llivingstone

Hi everybody,

I'm looking for help solving a problem with my car. It's not a big problem but seems to be getting worse over the past 2 driving seasons (Apr-Nov). The clutch pedal has a vibration in it that I can feel in my foot. Once the pedal is pressed enough to where the free play is gone, the vibration is gone also. I thought it was normal until I've started to notice it a little more lately.

MY01 ~120k km/74k miles. It has never had clutch work done except the TSB on the rattling transmission noise on deceleration. That was done in '02 or '03.

From the few posts I did find that seemed related, the problem could be a crankshaft thrust bearing.

Is there a way to diagnose this? I have the service manual for the car but it doesn't specifically mention this type of problem.
Is it a bad idea to leave it as is? The car still drives well otherwise.

Thanks for helping!

zeroptzero

If it is just experienced in the free play then close up the free play by extending the clutch rod, the best way to run these cars is with almost zero free play anyhow. You might have a vibration in the powertrain that is making it's way to the clutch pedal, it might be a broken mount on the engine or tranny. The easiest thing is to close up the clutch free-play, it's a two minute adjustment. See how it goes from there and have a look around the engine and tranny mounts when you can. The engine mounts will leak an orange fluid when they break.

starchland

Keep in mind you dont want to eliminate all the freeplay from the pedal...however i agree you don't want alot. Last time your clutch fluid was changed?

I rarely get a noise/vibration in 3rd. I can feel the tranny doing it's similar thing if I put light pressure On the clutch pedal while cruising in 3rd...same frequency if you will. I think it's tranny related

llivingstone

The vibration has now turned into a grating, buzzing noise on deceleration. I guess this is the dreaded clutch buzz. I've never had it before. What I used to have was a little birdy whistle coming from the gear box.

At any rate, I don't really have the funds to deal with this right away. Hopefully that doesn't mean I can't drive the car. If anybody has warnings about driving the car like this for the next few months, please let me know. From what I'm reading I should be okay if I can deal with the annoying noise the car makes on deceleration. At least I can put a little pressure on the clutch to make it go away.

Thanks,

Lyndon

silvermonster

any update?

llivingstone

I've learned to live with it. It usually shows up after driving the car longer than 30 minutes and if you can handle the noise it doesn't affect performance or reliability. I think I'll get a new clutch next year since it's getting close to being necessary.

BlackFerret

Mine also has the buzz but in my case it's actually the pedal itself vibrating on its stop. Simply depressing the pedal a millimetre or so (before the clutch built in free play) it stops, sounds a lot like your problem.

I put a piece of rubber over the stop instead of its plastic stop, voila, buzz gone.