Oh no! Grinding noise after clutch finished!

[cduke]

First of all, you guys have really helped me out a bunch so far and I appreciate it!
As usual, my post is long but I've got a detailed idea of what's going on so it'll help in the discussion

I just finished my clutch job (spring disk, press. plate, new pilot/needle/throw-out bearings, resurfaced/ballanced flywheel, replaced rear oil seal, master & slave cylinders) After 40mi of driving at highway speeds and a short burst of sporty fun I got a grinding type noise that sounds like it's right under the shifter in the torque tube. There's no noise when the car's in gear and stopped but whenever the clutch is engaged I can hear it(as in whenever the drive shaft is turning in the torque tube) It's proportional to engine speed but not when the clutch is disengaged.
Does this sound like I'm in for removing the exhaust, tranny, and torque tube AGAIN?
Is it possible to replace the bearings in the torque tube at home/without special equipment? If not, how muich is a torque tube going to run me?
I will tear it down again if I have to but I'd like to know what's wrong before starting and see if I have the resources to replace the parts right now. (student budget)
The last question is this: what will happen if i just leave it alone until it changes to something more severe? Is there great danger of snowballing my problems? I've searched the archives and have found lots of people complaining about this very problem but no resolutions!

Charlie

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1985.5 944 N/A

[drew1]

cduke,

You can buy used torque tubes for $300 - $400. When the tube on wifes 924t went it started with more of a roar around 3000rpm.

Stuff thats not into play with clutch out is throw out bearing assembly. So I would say this is all right.

Stuff that is working then is coupling at back. Could a bolt be working loose & rubbing. Loosening up of flywheel or pressure plate. I once used old locktite, reckon it went bad, on a 4 cyl Ford Ranger & had the flywheel bolts start to back out.

drew1

[MixMasterK]

Get a mechanics stethescope and use it on all the parts under the car while it is running and the clutch is engaged. you should be able to pinpoint the location of the problem easier that way.

[Andre]

hey cduke, when you got your clutch done....was it slipping in 1st and 2nd gear?cuz we just finished today and it slips alot in 1st and 2nd gear

[drew1]

Andre,

A 944 clutch is alot of work. I hope yours is slipping cause of greasey hand prints on the disk & quits saoon.

drew1

[cduke]

Mine's not slipping at all. In fact, i'm completely pleased with the work done...it's just like I have a new car!!!
I drove the car to work again yesterday and the noise didn't seem as loud. I don't know if I was just looking for something I did wrong or what but I don't hear a problem anymore. I suspect that it may be normal drivetrain noise because my shift boot wasn 't secured around the lip it's supposed to.
BTW, why do all of the manuals dictate positioning the pin on the flywheel (i had three) straight down?
Charlie

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1985.5 944 N/A

[cduke]

Andre, what kind of clutch did you put in? Did you have yoru flywheel resurfaced?
Charlie

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1985.5 944 N/A

[Andre]

I put a power friction clutch disk and my pressure plate and throw out bearing were sachs.

Hey drew, lol i have figured out that its alot of work, i just did it. and i am not excited about taking all that crap off again

One thing is that i DIDN'T get the flywheel resurfaced, it was in extremely good shape(strangly) 125k on original clutch.

What could it possible be?we tried to keep the friction surfaces as clean as possible, the one thing that happened was that the hose right above the bell housing.....the one under the speed sensor connectors....we were taking if off and it poured a ton of coolant into the bell housing.

The thing with that is that it shouldn't get on the friction surfaces even if it goes into the bellhousing right?

[drew1]

Andre,
Some might have got on the clutch disk, even though most of it should have leaked through the bottom of the bell housing. Sounds like you need no convincing abou a lot of work, so I suggest driving it for a while to see if possible contamination is cleaned off the disk.

drew1