Well about 8 months ago I replaced the clutch in my 4runner. It had about 120k miles on it at the time. I got a little careless playing in some sand and burned it up. When we took it apart I noticed a small burn mark on the flywheel. Due to time constraints I ended up using a budget clutch from XTD, it is what they call the stage 3 clutch which is a puck or finger style clutch. Due to the burn mark on the flywheel I had the local NAPA resurface it. Once everything was put back together, I experienced the typical break-in shuttering when letting the clutch pedal out. After about 500 miles or so it turned into a shutter plus an audible chatter. It almost sounds like something a bystander would perceive as me chirping the tires. I get this noise when starting out from a stop, shifting from first to second, and hard shift from 2nd to 3rd, and anytime I downshift to use to the transmission to slow the vehicle.

I thought that this noise and shuttering was probly just part of the break-in cycle but after a trip up the alaska highway and back and nearly 10,000 miles later this is still happening with no signs of stopping anytime soon.

My thoughts now are one of two things. If the flywheel got hot enough to warp and is now unbalanced. If the flywheel is unbalanced, it could be causing a lot of vibration when engaging the clutch, especially with the puck style clutch. My other thought is if it possible that the new clutch engages much stronger than the well used clutch that came out of it. Could this stronger engagement be putting so much more strain on the drivetrain that it is exposing other weaknesses, such as the input shaft bearing on the transmission or something else like that?

I am working on getting my job transferred to alaska and would like to solve this problem before departing. I was going to put in a new clutch, this time from marlin, and replace the flywheel with a new one from O'Reilys. I had a lot help last time I did this project and dont want to do it by myself if this isnt going to fix the problem. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Happy Holidays to all.

 

I believe you are describing that the throwout bearing is worn and was not replaced at the time the clutch was done.

Have a clutch/tranny expert listen to the sound. I work in an office all day and am no expert.

 

both the throwout bearing and the pilot bearing were replaced at the same time as the clutch. the noise is defiantly not a bearing noise. The noise seems to be very closely related to the shuttering the clutch makes while engaging.

 

Hmmm okay this is how I learn. Can you post up an audio/video clip so the younger generation can lend an opinion?

 

could it be that maybe the clutch master cylinder is going south?? not holding the pressure like it should...

 

Once you heat up the fly wheel like that it is my understanding it will always have an abnormal spot in it. Much like turning heated brake disc wont always solve brake shudder.

I know you dont want to hear this but i would check your fluids and then think about replacing the clutch system with a quality one. I would also source the Throwout bearing from the dealer.

AND--many people dont know this but most times the pressure plate balancing from the manufacture is a joke--get your pressure plate balanced at a machine shop.

 

Well, got off my arse today and did a flush on the slave cylinder and did the pedal adjustment per the specs in the haynes manual. There is very noticeable improvement in both the shuttering and the squealing noise. The issues still exist just in a much reduced state then before. I am considering to continue adjusting the clutch pedal some more to see if it helps more. Is there any down side to adjusting the pedal to a height taller then the spec in the book?