Clutch or Transmission Problem?
07-22-2010, 09:05 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: MD
Posts: 4
Clutch or Transmission Problem?
Hi everyone! I'm new to the forums, so I hope I have this in the right spot.
I have a 2003 GT and recently my clutch has given out, or so I thought. I was suffering from, what I believed to be, throw out bearing squeaking. However, after finding a mechanic on craigslist who said he would replace it (along with the rest of the clutch) for $150 with my parts, so I thought it was a fair price. Now, him and he mechanic buddy SWEAR up and down it's the transmission and I quote "100% at least the head shaft bearing is bad" he says. My dad, who owned older Mustangs, a mechanic buddy of mine, and my girlfriends dad who is a mechanic tell me these two guys are idiots and have no idea what they're talking about that it's my clutch. I'll describe the problem and you guys can hopefully sort of whether I'm looking at a $300 clutch install (remember I have everything already, I'll just pay a REAL mechanic shop to do it) or if I'm looking at a $750+ transmission.
Originally, like I said, I was getting the infamous throw out bearing squeak. When my foot was OFF the clutch pedal, it would make a squeaky/chirpy/static type of sound until I SLIGHTLY rested my foot on the pedal or drove it. About 2 weeks ago now, it got TERRIBLE and is a very high pitch, much louder squeaky sound and happens when I'm off or on the clutch, though there's an extra "gravel shaking" type sound when I'm on the clutch (doesn't matter whether I'm in gear or not). I can shift into gears without any hiccups at all with the car on OR off, all gears are perfectly fine. My dad and mechanic buddy told me that THAT right there shows that my transmission is fine. Even when I shift into gears you can hear the linkage "clank" into place, engaging the gear. My dad, buddy and gf's dad have "never heard of a manual transmission going bad, unless you abuse it or can't drive it"
Now, the car only has 62,000 miles on it and I don't drive her hard. I've never done a burnout in her or even power shifted. I'm not going to sit here and say I granny drive her, but I do granny SHIFT her. I in no way "abuse" my car, plain and simple. I've only had her for 30,000 miles, but if the previous driver was that bad, I assume something would have came up MUCH sooner. I haven't been driving it because the noise is just atrocious. Luckily, when it got SUPER bad, I was parking it so I didn't drive her for too long. One last thing I can remember is that when I was parking, it felt like it wanted to stall out on me, which is another thing that leads me to believe that it's clutch related and somehow engaging/disengaging when it's not suppose to.
Also, I'm not super smart when it comes to cars (hence why I have all the people helping and opinions, lol). I can do basic stuff like change my alt, spark plugs and keep up with some terminology, but try to keep it simple for me, as the clutch/transmission is a new area for me. Thanks guys!
I have a 2003 GT and recently my clutch has given out, or so I thought. I was suffering from, what I believed to be, throw out bearing squeaking. However, after finding a mechanic on craigslist who said he would replace it (along with the rest of the clutch) for $150 with my parts, so I thought it was a fair price. Now, him and he mechanic buddy SWEAR up and down it's the transmission and I quote "100% at least the head shaft bearing is bad" he says. My dad, who owned older Mustangs, a mechanic buddy of mine, and my girlfriends dad who is a mechanic tell me these two guys are idiots and have no idea what they're talking about that it's my clutch. I'll describe the problem and you guys can hopefully sort of whether I'm looking at a $300 clutch install (remember I have everything already, I'll just pay a REAL mechanic shop to do it) or if I'm looking at a $750+ transmission.
Originally, like I said, I was getting the infamous throw out bearing squeak. When my foot was OFF the clutch pedal, it would make a squeaky/chirpy/static type of sound until I SLIGHTLY rested my foot on the pedal or drove it. About 2 weeks ago now, it got TERRIBLE and is a very high pitch, much louder squeaky sound and happens when I'm off or on the clutch, though there's an extra "gravel shaking" type sound when I'm on the clutch (doesn't matter whether I'm in gear or not). I can shift into gears without any hiccups at all with the car on OR off, all gears are perfectly fine. My dad and mechanic buddy told me that THAT right there shows that my transmission is fine. Even when I shift into gears you can hear the linkage "clank" into place, engaging the gear. My dad, buddy and gf's dad have "never heard of a manual transmission going bad, unless you abuse it or can't drive it"
Now, the car only has 62,000 miles on it and I don't drive her hard. I've never done a burnout in her or even power shifted. I'm not going to sit here and say I granny drive her, but I do granny SHIFT her. I in no way "abuse" my car, plain and simple. I've only had her for 30,000 miles, but if the previous driver was that bad, I assume something would have came up MUCH sooner. I haven't been driving it because the noise is just atrocious. Luckily, when it got SUPER bad, I was parking it so I didn't drive her for too long. One last thing I can remember is that when I was parking, it felt like it wanted to stall out on me, which is another thing that leads me to believe that it's clutch related and somehow engaging/disengaging when it's not suppose to.
Also, I'm not super smart when it comes to cars (hence why I have all the people helping and opinions, lol). I can do basic stuff like change my alt, spark plugs and keep up with some terminology, but try to keep it simple for me, as the clutch/transmission is a new area for me. Thanks guys!
07-22-2010, 11:50 PM
#3
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Georgia
Posts: 239
sounds like a clutch and throwout bearing to me.
I had a transmission go out on me on a 91 explorer with 168k on it
what happened was it was hard to go into 2nd & 3rd more so after driving for a while and the fluid heated up until one day I was driving home 1 month after I bought it and I had a REAL hard time getting it into second followed by an even tougher time getting it back out then it wouldn't go into third at all. the car would stall as soon as the clutch was let out. I rebuilt said transmission myself. yeah someone who had it before me ran it low on fluid or in the wrong gear or something it melted to funnel that lubes the front bearing which needed replacing and second gear bearing was completely gone, it rained out when we had to press it off, the syncro seized onto the gear, so the trans was locked in second gear.
needless to say the trans was abused so what your dad and buddy say is correct, either that or you have a crap ton of miles, and your not experiencing anything i was, i vote ask your dads mechanic friend to do it for you or you and your dad could tackle that in the garage on 4 jack stands in a day, hardest part about it is the darn starter
I had a transmission go out on me on a 91 explorer with 168k on it
what happened was it was hard to go into 2nd & 3rd more so after driving for a while and the fluid heated up until one day I was driving home 1 month after I bought it and I had a REAL hard time getting it into second followed by an even tougher time getting it back out then it wouldn't go into third at all. the car would stall as soon as the clutch was let out. I rebuilt said transmission myself. yeah someone who had it before me ran it low on fluid or in the wrong gear or something it melted to funnel that lubes the front bearing which needed replacing and second gear bearing was completely gone, it rained out when we had to press it off, the syncro seized onto the gear, so the trans was locked in second gear.
needless to say the trans was abused so what your dad and buddy say is correct, either that or you have a crap ton of miles, and your not experiencing anything i was, i vote ask your dads mechanic friend to do it for you or you and your dad could tackle that in the garage on 4 jack stands in a day, hardest part about it is the darn starter
07-23-2010, 09:46 AM
#4
TECH SAVANT
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Saint Augustine, FL
Posts: 10,938
Speculating as to the cause of clutch related noises is a purely academic exercise.
Regardless of the cause, the tranny is going to have to come out--and once it's out the cause will be very easy to find, as well as determining if the tranny is indeed bad...
Regardless of the cause, the tranny is going to have to come out--and once it's out the cause will be very easy to find, as well as determining if the tranny is indeed bad...
07-23-2010, 09:56 AM
#5
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: MO/ Born and raised in Louisiana
Posts: 10,696
07-23-2010, 08:08 PM
#7
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Arizona
Posts: 23
My guess is that the Throw out bearing, and pilot bearings are damaged.. along with the clutch. I had the exact same thing happen to me 4 or 5 days into a new "used" mustang. The input shaft was so dry and crusted, the TOB and Pilot Bearings were FUBAR!
Good Luck.
Good Luck.
07-23-2010, 08:11 PM
#8
TECH SAVANT
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Saint Augustine, FL
Posts: 10,938
My guess is that the Throw out bearing, and pilot bearings are damaged.. along with the clutch. I had the exact same thing happen to me 4 or 5 days into a new "used" mustang. The input shaft was so dry and crusted, the TOB and Pilot Bearings were FUBAR!
Good Luck.
Good Luck.
07-24-2010, 08:28 AM
#10
TECH SAVANT
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Saint Augustine, FL
Posts: 10,938
..."Throw Out Bearing" and Pilot Bearings.
-cliff-
Last edited by cliffyk; 07-24-2010 at 11:19 AM. Reason: spelling