When I did the resto several years ago the mount was still solidly bonded. Sometimes Hail Mary’s work out. In this case because I had complete access to the repair area.
For reasons too long to go into here, I had my V12 rebuilt in Germany at a Jag dealership in '82-'83. Five years later I had reason to do another rebuild. Had the crank magna-fluxed. Found a 4-5" crack running diagonally across the center main bearing. That’s what happens when the technician installs just one if the thrust bearings backwards: placed the steel side of the bearing against the spinning crankshaft…
Also cut a 1/4" deep groove in the crank.
I bought my 67 coupe about 5 years ago. Drove it for about a year and pulled the engine for a transmission swap and found that the carbon disc has separated from the metal backer. There was no indication that this had happened - no unusual sounds or sensations. By the amount of carbon dust it looked like it had been going on for some time but how do you tell? I have 11 years of service records for the car, with no clutch service, plus the mechanic that serviced it for more than 20 years is a friend. He’d rebuilt the engine but it had been so long before he didn’t recall when it was. So long story short the car seems to operate fine with the a loose bearing. I suspect that once the clutch is depressed the bearing does not rotate with the clutch but stays stationary. The bearing still had plenty of carbon left.
