Oh Noes! Clutch bearing failure?

[jeveretts]

So I was out in the 2002 996 C2 today, had to drop my laptop off at fedex, then stopped for a quick bite to eat, everything was fine, and I was especially babying the car today. After eating I got back in to hear a weird whirring/grinding noise when I started it, quickly finding out it was tied to my clutch pedal, pedal in=noise, pedal out=normal. The pitch of the noise also changes with engine RPM, and I can feel the vibration frequency in the clutch pedal.. sounds like a no brainer right? Throwout bearing.. The only odd part, is that my clutch pedal is not smooth in and out like normal, when I release it, it comes up about 2/3 and then just pops the rest of the way up, it kinda wants to hang at that 2/3's part... Anything I should be looking out before going full bore into an engine/tranny seperation? Jerry

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[92tsiawd]

I've experienced something similar to your symptoms, but mine wasn't the release bearing, it was the clutch disc and it basically broke into pieces. I believe it's time to take it apart and find out what the answer is

[jeveretts]

I guess my other questions should be...
I have never leaked a single drop of oil, should I touch the RMS or IMS while there??

[Dharn55]

Go to LN Engineering and read up on the IMS

http://www.lnengineering.com/ims.html

They have a replacement IMS bearing that is a big improvement over the OEM one, and this a potential source of a catastrophic failure. If the trans is off it should only be an hour or so of labor and the cost of the new bearing and tool rental. Probably a good investment. they also show how the check your current IMS bearing for any sign of problems.

When I recently had my engine out I did the bearing check, and found no problems. Unfortunately mine is a 2000, so it had the dual row bearing, and the dual row replacement was not available until the last few weeks, or I think I would have done it.

[Lerxst]

Had very similar problems with my MY02 C2 last Summer with 40K miles. Replacing the release bearing, clutch, and pressure plate fixed the problem. My understanding is if the RMS isn't leaking, don't touch it. My IMS looked fine too, so I left it alone.

[jeveretts]

OK, before I dig in, I thought I should see how much my local indy guys wants to do this. I gave him a call and told him it sounds like my release bearing has failed. He told me.

$700.00 for a clutch kit, and with 70K miles I should replace the flywheel.. another $1000.00.. plus labor, I should be prepared to pay around $2200-$2300 dollars.

What do you guys think? sounds way too high for a clutch job to me.. should I replace the flywheel? or get it machined or anything? as far as I know, my clutch was and continues to be fine, it has never slipped or given any indication of a problem, so I doubt the flywheel is buggered up.

[Lerxst]

Pelican Parts prices:
Clutch kit $587.50
Flywheel $848.50

I'd want to see the flywheel first before paying for a new one. I was quoted $100 max for machining, but mine was perfectly fine at 40K miles.

If he's charging ~$100 per hour, I would expect it to be done by a professional in no more than 6 hours. I took about 12 hours, doing it for the first time, taking my time, on 4 jack stands.