So my throwout bearing failed today.....

[iamdave0887]

8,000 miles...

8,000 :cussing:miles......

:suicide:

That's all i got out of the Autozone clutch kit.

It was a brand new throwout bearing when i installed it less than 2 years ago.

I knew it wasn't happy when i started getting chirping noises a few months ago. I knew it was even more unhappy when the chirping noises went away.

Today i push the clutch in to pull out into the street after getting lunch with a friend and i hear SQUUEEEAAAAALLLLL!!!

****!!

Then it started squealing like all hell with the clutch out and became 10x worse when i push the clutch in.

Double ****!!!

Now i have to drop the entire trans/t-case to change the damn throwout bearing.

I'm just going to do it right and pull everything. Trans, bellhousing, clutch, flywheel, the works.

I'll be bringing the clutch kit back to autozone, dropping the bitch on the counter and demanding my money back. I should not have to deal with this shit with not even 10K on the entire thing.

Best part is, I'm STILL waiting for my gauges for the turbo swap. It's been close to a month, and 2 different companies i've gone through, and they still aren't here.

Triple ****!!!!!

I wish i could say this is the first time i've had an autozone part go to shit on me with this truck, but that would be a lie.

First it was the autozone reman master cylinders. I went through 2 in less than 6,000 miles. First failed completely for the rear brakes out of no where. Piston seal must've blown. The second failed around the rear seal so it leaked fluid all over.

Third times a charm? **** that, i got my money back and bought a brand new Wagner master cyl from somewhere else.

I'll be buying another clutch kit from somewhere else as well. I pray this clutch kit is made in America, but i highly doubt that'll happen.

I'll never be buying Autozone anything for anything mechanically related for that truck, or any of my vehicles ever again.

Best part is, I can't drive the 96 because the front tires are all dry rot, and so is the rubber in the replacement harmonic balancer with ~35K miles on it.

**** again!!

With my luck today I'd take that truck out and break the crankshaft into pieces.



Can anyone recommend a clutch kit that'll survive behind a 6.2 TD? I've been looking at a LUK kit from work. I've read the South Bend clutches have LUK branded on them, so going to a SBC would do nothing but cost me more money.

I"m just going to swap all the turbo parts in while i've got the trans/t-case out. On the bright side, I'll have plenty of room to install the new exhaust with no trans or t-case in the way. :suicide:

 

[bison]

Tough luck i guess.
Actually you should blame GM for disigning the clutch setup so that the throw out brg is in constant rolling contact with the clutch fingers.
It would be way better if there would be clearance there with the pedal up.

 

[J.Peart]

I've got a Luk single mass flywheel and clutch behind my 7.3. Its got about 10,000 km on it. seems to be holding up nicely. maybe use the luk singlemass clutch set up from a 6.5TD.

 

[Mad Maxx]

Moved to Transmission Section.

 

[Acesneights1]

Chinese made junk.

 

[iamdave0887]

Chinese made junk.

Tell me about it. ****ing garbage.

I've been debating an ACDelco HD clutch, but it's $400 i don't have to spend.

I'm debating calling South Bend monday to see what they recommend since i'll be turbo-ing the blazer. I know it won't add huge numbers HP and TQ wise, but i just want to know if it'll smoke a stock rated clutch before i get everything installed again.

 

[btfarm]

8,000 miles...

8,000 miles......

That's all i got out of the Autozone clutch kit.

It was a brand new throwout bearing when i installed it less than 2 years ago.

Heck Dave, It probably failed from lack of use! :hihi:

 

[iamdave0887]

Heck Dave, It probably failed from lack of use! :hihi:

Wouldn't doubt it. That truck doesn't see many miles, yet its been driven to work daily for the past 6 months or so. Hopefully i'll get it out today or tomorrow and see exactly what i'm dealing with. I wonder if it's rusty? I was getting slight chirps from it for about a month, so i knew something wasn't right. My buddy said "dry grease" and i said "awww crap" because i knew what dry grease leads to, and that's failure.

Sometimes i hate being right.

 

[WarWagon]

Tough luck i guess.
Actually you should blame GM for disigning the clutch setup so that the throw out brg is in constant rolling contact with the clutch fingers.
It would be way better if there would be clearance there with the pedal up.

I was under the impression that the bearing pulled away from the clutch. The 1992 S-10's had a TSB to add a grease zerk to the fork pivot as it would bind up and run the bearing all the time. I had the trans out in my new 1992 3 times in under 18K for throwout bearings. After swapping the bearing it was chirping in the service drive and that was the last straw. Went automatic and haven't looked back since.

In any case your could have some binding on the fork causing this.

 

[just a number]

as for the stock clutch holding up, mines doing just fine and I know I'm not easy on it. I think mine's a LUK clutch for a 6.2. kinda odd that the throwout stays in contact all the time. I know it used to be a 1/4"- 1/2" pedal play before it'd touch. maybe that's just the mechanical setup not the hydraulic one?

 

[iamdave0887]

I picked up a LUK clutch kit today.

I"ll be ripping out the Autozone "duralast" branded one in the next day or two. To top it off, Autozone says "since it's over a year old we can't give you your money back. We can only exchange it for another clutch kit." I called 2 different stores and got the same exact "pre-recorded" message from two different people. Damn-it to Hell! issed:

Guess i'll exchange the kit and let it collect dust for eternity. rrr:

After unbolting the slave cylinder today i was able to grab the clutch fork where the slave puts it's pressure.

I'm able to move the clutch fork about an inch and i can hear all sorts of metal clanking going on when doing this. I think blown would be a step up for this throwout bearing.

 

[Ed HD]

Exchange it and throw it on e-bay or something for 3/4 the price. Or exchange it and return it to another AZ? Gotta be some way around this crap...

Duralast = Doesn't last worth a crap. Brake Pads, batteries, wrenches, etc. It's all bottom of the barrel shit.

 

[iamdave0887]

Exchange it and throw it on e-bay or something for 3/4 the price. Or exchange it and return it to another AZ? Gotta be some way around this crap...

Duralast = Doesn't last worth a crap. Brake Pads, batteries, wrenches, etc. It's all bottom of the barrel shit.

The sad part is 90% of the stuff for sale today is bottom of the barrel shit, as it's all made in china but a bunch of foreigners who use cheap parts and child labor.

 

[Acesneights1]

The sad part is 90% of the stuff for sale today is bottom of the barrel shit, as it's all made in china but a bunch of foreigners who use cheap parts and child labor.

And zero QC.

 

[just a number]

they have a different form of QC. it's called quantity control. make more and worry about quality later.

 

[iamdave0887]

Trans is out. God damn is that thing heavy. I'm so glad i removed the t-case first before dropping the trans.

Before the trans goes back in the turbo exhaust manifolds/crossover will be going on and the N/A exhaust will be getting dropped out. My goal is to remove the N/A exhaust in one piece.

The throw out bearing came out in 4 big pieces, and i found a bunch of ball bearings in the bottom of the bellhousing.

insert carnage pics here.

 

[just a number]

ya I know that feeling too well. I've had to drop mine 3 times in 2 years. the floor jack is a good friend.

 

[Acesneights1]

So you went with the LUK ? I'm gonnna replace the clutch and throwout in my 93. it was chattering. It looks ook but defintely was chattering taking off. Probably oil soaked.

 

[iamdave0887]

So you went with the LUK ? I'm gonnna replace the clutch and throwout in my 93. it was chattering. It looks ook but defintely was chattering taking off. Probably oil soaked.

No the Luk i picked up was defective. Cracked disc on the edge. Returned it defective.

Ordered a ~$180 RhinoPac kit # 04-087 which is 6.2 specific(unlike the autozone one i had which was gasser/diesel). First kit, cracked disc on the edge. Was able to lift a roughly quarter sized piece of clutch material off with my finger nail in the crack. issed:

Second RhinoPac, same issue, same part #04-087, but not as bad. Cracked is cracked, and i won't run a damaged disc. rrr:

Third RhinoPac, different part # 04-122, no disc cracks when it showed up.

I did manage to put a small mark in the very edge of the clutch material with one of the pressure plate lockwashers during install though. :suicide:. It doesn't look to have cracked from what i can see.

UPS sucks. The parts were fine when they left and damaged/broken when they arrived. I just thank the folks that own/run the store that they were willing to work with me. That's exactly why i go back time and time again.

Where-ever you buy from, double check everything over either at the counter or the second it shows up at your door. For something like a clutch, i'd rather buy over the counter. That way if it's defective you can show the parts guy and they can't say "well you did that when you handled it/installed it" like an internet retailer has the option of doing.

Just be careful if you go RhinoPac. The clutch is a 12" clutch, not 11 3/4 or 11 7/8 like most. That little extra gets the disc very close to the pressure plate mounting bolts. In fact there was a bulletin in the box that said to be careful that you don't hold the disc to the flywheel with the bolts since the clearance was so tight.

Also make sure the release bearing is correctly installed(this goes for any brand). Im not sure if this goes for the NV4500 as well, but in the SM465 clutch fork there's a little spring clip where the TO bearing attaches. The spring clip must be under the lip of the TO bearing. Over it will cause hard pedal and release issues.

Here's the bulletin from LUK.

http://bulletins.schaeffler-aftermarket.us/displayTB.phtml?number=LB179

Still haven't gotten my damn trans back in. I've been working on the turbo swap in my spare time. Can't really put the trans in myself. well correction, i could, but i'm not risking the bitch falling on me and crushing me. I'll wait until i can get a second set of hands for a day.

 

[bison]

I made an adaptor for the rolling floor jack for these tranny's
If i had to wait for an extra set of hands i would still be waiting 5 yrs later.