wierd sound after clutch job

[JGE]

Greetings, had my '97 Legacy OB 5-speed in for clutch cluster-f*ck
recently;
evidently the fork that links from slave cylinder to release bearing
cracked,
release bearing hyper-extended. Since entire dis-ass'y was required
and clutch
had 50K miles wear, replaced clutch and all hydraulics to tune of
$1300 or so.

Clutch feels great now and car drives fine. BUT ... there is a
strange noise
that I'm 90% sure was not there before the clutch replacement (even my
girlfriend noticed it). Kind of a grinding noise, seems to come and
go with
application and back off of power. Definitely seems to come from
rear area
of car, either rear differential and/or bearings. Sounds good bit
like a wheel
bearing, but doesn't seem consistent with speed, more with power/
backoff.
Two different mechanics test drove and put up on lift and agreed
something
sounded funny but could not figure out what. The only thing clutch
job did
aft of tranny was to unbolt/reattach driveshaft. That all looks
fine as do
u-joints. Perhaps a little more freeplay (backlash) in rear diff'al
than optimal.

I'm in a quandry. It seems inconceivable that clutch job would have
somehow
created this problem but equally unlikely I'm imagining the new
noise. Mechanic
said drive it awhile and see if it gets worse, and he'd make good if
it turned out
they somehow messed up. I would appreciate any thoughts !

John

 

[bgd]

I am successfully accused of pessimism, but rarely wrong with bad news.
Clutches do not just BREAK. It is one of few parts that are all round,
always spinning in perfect balance.
One end or the other broke your clutch,it connects two of them, and I think
you are on to it. It is worth fixing I am sure.
If you have any idea what I just said. That is great. It holds true for
every driveline.
If this was an inline engine with your probs, I would build a 16th century
guillemot
and see how far I could hurtle the car into the ocean.

 

[JGE]

Clutches do not just BREAK.

I'm an engineer. Pieces of metal that are subject to repeated stress
(e.g. pressing
the clutch pedal) CAN break. Of course, they should be engineered not
to do so,
but I suspect I just had a flawed piece of metal and nothing more
sinister than that.

One end or the other broke your clutch,it connects two of them, and I think
you are on to it. ... If you have any idea what I just said.

Not sure I do. By "I think you are on to it" are you saying this
funny noise is related
to the mysterious reason by which the clutch broke the release
fork ? Problem is,
the noise was not present before the clutch failed. So whatever
broke the fork, if it
was in fact anything worse than a faulty piece of metal and if it is
causing the current
noise, was not making the noise before failue.

Furthermore, the noise is clearly coming from somewhere aft of the
tranny, and there
is simply no plausible explanation for anything done during the clutch
repair creating
a problem aft of the tranny. ALL that was done there was unbolting
and reattaching
the rear driveshaft.

It is worth fixing I am sure ,,, If this was an inline engine with your probs, I would build
a 16th century guillemot ...

I'm confused. Should I try to track down this problem, or hurl the
car into the ocean ?

John

P.S. You wouldn't be a Subaru-hater troll, would you ?

 

[Pop-N-Fresh]

I'm an engineer. Pieces of metal that are subject to repeated stress
(e.g. pressing
the clutch pedal) CAN break. Of course, they should be engineered not
to do so,
but I suspect I just had a flawed piece of metal and nothing more
sinister than that.


Not sure I do. By "I think you are on to it" are you saying this
funny noise is related
to the mysterious reason by which the clutch broke the release
fork ? Problem is,
the noise was not present before the clutch failed. So whatever
broke the fork, if it
was in fact anything worse than a faulty piece of metal and if it is
causing the current
noise, was not making the noise before failue.

Furthermore, the noise is clearly coming from somewhere aft of the
tranny, and there
is simply no plausible explanation for anything done during the clutch
repair creating
a problem aft of the tranny. ALL that was done there was unbolting
and reattaching
the rear driveshaft.


I'm confused. Should I try to track down this problem, or hurl the
car into the ocean ?

John

P.S. You wouldn't be a Subaru-hater troll, would you ?

im a 4X4 er from way back.... check your u-joints.
and the snaprings and chime back or email me... addy works

 

[JGE]

Mechanic checked 'em both times on the lift. That's what seemed
like the obvious thing to me too. Oh well.

Thanks, John

 

[tom klein]

just on a wild hunch, check the lug nuts - the symptoms you describe
are quite similar to what happened to my '02 legacy about 500 km after
a dealership rotated my tires (and forgot to torque the nuts). the
sound was quite noticeable on the right side, varied with speed, and
the mechanic said it sounded to him like a bad wheel bearing.
instead, it turned out that all 10 lug nuts on the right side were only
finger-tight (he said he pulled both wheels without needing a wrench),
and i had driven on it that way for 4 days!

so if they pulled the wheels, it's worth a quick check.