Throw out bearings
 

I am new to this forum so you might have to bear with me a little. I have a 2003 Cobra and have only done some minor mods to it. I have a Spec Stage II clutch, a Steeda short throw shifter, and most recently I have put on a Magnaflow cat-back exhaust system. I had to replace my throw-out bearing about 4 months ago because it was making an awful noise. Not 1 month after I got my car back, it started making the same noise again. The guy that replaced the bearing said that he noticed a spring was rubbing about the bearing and had worn it down and that's why it was making the noise. He replaced the old bearing with a Ford factory throw-out bearing. Could I need to replace the Ford throw-out bearing with a heavy-duty bearing, since the clutch is an aftermarket clutch? Can you order different throw-out bearings for the Spec Stage II, and if so, from where? Any help on this would be great!

chances are the TOB is NOT your problem but either the fact that aftermarket clutchs have a different "stack" height than the factory clutch, which can be correct wth a firewall type clutch adjuster.
or the fact that the T-56 in Cobras has had issues wth the input shaft or the front bearing retainer, which both would cause an early TOB failure on your car.
last could just be a poor install of the clutch and related parts by the shop.

failure to properly reset the clutch pedal ratchet with a new clutch can cause excessive loading of the TOB (according to article in MMFF) and can cause early TOB failure.

Thanks. That's really helpful. I was wondering if it was something other than just the throw-out bearing but didn't know what. On another note, any suggestions as to why the shifter doesn't always want to come out of or go into gear? There are times that I have to try several times before the shifter will come out of 1st. and on occasions, it doesn't want to go into 3rd and almost pops back out. Could it just be trouble with the shifter or could it be a transmission issue?

sure, if this is while the car is in motion: it's because the clutch is not dis-engaging properly. reason: see your 1st post.
poorly installed clutch, stack height to much on the clutch, bad input shaft in the trans or a bad bearing retainer on the trans

that's a classically mal-installed clutch. It's not setup properly and it's not fully disengaging. That'll thrash your synchros if you don't get it taken care of.

Spec clutches suk. get centerforce

Check your shift stops also to make sure they are set so that you can go into gears.

Have you tried to reset the stock clutch pedal adjuster and then re adjust it? Just sounds to me like the Clutch isnt being fully disengaged.

I have not tried to reset the clutch pedal adjuster. I definitely think this could be a big part of my problem...clutch not disengaging. There is a lot of play not at the top of the clutch and it almost feels like the clutch "lets out" twice sometimes. How exactly would I need to adjust it?

You can adjust it by having the car off and in first gear, then put your foot under the clutch pedal and pull it up (it will only go up a a bit) pull hard with your foot. Then slowly press the pedal to the floor. This will tighten the cable up one or two clicks. try it and see how the clutch is, if you need to make it tighter do it again and so forth.

Spec and C/f both suxx, get a RAM clutch

You just push the pedal all the way down then let it lift back up, put your toe under the pedal and pull up. To be honest, it most likely wont do a thing to fix the problem.

I had the same problems with my car. I had the TOB squeak and as soon as the SPEC went in the pedal just felt all wrong and still had some squeak..

I reccommend the Steeda firewall adjuster, I personally think that the stock quadrent 'adjuster' is junk. It may just have been my car, or maybe it was something wrong with mine, but I never had any luck with it combined with an aftermarket clutch.

Firewall Adjuster:
http://www.americanmuscle.com/stficaad.html

Double Hook Quadrent:
http://www.americanmuscle.com/stdohoqu.html

Most say to use a stock clutch cable, I personally used the Steeda cable with no problems. You might want to invest in a new stock cable as there is the possibility that yours might have stretched over time.


Hope this helps.

^^ mucho good points.

Thanks for all the advice. It's nice to know that I'm not just imagining a problem. To be honest, I have never really liked the Spec clutch. It has never seemed to feel quite right and has had to be adjusted a couple times. But, now I have options as to what the problem could be and how to potentially fix it.

Oh, and while I'm at it. Any recommendations on the kind of spark plug to replace my factory plugs? Should I go back to using Ford factory plugs or does it matter?

I had the same problem with my CF dual friction clutch, pedal felt too low and TOB was making a squeaking noise. I adjusted it with the firewall adjuster and squeak went away and pedal feels alot better. I dont think the shop ever adjusted the pedal just installed all the parts and called it a day. Do the cheapest first which is the quardrant and firewall adjuster.

stick wth the factory Motorctaft plugs