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Weird grinding noise


madkiwi
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Hi guys,

 

Just today I'm driving along in 2nd coming up to a stop sign, and I push in the clutch, coasting. I hear this weird grinding noise. I put the gearshift into neutral, the sound goes away.

 

I experimented a bit, the sound only occurs with the clutch disengaged, and (so far) I only notice it when it is in 2nd and 3rd gear. It only happens while the vehicle is still rolling.

 

A friend told me it sounds like it is the throwout bearing. Someone here was saying that when the throw out bearing is dying it makes the noise when the clutch is just being engaged/disengaged. Mine happens only when the clutch is fully depressed.

 

My friend thinks I am ok to go for a 500 mile round trip to Reno next weekend, does that seem right?

 

Any better guesses? It's a 93 Pathfinder, I have 110K miles, manual tranny (obviously) and no slipping on the clutch. The tranny and clutch are original.

 

Thanks,

 

Madkiwi

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If you fully depress the clutch, and thats the only time you hear it, yes, its probably the throw out bearing. It shouldn't matter if you are rolling or not, only if the bearing is being forced to spin under pressure. Mine makes noise after a cold start and eventually goes away other than always giving a shout bark when I shift from 1st to 2nd. I have 108K on the '95XE and the clutch will slip slightly then shifting hard at high RPM from 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th uphill.

You are probably fine for the trip to Reno; barking bearings can last thousands of miles, but I'd go easy on the shifting just because. Personally, it annoys me SO MUCH that when I hear it, it gets replaced. I bought all the parts in the bell housing for about $250, all OEM, and will probably work on it late next week. Shops seem to charge from $500 to $1500 with $900 to $1100 being common.

500 mile round trip to Reno ? You wouldnt happen to live in the bay area ? I do. Enjoy the trip.

 

Bernard

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Precise,

 

If I read you right, then the noise should be there whenever I have the clutch depressed.

 

However, I only hear the noise while the vehicle is coasting with the clutch depressed, and in gear. If I put the stick into neutral the sound goes away. If I stop moving, the sound goes away.

 

This is driving me nuts. Symptoms don't seem to match what others have said about a throw-out bearing. Today I opened the fill hole for the tranny just to make sure I had plenty of gear oil in there (I did, and I use Red Line MT90).

 

Anyone else ever had this noise?

 

madkiwi

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Hey madkiwi. Sorry if I misunderstood, but I think I get it now. One more question, can you hear it when accelerating in those gears or does motor/exhaust noise drown it out or does it not exist ? I agree that it does not match t-bearing symptoms exactly. What I would do is find a moderate hill somewhere quiet and with low traffic. Shut the motor off, coast, use the clutch (obviously) and put it thru the gears and listen real well. Be careful tho !! If I had to guess, I'd say the issue is in the tranny, maybe bearings or syncros. Sorry if I'm scaring you but I'm only guessing, and I'm a home mechanic, not a true pro (although I do almost all my own work). I'll try to find a good shot of the tranny internals in my manual to get a better understanding... Let me know what you find.

 

Bernard

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Precise1

 

No noise anytime except when in gear AND coasting. Letting the clutch out stops the noise. No problems or strange shifting. The noise starts maybe 2 seconds or so after depressing the clutch, I only noticed it Saturday because I was coasting to a stop sign that was downhill and about 100 feet away, so there was time for it to start making that grind/squeel noise.

 

Over on the 4x4parts.com forums the responders are leaning towards a bad input bearing. If so that would tick me off no end, I know about the issues with the FS5R30A transmission where the oil level was too low, and added 1.5 qt of oil 18,000 miles ago. Saturday was the first indication anything was amiss. Also ticks me off because I started using the Red Line 60,000 miles ago because I wanted my transmission to last forever.

 

Any idea who would be the best place to take it to? If I go to the dealer I'll probably need to take my own Vaseline.

 

While I have it apart would it be a sensible thing to have the clutch replaced at the same time?

 

darn.

madkiwi

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Any idea who would be the best place to take it to? If I go to the dealer I'll probably need to take my own Vaseline.

 

While I have it apart would it be a sensible thing to have the clutch replaced at the same time?

 

do it yourself...and save the dough then have a :beer:

 

 

definately put in new clutch and components. you don't want to have to deal with that in a few months, do you?

 

 

it may be worthwile to take it to a tranny shop to have them tell you what's wrong with the darn thing...

 

good luck

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Hey madkiwi. Yes, it very well could be the input shaft bearing, but I'll let more knowlegable people talk about that. I think mzxtreme has the right idea. To me, the ideal way to handle this would to have a tranny shop give you their diagnosis (if you are still not certain), and a quote to rebuild the tranny if you remove it. Remove the tranny and have it rebuilt, replace ALL clutch components and pilot bushing, resurface the flywheel... then put it all back together. Of course, this means you have the time/place/tools to monkey with it and another vehicle. This route would probably cost you $500-$700. Having a shop do it will cost the same for parts ($250+)+8 hours labor+tranny rebuild cost. Sometimes your decisions are made for you.... I can tell you where I found the cheapest OEM parts if you go that route.

Whats this about 'the issues with the FS5R30A transmission where the oil level was too low, and added 1.5 qt of oil 18,000 miles ago.' ? I have only had my Pathy 1 month, and have not heard of/do not understand what the problem is. A brief explanation would be very much appreciated.... Good luck and tell us what the problem was.

 

Bernard

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Precise1,

 

Here is a post I made on

4x4parts.com about the transmission on the 1987-1995 Pathfinders (manual transmission, 4wd).

 

The post includes links to the TSBs.

 

In a nutshell, the input bearings were running dry going uphill, especially when towing. The fix involved moving the fill hole on the case up by 0.97", thereby allowing an extra 1.5 liters of gear oil to be added to the transmission.

 

I'll let you know what an expert says about the noises.

 

madkiwi

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madkiwi,

 

thanks for the bulletin links.. interesting, i never heard about this. I am thinking you could just force an extra liter of gl in there w/ no prob. just put the spout of the oil bottle flat agains the hole and squeeze the bottle to empty it. then quickly replace the plug. that's way less hassle then the stickshift method you describe... you could raise the tk on the drivers side a bit too and that'd help to increase the amount you can put in there...

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Much Thanks madkiwi !! One thing I planned on doing was changing ALL the fluids in the truck, so, I'll drain the tranny, remove it, fill it 'normally' when sitting on the floor, then roll it over a bit, and put in at least 1 more liter.... Yes, please let us know what a pro says; we might have the same issue eventually.

I'm wondering if the TSB's and 'fix' shouldn't be posted in the Garage Forum 'Important Topics' section ? Would you mind madkiwi ? Or just link it ? I think a LOT of people would like to know this....

Thanks again !

 

Bernard

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