Whistling sound when clutch is not engaged

J

JCHarvey

Junior Member
I have a whistling sound when the clutch is not engaged, I think it might be the throwout bearing but it's only 1000 miles since it was installed in a long block rebuild.

The sound is fairly high pitched and sounds like a whistle.

Any thoughts on what this is?
 
If you have proper [ 1.0-1.5"] freeplay then the T/O bearing should not be touching the fingers. That means the bearing is not spinning, therefore no noise. If you take out the freeplay so the bearing is contacting the fingers and it makes noise then the bearing is bad. If the noise you're hearing with foot off the clutch pedal is more of a 'whirring' noise then thats normal.
 
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Also inspect the pulley on the front of the crankshaft because it may be rubbing against the frame's front crossmember.
 
I too, would suspect the throwout bearing I had a similar occurrence a few years back when I purchased my Tudor. The motor only had 700 miles on it. I replaced the throwout bearing and all is well after 12,000 miles.
 
6 or 7 years a go I had the trans out (not model a) it had about 5k miles.

So I replaced the t bearing because I am so smart. Sure enough the factory tbearing was bad, out comes everything again. Not a good garage day. Worst part , it was not my fault.
 
Thanks, all for the advice on how to troubleshoot.

I pulled the inspection cover off and found the throwout bearing does not spin when the clutch isn't engaged. Also the whistling noise is loudest when the the clutch in not engaged but is still present with or without the clutch in.

The more I run it and listen I think the sound is either coming from the fan belt, fan or alternator pully. The fan belt was rather loose (maybe 1 1/2" play), so I tightened it slightly and that didn't seem to help.

I checked pulley and it's not rubbing on the crossmember and the fan is not loose and there's no play.

After seeming to narrow the sound as coming from the front of the car it seems like it might be the fan belt slipping or if drying can it make a whistling/squeaking
sound?
I have a video recording but it doesn't appear I can upload even a few seconds without exceeding the allowed file size.
 
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Spray a little bit of water on the fan belt as it is running to see if the sound changes.
Or disconnect the fan belt and see if the noise goes away.
 
JCHarvey said:
Thanks, all for the advice on how to troubleshoot.

I pulled the inspection cover off and found the throwout bearing does not spin when the clutch isn't engaged. Also the whistling noise is loudest when the the clutch in not engaged but is still present with or without the clutch in.

The more I run it and listen I think the sound is either coming from the fan belt, fan or alternator pully. The fan belt was rather loose (maybe 1 1/2" play), so I tightened it slightly and that didn't seem to help.

I checked pulley and it's not rubbing on the crossmember and the fan is not loose and there's no play.

After seeming to narrow the sound as coming from the front of the car it seems like it might be the fan belt slipping or if drying can it make a whistling/squeaking
sound?
I have a video recording but it doesn't appear I can upload even a few seconds without exceeding the allowed file size.
Click to expand...

Take the fan belt loose from generator and fan and see if it still has noise. If it doesn't change, then it is not in this area. (but don't forget to put it back on)
 
old31 said:
Nut Bob, wouldn't that be rubbing regardless if the clutch is in or out?
Click to expand...

If the car has rubber engine mounts, the motor can move forward a bit when the clutch is pressed. On one of my cars, I have a squeak in the front engine mount which disappears when I press the clutch.
 
Problem Solved! See solution at end of post.
Thanks for the advice on the troubleshooting. Here's what I did.

I didn't know if ronn meant it likes show tunes or doesn't so I changed the radio dial from Pink Floyd to Show Tunes. No change.

I pulled the inspection cover and found the TO bearing was not rotating with the clutch out so that was good and the sound just didn't seem like it was coming from that area.

Pulled the fan belt and determined the noise still present.

Tightened bolts on exhaust manifold and two bolts on carb to try and eliminate vacuum leak if there was one. They weren't loose but tightened up a little. Still had the noise.

Checked the fan belt pulley from the crankshaft and seemed to have clearance. Finally, sprayed a little WD-40 on the fan pulley and BINGO the noise ceased. So it was the fan belt pulley at the crankshaft rubbing. I loosened the castle nut about 1 turn and no more noise. I think the reason the noise was loudest with the clutch not engaged must have been engaging the clutch moved the engine just enough for the pulley to clear the cross member but also noticed as the engine ran longer the noise was present with and without the clutch engaged. Must have barely been touching so didn't take much movement for the sound to go away.

Thanks again for the help. I'm getting more confidence that it is actually possible to troubleshoot these things with a little help.
 
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