Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

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goldeneagle

Junior Member
Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

On a 29 roadster, I have what sounds like a belt squeal at idle that goes away when I press the clutch, even just taking the travel out of the clutch without fully disengaging will make it stop. I’ve greased everything, replaced and readjusted belt. I’m fairly certain it’s not the belt or generator. Any ideas?
 
Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

I believe the original throwout bearing was greasable. And I think the replacements aren't. You could try squirting some bicycle chain lubricant into the throwout bearing. The bicycle chain lubricant is a grease that is dissolved in a light fluid that evaporates. After squirting it into the chain, or in this case the bearing, the light fluid evaporates leaving the grease.
 
Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

goldeneagle said:
On a 29 roadster, I have what sounds like a belt squeal at idle that goes away when I press the clutch, even just taking the travel out of the clutch without fully disengaging will make it stop. I’ve greased everything, replaced and readjusted belt. I’m fairly certain it’s not the belt or generator. Any ideas?
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this point
 

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Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

nkaminar said:
I believe the original throw out bearing was greaseable. And I think the replacements aren't. You could try squirting some bicycle chain lubricant into the throw out bearing. The bicycle chain lubricant is a grease that is dissolved in a light fluid that evaporates. After squirting it into the chain, or in this case the bearing, the light fluid evaporates leaving the grease.
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Yes, I have seen a greaseable throw out bearings. And everyone thinks that the grease fitting on the carrier, will grease the throw out bearing, which we
know is not correct. I wonder if you could drill a very small hole and use a
needle grease fitting and lube it up & seal it up with something.

Maybe in an emergency I figure......
 
Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

I think most of the comments are looking at this incorrectly. The OP describes it as a belt like squeal that goes away when the clutch is pressed. The throw out bearing spins when the clutch is pressed, not when it's not pressed (pedal). Post #5 has a good recommendation with that tool!

I'd look at your crankshaft end trust. When the pedal is pressed, does the crank move forward at all? Look for a forward motion on the crank, which then might load the belt a bit, or create an odd forward load on the generator/alternator or water pump. The squeak could really be the belt, or the accessories on the front of the engine.

I'd also look behind the clutch. With clutch pedal pressed you take the load off the transmission and everything behind it. Does your transmission have gear oil in it? Are gear or shaft bearings in the transmission making the noise?
 
Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

Is the crankshaft pulley new? I recently had an issue where a new crankshaft pulley was rubbing on the front engine mount. This happened twice, both new crankshaft pullies. Once with a 29 phaeton and once with a 31 slant window. Look closely, as it was only hitting on one of the three castings and only by a couple thousandths or so. Just enough to make an annoying squeal that I first thought was the fan belt. If you push down on the right front fender and it quits, there's a chance your problem is the same. That's how I found my problem. I ground the offending casting down just a bit with a dremel and problem solved.
 
Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

Remove the belt, and try again. I also agree with the above comments.
 
Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

old31 said:
Remove the belt, and try again. I also agree with the above comments.
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I agree with this.

I would also suggest you lubricate the distributor bushings.
 
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Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

I had a similar issue several years ago. The noise would go away when the clutch pedal was depressed. It was the spring on my front motor mount. Put some oil on it and the noise went away.
Yours sounds a bit different because you only have to press your pedal lightly to make the noise go away.
Are you sure the pedal itself isn't rubbing against something or the pedal bushing needs a bit of lubrication?
 
Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

I had what sounded like a squeal, and what it turned out to be was that one of the engine pan mounting ears (where it bolts up to the oil pan) had cracked, and the two edges of the cracked metal were rubbing against themselves because of the engine vibration. It produced a very loud sound like fingernails on a blackboard.
 
Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

After reading this thread I took the inspection plate off to take a look and grease the slider through the grease fitting, and I found there was no fitting there at all and just the hole where it is supposed to be.

I'll get a fitting and attach it but I'm wondering if I need to spray anything in there first to clean out any dust and debris? There shouldn't be much as the car has almost no miles on it after being put together but I do want to do it right.
 
Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

I am not aware of throw out bearings produced in at least the last 20 years that would have the ability to accept grease from the throw out bearing carrier. I think you will probably only grease the carrier on the housing and not the bearing.

Having said that, I agree you should remove the fan belt and see if the squeal goes away.

The post about the distributor bearings is also something to check. It is easy to overlook the lubrication of the distributor shaft bearings. Look and see if the hold down screw on the distributor rotor has a small hole in it. If so, put a few drops of oil down the hole and fill the oiler on the bottom of the distributor housing. Best of Luck!!
 
Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

1crosscut said:
I had a similar issue several years ago. The noise would go away when the clutch pedal was depressed. It was the spring on my front motor mount. Put some oil on it and the noise went away.
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As strange as that sound, the same happened to me. I tightened the nut on the front mount and it noise went away...
 
Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

Whatever you do, DO NOT START THE ENGINE WITH THE TOP OFF OF THRANSMISSION!
 
Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

I think I was half asleep in my last post. Distributors do not have bearings, they have bushings. Further, most after market upper distributor shafts have been drilled dead center to the depth of the upper bushing, and then cross drilled to provide a passageway for the oil to the upper bushing. Sorry for any confusion.
 
Re: Squeal that I can’t pinpoint

1crosscut said:
I had a similar issue several years ago. The noise would go away when the clutch pedal was depressed. It was the spring on my front motor mount. Put some oil on it and the noise went away.
Yours sounds a bit different because you only have to press your pedal lightly to make the noise go away.
Are you sure the pedal itself isn't rubbing against something or the pedal bushing needs a bit of lubrication?
Click to expand...

THIS!!!! would have never considered the front motor mount but sure enough, couple squirts of penetrating oil and squeal is gone! THANK YOU!
 
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