The complaint has little practical information that could be used to help you diagnose this problem.
If the problem is related to a throwout bearing, pilot bearing, or mainshaft bearings in the transmission I can’t say that I agree with learning to live with it.
It’s possible for a throwout, pilot, or mainshaft bearing to fail catastrophically and suddenly. This can possibly cause additional damage and in a worst case scenario could damage the engine or transmission although the former is less likely than the latter.
As to 2 shops saying things are fine and noise being an issue I have no idea what’s going on.
Our Subaru has a common problem specific to setup turbo Outback/Legacy and it made a whirring sound at idle. It ended up being a $40 part called a throw out bearing that took $400 in labor to get it. Somehow the mechanic was able to change with transmission/engine still in car by loosening up the motor.
$40 part called a throw out bearing that took $400 in labor to get it. Somehow the mechanic was able to change with transmission/engine still in car by loosening up the motor.
Someone replaced a throw-out bearing without doing the entire clutch? Madness.
The only way I could see changing a throwout bearing by moving the engine would be if it came off of the mounts after being ubolted from the bellhousing. In theory one might be able to weasel a TO bearing out and a new one in.
That brings up 2 points.
If the engine is loose anyway yank it on out and change the clutch assembly.
My 98 Pathfinder had a throw-out bearing wear out way too soon. Replaced the clutch assembly…the clutch looked great…the bearing was falling apart. The new clutch assembly lasted about 140k miles (normal for this vehicle).
A Subaru engine is mounted longitudinally so there is room to slide the transmission back or the engine forward, that is not possible in a Honda. In many FWD vehicles, there is not enough room to remove either the engine or transmission by itself, both have to come out together. It varies from car to car.
The most economical thing to do is to replace the whole clutch assembly and maybe even replace the rear seal of the engine, if there are any signs of a leak. I do not agree that if the throw-out bearing were to catastrophically fail, that it would do more damage. It is only going to tear up the things that are in a clutch kit so financially, it doesn’t matter whether you do it now or later, except you have the luxury of scheduling the repair sooner. Once it completely fails, you no longer have that luxury.
However, I have been living with the noise in my truck for about 4 years now, but I don’t need to rely on it as a daily driver so I can afford to wait. Mine is a growling sound, I’m not sure what you mean by winding sound. BTW, I did peal back the rubber around the clutch arm where it goes into the bellhousing and sprayed some oil up on the bearing, it helped a little. If you do that, be sure to put the rubber back when done.
You still will NOT ANSWER the Question to any of our satisfaction. An ENGAGED CLUTCH is when your foot is OFF the clutch pedal.
Since we are on the internet trying to solve an issue you are having you need to BE EXTREMELY SPECIFIC with your description of the issue. Dumb it down and Spell it out for us. Otherwise we have no hope or prayer of helping you. There are a lot of sharp people here who can help but we need the information the way we need it.
TELL US…WHAT is the noise? WHEN does it OCCUR? In neutral with the engine running with your foot OFF the clutch pedal? Or when the engine is running with your foot ON THE CLUTCH Pedal to the floor?
IT MATTERS…We need to know. Its either one of the two scenarios above.
MY Guess is that you are trying to describe a noisy Throwout bearing. They will make noise when the engine is running, gearbox in Neutral and your foot OFF Of the clutch pedal. They quiet down when you depress the clutch.
PLEASE CONFIRM which situation causes your noise. And try to describe the noise…throwout bearings make a pretty specific sound. It sort of sounds like a Hollow whooshing sound…almost like a skateboard wheel spinning at high velocity.