97 Civic Throwout bearing or pilot shaft bearing?

zrs6v4 · Post by **zrs6v4** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 2:07 am

I have a very nice 97 civic DX that makes an aweful sound coming from the tranny when driving. I have driven on it like this for 20,000 miles. I just bought a new car so I am pulling the tranny on Friday. Before I do this I wanted to consult with you all to know how to diagnose.

Anyway, I have been told it is a throw-out bearing because you can hear the sound change when in neutral disenganging and enganging the clutch pedal. I also have been told that this could be a input shaft bearing in the transmission itself. Tranny shifts perfect btw.

Questions:

1. Is there anyway to know which it is until I pull the tranny and check the throwout bearing itself? How can this be diagnosed most accurately?

2. If it is a throwout bearing is it worth it to buy the $50 honda one or should I go with autozone or carquest at half the price?

3. If it is a pilot shaft bearing is there any of you that know where I can take the transmission to get a new pilot shaft bearing put in or would it be easier to put a another used tranny in?

zrs6v4 · Post by **zrs6v4** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:13 am

I do want to clarify my symptoms:

1. Sounds occurs both with clutch pedal pressed in (clutch disengaged) and when I am driving.

2. Isn't a whistle, but more like friction or a grinding sound as opposed to a squeal.

3. Is noticeable when idling in gear or in neutral with clutch pedal out and not noticeable at any point with my clutch pedal in whether moving or sitting at idle.

4. It is at its worst when driving, it almost sounds like a grinding version of vtec when I am going through gears and very loud. Loud enough for someone who does not know cars to ask, "what is that noise?" When I say grinding when going through the gears I mean tranny noise not a synchro noise.

eh2_Erik · Post by **eh2_Erik** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:53 am

So if the sound is present when the car is at idle, then seems lest prominant or goes away when you push in the clutch pedal that would be the Throw Out bearing.

If its present all the time, i could be the input shaft bearing which would have to be repaired by opening the transmission casing. If its the Pilot bearing, that just sits (pressed) in the flywheel.

Throw out bearing and Pilot bearing are fairly common and very easy to do. I'm pretty certain that's whats causing your noise.

I have a NEW pilot bearing sitting in my tool box, i just finished replacing the clutch and resealing the trans casing on my brother's 99 civic ex. Its easy if you're prepared and know what you're doing, should only take you a few hours.

I'm not 100% sure, but since you have to take the trans off in the first place to replace the simple bearings, you should be able to feel the input shaft coming out of the trans for some play of some sort, i've never done that but i think someone knows what to look for.

zrs6v4 · Post by **zrs6v4** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:29 am

eh2_Erik;277027 wrote:So if the sound is present when the car is at idle, then seems lest prominant or goes away when you push in the clutch pedal that would be the Throw Out bearing.

If its present all the time, i could be the input shaft bearing which would have to be repaired by opening the transmission casing. If its the Pilot bearing, that just sits (pressed) in the flywheel.

Throw out bearing and Pilot bearing are fairly common and very easy to do. I'm pretty certain that's whats causing your noise.

I have a NEW pilot bearing sitting in my tool box, i just finished replacing the clutch and resealing the trans casing on my brother's 99 civic ex. Its easy if you're prepared and know what you're doing, should only take you a few hours.

I'm not 100% sure, but since you have to take the trans off in the first place to replace the simple bearings, you should be able to feel the input shaft coming out of the trans for some play of some sort, i've never done that but i think someone knows what to look for.

Cool thanks, I will probably go ahead and buy a pilot and throwout bearing before breakdown then inspect the input shaft if I dont run across any abnormalities with the clutch or visible bearings mentioned.

fry · Post by **fry** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 12:41 pm

eh2_Erik;277027 wrote:So if the sound is present when the car is at idle, then seems lest prominant or goes away when you push in the clutch pedal that would be the Throw Out bearing.

i'm almost 100% positive it's the input shaft bearing. I had the same exact thing happen on my '97cx. pulled the trans replaced the throwout bearing, replaced the bearing on the flywheel. noise was still there. push in the clutch, noise went away. input shaft bearing, i promise.

zrs6v4 · Post by **zrs6v4** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 4:41 pm

I'm hoping it isn't gulp. I'm calling a transmission shop today and seeing what they would charge me to fix it.

zrs6v4 · Post by **zrs6v4** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:11 pm

Transmission shop drove it and diagnosed it and said it is the input shaft bearing. Part is around $30 and labor is $300 for the shop to split it open and replace the bearing. They told me if I brought them the transmission they would split it open for free and make sure everything else was ok before they started charging me for a fix. I thought that was cool. They are basically worried that the gears or the shaft itself is un-reparable.

eh2_Erik · Post by **eh2_Erik** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 2:40 am

May as well pick up one of those trannys Clayton has for sale. Have it inspected then install it.

zrs6v4 · Post by **zrs6v4** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:08 am

eh2_Erik;277081 wrote:May as well pick up one of those trannys Clayton has for sale. Have it inspected then install it.

If you are speaking of 06sik20z3 I pm'ed him a couple of days ago and replied to his post. Any way to get a hold of Clayton whether it is the same guy or not? Thanks

For all you who have more time to play, here is a great link from honda-tech on how to do the input shaft bearing yourself (or even to just see how to pull a tranny step by step if you've never done it).

http://www.d-series.org/forums/transmis ... hange.html