QuestionHello Howard,
We have put a lot of money into this car that we purchased 1 year ago. New
clutch,head work,convertible top,rear brake cylinders,fuel pump,needle
bearings in the transmission,professionally rebuilt original carbs,gas
tank,seats replaced foam,tires with a set of panasport rims,rebuilt the brake
master cylinder,cluth slave,muffler pipe,alternator rebuilt,hoses and Im sure
much more. It has 31,000 original miles with no rust at all. Thats why we
are investing money into it. We went from driving motorcycles to this and
my wife and I really love it. Now after all this work we put about 1000 miles
on it and we both hear a ZZZZZZZZ sound when we engage the cluth. I also
found out it goes away when the underside of the car gets wet and comes
right back as it dries off. It goes into gear but the noise sounds like to me
the throw out bearing. But the wet puzzles me. Can you help with the info I
provided?
AnswerHi Tom,
That puzzles me too. I have not run into that before but I can tell you how I would go about locating the problem. As with any odd problem that either makes noise of does something unwanted you need to do all your testing in the condition that makes it evident. In your case engaging the clutch. Or do you mean disengaging the clutch?
Disengage is when you depress the pedal and when you let the clutch pedal up you are engaging the clutch.
I would guess you mean when you step down on the clutch pedal. My first question then is what kind of clutch release bearing did you install? the original carbon type or one of the new aftermarket ball bearing type? Also, does it make the noise as soon as you touch the pedal or just when the pedal is all the way down or both?
Either way I would do this if the car had come to me in a dealership with that complaint. Put the car on a lift with someone in the car and have them start the engine and depress the clutch while you take a mechanics stethoscope and search for the area of the noise. It could be something as simple as a external vibration of something. Or a pilot bearing, a front main trans bearing or a problem with the release bearing or even the pad on the pressure plate making the noise. Unfortunately any of the internal problems require that the engine be removed again. Then hopefully you will be able to spot the source of the noise. Too often in dealerships we would take an engine or a trans or a differential apart for a strange noise and not see the cause. In this case we would have to replace a lot more parts than normally necessary just to be able to correct the problem. This is true in every shop and dealership I have worked in over 40 years. I was even contracted by BMC to rebuild a new (off of the showroom) MGB differential while the factory rep helped, trying to locate the source of a "wine" in the rear end of most MGBs in 1964. I went by the book and found nothing wrong and it wined before and after I finished as did most "Bs" back then. After that a memo came down from BMC to undercoat the box area of the differential When we received any complaints, as they believed that it was the unit body sheet metal was amplifying the normal noise that a differential makes.
One thing about a noise is that they only go away by themselves in rare occasions and when they continue and get worse, they are much easier to see the cause when you have to go inside.
Sorry that I have no good news for you but that is all I have for this case. Let us know what you find.
Howard
