Problem with my Pony
 

ok so over the past couple days my car has started making this.... squeeking kind of noise when i gear down, at first it only did it in first, and now its doing it in second. I'm going to stop gearing down so much to hopefully prevent it from happening in third. When the car is on and stationary sometimes a rattling/shaking kind of noise can be heard. I think its coming from the underside of the car about where the front wheel is. I don't have the money to take it in and have it loked at right now, i can barely pay for college and gas, so i was wondering if anyone might have a clue to what these noise are from and how serious it is. My dad thinks it might be a drivetrain problem somehow and says i p[robably wont be driving much longer.

Sounds like a squeaky throwout bearing. Don't worry, it's not an issue. Try adjusting your clutch (lift up from underneath the pedal, and push down gently until it stops clicking), that may take care of it.

I've had to break my habit of downshifting, I love the sound but I would much rather replace my brakes from stopping instead of my clutch (or Throwout bearing in your case)

I still downshift, but I do paln on changing the clutch within a year. For me, it didn't help that the car was sitting in a dealer lot for a year w/o moving and using it as my car to learn stick on.

so.... from what you guys are saying is downshifting and letting the compression of the engine slow you down is bad for the car? thats just how I was taught to drive stick in my dads F250 diesel... he always downshifts and said that I can save my brakes by doing that, but if its going to **** something else up maybe i should stop?

I down shift to slow down, but I also lightly use the breaks..... I think it becomes harmful when your on the freeway in 5th gear and down shift to 3rd and hammer it....I'm pretty sure that isn't the best for clutches.

So you guys just throw the car in neutral and use the breaks to stop?

It's not bad for the car, go ahead, do it, just don't do anything stupid like downshift to 1st going over 15 mph. Other than that, manual transmission is manual for reason, chose the gear to your likings.

alright yeah im not downshifting from 5th to third on the highway or into first from 15mph.... so maybe my next question is about how much will it cost to fix whatever is wrong...?

It really doesn't need to be fixed. I had my car for almost 2 years and every since I got it, the throwout bearing has been squeaking. I say save it for when you put a performance clutch/flywheel in (that'll run around $500-600 depending on kit and flywheel).

alright well i had my friendwho works at an auto supply store take an OBD reading and he said there were 2-3 things coming up on my drivetrain and there were a couple other ones about something being too lean and something else too rich.... so i dont know what that means

some other guys an another site think its my throw out bearing too .... but if ive got other things going wrong too.... I wish I was a mecahnic

so.... ive been reading some articles online and theyre saying that if its the TOB then it makes noise when the clutch pedal is pressed down.... that not what my car is doing. My car doesnt make any noise when i puch the clutch its only when the clutch is out that i hear the noise

The only noise that it will usually make if the TB is bad when the car is in Neutral at idle is a 'squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak etc.' BUT that can also just be cause because the clutch isn't adjusted, or a bad quadrent<-rare. Push your clutch all the way down then let it come back up and put your foot under it and pull up to re-adjust the quadrent.

Gearing down isn't harmful to the car, unless you go from a high gear to a low gear and slam it like jjt said. It can save your brakes, but you should always keep some slight pressure on the brake while gearing down it will save you from over-doing it and you'll still save your brakes because you're not putting as much pressure on them to slow down.

:breakdancesmilie:

That lean/rich codes are saying that one of you O2 sensors are saying you are rich while another says you are lean. Do you know which ones are saying that?

Well, whatever it was, it didn't make any noise tonight. No squeeking, no rattling, no nothing. So I don't know if that means its still a problem or not... what could it be if it does it for a couple night consistently and then out of nowhere it completely stops?

And the car never made any noise while in neutral except for the occasional rattle, which didn't happen tonight either.

I have no idea which is saying what about lean/rich or anything. But could whatever that is be whats causing my engine to rev while its in Defrost or AC?

Maybe I'll try and go get another OBD reading and actually write down the codes and I think I saw a Trouble Code List somewhere on here? or maybe you guys will know what they mean.