throw out bearing

[stroud2010]

everyone says not to rest your foot on the clutch pedal because it makes the throw out bearing rest on the pressure plate fingers, causing unnecessary wear...

I had my transmission out of my car this week doing a fly wheel job and I noticed that there isn't anything really pulling the throw out bearing away from the pressure plate fingers...

to me, it looked like it was running all the time... and it sounded like it was too...
so what keeps the throw out bearing from having this unnecessary wear?

[Seatman]

It's because when you keep your foot on the clutch you put extra pressure on the bearing rather than it just touching, it's that extra force that's the problem.

[stroud2010]

so, the bearing is all the time spinning?
I've always been told that since the bearing is only pre-packed with grease and can't be re greased, it only spins when its engaged with the fingers...
so i'm right in my inference that it is always engaged with the pressure plate fingers...?

[Seatman]

I think so yeh but like I said it's not under pressure.

[stroud2010]

I see
seems like there could be a better design
one that wouldn't unnecessarily wear as much
especially since this one has been used for... well a long time lol

[Seatman]

Yeh but the flywheel is spinning at however many rpm's then you just throw a stationary bearing at it? That's going to kill it and the pressure plate fingers fairly quick don't you think? I think the system that's there would take a lot to beat really, I'm at 140,000 miles and my clutch is still fine so when you look at it like that it's not a huge expense for the amount of milage they last.

[stroud2010]

this is true.
i guess they do last quite a while after they get noisy

[Seatman]

I don't know why some get noisy and have issues, mine is totally quiet and I've had no problems at all.

[chittychittybangbang]

I don't remember for sure but doesn't the spring that also clips the lever to the pivot ball also pull the lever back a little? Since you have your transmission out, the lever doesn't want to go back to rest? Even if the bearing is touching the PP, I would think that it's still not spinning as fast as the PP unless you have your foot on the clutch pedal so that they are pressed together. You can feel the engine vibrations through the clutch pedal and hear a slight change in sound when you give a little pressure to the clutch pedal.

[stroud2010]

yes, I can hear the noise differences but the way I figure it, there are a lot of parts that move/don't move when the clutch is engaged/disengaged, so I kinda thought to base it just off of noise may produce tainted results.

also, I did not feel any resistance on my lever... there is a clip that looks like it may produce some tension but all it does is let it pivot...

I like to think that my throw out bearing doesn't run when I leave the car run while I eat breakfast on those cold mornings... or while i'm goin down the road at 2500 rpm... but now i'm not so sure

the bearing I took out was pretty loud to spin by hand(my grandpa could hear it across the shop, thats sayin somethin!)... and it was only used for about 20k or 30k miles.