I recently had my clutch replaced and about 2 days later it started making a funny noise whenever the clutch pedal was released. I'm doing some other work on the car, so decided to remove the transmission. The flywheel had serious signs of wear as did the (spring fingers) on the pressure plate housing. When I replaced the clutch plate last, I had someone else do it and they had told me both the pressure plate and flywheel were fine.
Can anybody think of what could be the cause of this? Maybe things were in bad shape to begin with and the mechanic was just lazy and didn't want to go to the trouble of fixing it? Could the flywheel have been put on incorrectly? I didn't notice any matchmarks like the FSM suggests making, leading me to believe the last mechanic just removed it and returned it.
I've had the flywheel skimmed and bought a new clutch and pressure plate as well as pilot bearing and release bearing. Is there an incorrect way to return everything? After taking the transmission out, I've realized I don't want to do it again any time in the near future.
Of the more then 200 clutch changes I have made I always replace the clutch pressure plate, clutch disk, though out bearing and pilot shaft bearing if needed. I inspect the clutch cable or hydraulic cylinder for leakage.
When the pressure plate is off I inspect the rear of the oil pan for any oil leaks. If this is a high mileage vehicle and the rear main seal has not leaked then I replace the rear main bearing seal anyway for future insurance that it may go at any time and start leaking. There are a couple possibilities of what may be making the noise. It would be a bent splash shield touching the flywheel but don’t know on these vehicles. If your vehicle shudders when using the clutch then mabey the mechanic put lateral force on the transmission trying to force the trany to the engine. This would result in a bend clutch disk. Again I don’t know if that is an issue with these vehicles as some are difficult to mate up to the rear of the engine block.
What your mechanic did was a sloppy job of not doing it right the first time. You might want to take it to a shop that does clutch changes all the time and have them diagnose the sound you hear while using the clutch then they might give you a estimate on its cost.
Unfortunately here in kenya laziness seems to be the name of the day. I have already removed the trans/flywheel/ etc... I was mostly wondering if there is a wrong and right way to put the flywheel back on. I made matchmarks on everything, but realized later that he probably did not do that when he removed everything and that means I have no idea of whether he put everything back on correctly or not, so how useful are the marks I made?
John, no doubt the "mechanics" in Kenya are as incapable as the ones here in Guatemala and as well "trained" to boot. My guess is that your clutch disk is probably fine but the throwout bearing, pilot bearing and pressure plate were not replaced and the flywheel likely not resurfaced.
I wouldn't worry alot about the flywheel. Have it surfaced by someone you trust then just bolt it up with the recommended torque, making sure the seating surface is clean. Replace the pilot bearing and throwout bearing both. Spin the tranny input shaft and see if that got bent in the process (though I can't imagine that unless they went to lunch while it was hanging on the clutch disk). Align the clutch disk and install the new pressure plate and put it all together.
When it's together double check the clutch pedal travel to ensure it's within spec too.
