Any ideas? Clutch, Pressure Plate or ******?

bmwillia

bmwillia

Senior Member
I have a knocking noise that started while driving the car it is coming from the bell housing area. The noise started after I ran out of gas, put gas in the car and was heading home. the noise goes away when the clutch pedal is in and the clutch stops spinning. I have viewed this through the inspection opening in the transmission. I pulled the transmission, clutch and pressure plate. Turning the ****** by hand nothing seems out of sorts and visual inspection of the clutch and pressure plate don't reveal anything obvious to me but I may just not know what I am looking at.

I am attaching a video link. Any help on what to look at would be appreciated.

https://youtube.com/shorts/5WbLKaHCXcA?feature=share
 
Did you have the proper 3/4 to 1" free play on the clutch pedal? Sometimes, a throwout bearing going bad will get quiet when theres pressure on them, and may make noise while spinning loosely. It should not spin or be in contact unless your foot is on the pedal. No other signs of something hitting in the bell housing area?
 
When you depress the clutch you also move the weights on the pressure plate. Could the weights be hitting the bell housing?? look for very small abrasion marks.
 
I do have the proper play in the clutch pedal and I forgot to mention that I started with the throw out, put it all back together and the noise was still there.

Terry, I thought about that.

I'll see if I can see any signs of something hitting in the bell housing area. Nothing jumped out at me on initial inspection.
 
On my first car a’50 Ford the ring gear got cockeyed on the flywheel and it wore a groove on one side of the block. I tapped the gear back into place and a local shop laid a couple of beads equal distance around the edge. I kept the car for a couple of years and didn’t notice any balance issues.
 
The noise starts when the clutch pedal is out and stops when the clutch pedal is in correct? With the clutch pedal out in neutral the only thing turning different is the clutch plate, the input shaft/ cluster gear, and pilot bushing. The throwout bearing shouldn't be turning with the pedal out so I would look at the mentioned parts.
 
In your video look at the area the arrow is pointing to, looks like something moving back and forth possibly hitting the bearing.
 

Attachments

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Kurt in NJ said:
drain the trans oil and look for broken gear tooth
Click to expand...

When I first started troubleshooting I did this. The was a broken tooth off of the cluster gear sitting in the bottom of the ******. I removed it.

When spinning the ****** by hand now I don't hear or feel anything different when that broken tooth comes around on the gear.

Have had other ******'s with broken gear teeth and not heard this noise, could the broken tooth be the culprit?
 
Brad, My Dad and I have been trying to solve the same noise you describe in our 33/34 pickup. The ticking noise only occurs when the clutch is out, minute push clutch in, noise is eliminated. This occurs in neutral as well as when in gear but only able to hear it at low rpm before engine noise overpowers it. In addition, the loud ticking noise increases frequency with engine speed. We are preparing to swap out the transmission and hoping that your find of a broken tooth is the issue for us as well. Would you say that the other potential sources are all ruled out for you? Our first step will be to look for a broken tooth it appears. Thanks a lot put putting this issue out there and for all who tried to help you solve it. Could you please let us know if noise is eliminated after reinstall with all the teeth in place? Thank you. Steve
 
Steve,

Not 100% sure but I don’t see any other issue and that knock noise does happen turning the input shaft by hand every time the broken tooth comes around.

I don’t see any evidence of the pressure plate hitting anywhere and it’s been running quietly for around 1000 miles..

These ******’s are pretty easy to rebuild. Check out Van Pelt sales. They have all the parts and Mac wrote a really good step by step rebuild manual.

Please let me know what you find with yours, I’m curious if it is a broken tooth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Brad, Thank you for your insights on this, great info including likely not the pressure plate.
I appreciate the suggestion to head to Van Pelt sales. Fortunately we have a trans that Mac and Will rebuilt for us last year and plan to swap it out.
This all started due to the loud tick and our desire to fix it.

I'll keep you posted but may be a few months before we tackle that swap. When your coupe is back in service and your V8ing again please let us know if you have solved the issue. Thank you. Update to follow on the pickup this summer. Steve
 
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