Clutch Consequences when driving with a worn throw out bearing

Jeroen1000 · 15th May 2008, 15:08

Every engineer I ask, says, 'drive it until it's dead. It doesn't do any harm'

After lots of reading on various fora, I have come to the opposite conclusion:

Driving with a (almost) worn throw out bearing, will put more strain on the synchro's, causing those to wear more rapidly. This would be, because the clutch does not entirely disengage from the tranny any longer.

The question that remains here is : How can you tell whether the clutch does not disengage properly in an early stage. With that I mean, before the tranny starts making grinding noises and even before shifting becomes difficult.

A hard to diagnose symptom would be a more notchy shift behaviour, but I would like to have some more straightforward checks.

Any experts in the room?

Pottsy · 15th May 2008, 16:13

Not an expert, but... If your clutch is dragging (not disengaging fully), then you will have trouble engaging a gear when stationary. Traditionally, reverse is the one to highlight the problem (with no synchro), but some cars now have synchromesh on reverse so it's tricky to be sure.

You could jack the front of the car up and see if the wheels turn with it in gear but the clutch disengaged..

Really, if the thrust bearing is worn then you can normally tell by the noise. And it's time for a new clutch assembly.

Jeroen1000 · 15th May 2008, 20:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pottsy

You could jack the front of the car up and see if the wheels turn with it in gear but the clutch disengaged..

Really, if the thrust bearing is worn then you can normally tell by the noise. And it's time for a new clutch assembly.

Well, the bearing is noisy (to be clear, it's not on my new Civic

, This is just out of general interest and so I thought other people may like to know).

When the clutch is disengaged whilst in neutral, it makes its typical noise (and when you engage it, it disappears). Dealer said it's fine to keep driving it but I'm a little sceptical on this. And it does drive fine, it's just worrying I suppose.

I will be jacking it up to test. Simple but smart!

15th May 2008, 15:08	#1 (permalink)
Jeroen1000 Triangular Exhaust Join Date: 30th December 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 228 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Consequences when driving with a worn throw out bearing Every engineer I ask, says, 'drive it until it's dead. It doesn't do any harm' After lots of reading on various fora, I have come to the opposite conclusion: Driving with a (almost) worn throw out bearing, will put more strain on the synchro's, causing those to wear more rapidly. This would be, because the clutch does not entirely disengage from the tranny any longer. The question that remains here is : How can you tell whether the clutch does not disengage properly in an early stage. With that I mean, before the tranny starts making grinding noises and even before shifting becomes difficult. A hard to diagnose symptom would be a more notchy shift behaviour, but I would like to have some more straightforward checks. Any experts in the room?

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This thread is about: Consequences when driving with a worn throw out bearing, it's in Engines and Transmission at the Honda Civic forum Civinfo; Every engineer I ask, says, 'drive it until it's dead. It doesn't do any harm' After lots of reading on various fora, I have come ...

15th May 2008, 16:13	#2 (permalink)
Pottsy Administrator Civinfo master Join Date: 10th April 2006 Location: Leics Posts: 5,086 Thanks: 17 Thanked 111 Times in 64 Posts iTrader: (0)	Not an expert, but... If your clutch is dragging (not disengaging fully), then you will have trouble engaging a gear when stationary. Traditionally, reverse is the one to highlight the problem (with no synchro), but some cars now have synchromesh on reverse so it's tricky to be sure. You could jack the front of the car up and see if the wheels turn with it in gear but the clutch disengaged.. Really, if the thrust bearing is worn then you can normally tell by the noise. And it's time for a new clutch assembly.