I think my T.O. bearing is going south, it makes a 'Turkey Call' noise when I let the clutch out and it has been chirping on and off since I did the clutch over a year ago. I called Centerforce and they said that the bearing retainer was a wear item and that it may have been bad to begin with, possibly the cause of it Since I'm pulling the tranny out should I buy it or does this rarely happen and I'm worring about nothing? Summit has it for $40.

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'86 TA, T-tops, T-5, 3.73, 4 wheel disks 350, compucam 2040, performer intake,SLP Headers, 3" race magnum muffler, 1.6 Comp rockers, Ripper shifter, perf. friction pads, Hypertech ignition, Earls brake hoses, Hotchkis springs, Tokico Illumina 5 adjustable shocks and struts, Lakewood panhard and trailing arms
14.73 @ 95... traction still a problem

 

They do wear out in the normal course of things. It will cause the bearing to hang up on the retainer and feel like it has "catches" in it, both when pushing the clutch and letting it out.

For some reason the T-5s I've worked on haven't been as bad about this as 4-speeds used to be, even though the throwout bearings and everything else around it is the same stuff. On Muncies, I always used to just replace it every time I replaced a clutch, as they were only like $12 or $13.

I'd suggest ordering one and having it on hand when you pull the trans; then if you don't need it, you can just return it. If the old one has any visible grooves or other wear, you should go ahead and replace it. You'll have to check the mainshaft preload when you do this, which should be about .008"-.012" IIRC.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

So you mean that the input shaft is held in by this thing? The preload would run along the axis of the shaft and holds the shaft in the transmission, the play would be the push and pull on the input shaft, right??

Is there anything else to look out for when doing this? Such as the input shaft flying out and bearings rolling all over the floor?

Thanks for the help!

 

The input shaft has a flat spot, so it can be removed out the front of the case when turned the right way. Dont pull it out unless you plan on disassembling the trans to pull the bearings out the bottom. As Rb satated, you want 0.008-0.012" preload. The shims go behind the bearing race on the retainer.