handyandy

Hey guys,

For the past few months, I've been hearing a mild, but consistent squeal and need help diagnosing this.

I have a hunch that it is related to my clutch because when I push my clutch in, the sound goes away. After the engine heats up, the sound fades away and sometimes is gone for the remainder of the drive... but on a cold start, in neutral, the squeal is always there!

It still grabs pretty well, but it's been making the sound for a few months now. What does a bad clutch sound/feel like, and what does a bad throw out bearing sound like?

I have ~145,000 miles (bought at 92,000) and the previous owner seemed to have put an aftermarket clutch in (going off a hunch bc it's way heavier than a stock Mustang clutch). I don't know what brand, but I think it may be King Cobra. Anyway, I know how to drive a manual so I didn't think a clutch would go out after ~50k. Any other ideas what this could be??

Thanks.

JC316

Throwout bearing. I am having the same issue with my Cobra. Going to have to pull the transmission soon and I DONT WANNA!!!!

65mechanic

Yep. Either a TOB or a pilot bearing. Either way, trans is coming down if you want it to go away. I just did mine about 3 weeks ago. The car still had the stock clutch in it at 149,109 miles and was still working fine until the throw out bearing started making an awful noise when I pressed in the clutch at any RPM. Dropped the trans and it fell into pieces when I got it out.

Seabee1993

Man, at that high mileage you would have figured the rivets would have been rubbing through. Mine was a mess too, at least mine didn't disintegrate that would have been a tad unnerving.

handyandy

Thanks for the replies guys. In response to 65mechanic:

You said yours made an awful noise whenever you pressed in the clutch. In my case, the sound goes away when pedal is pressed in. Your situation makes sense, given the throwout bearing is engaged whenever the pedal is down. Mine is reverse of that though. Still a case for the pilot bearing??

Thanks again.

65mechanic

Yeah, Mine was doing just that right before it go a lot worse. Of course I drove the car a year or two with that nosie, until it got super loud and I decided it was time. I'm pretty sure it was never the pilot. But I'd replace everything you can while your in there. I even replaced my clutch fork too. It had a little broken clip. Trust me you'll want to replace everything after you go through dropping it once. lol

JC316

Trust me, it's the TOB. Mine makes less noise when the clutch is pressed in as well. The TOB is always spinning on these cars, when you press in, it puts some pressure on it and it quiets down. I dislike that the TOB is always engaged, I think it's the main reason they have so much trouble.

65mechanic

Actually, If you get an adjustable clutch cable you should be able to adjust the the fork so it releases all the way back and takes all the weight off the TOB. That's a life saver for your TOB.