It's making a slight noise like a cricket and goes away when the clutch is barely touched. My question is should the socket looking thing have a plastic cap on it? You can kind of see it in the photo, it has two plastic wing looking things sticking out. 1989 firebird 305 5 speed, i believe the T5.

 

Yes, it's a T5. Those plastic things aren't making your cricket sound though. Bad throwout bearings make that cricket chirp sound, not the clutch fork or pivot ball. I really don't know what those plastic things are for, but mine has them too.

 

Ok thanks and yea i've been doing some research and it sounds like it will be a throwout bearing if the noise gets worse as the clutch is pushed however mine does the opposite. I'm going to grease the pivot ball and it should take care of it. Otherwise how difficult is it to replace the throwout bearing, could i do it just in my garage or i assume i need a press?

 

You can grease the pivot ball, but it won't fix it. Mine did the exact same thing when my bearing went bad.

To replace it, you have to remove the trans. It can be done in a garage with a jack & stands and basic hand tools. No press is needed to change the bearing, it's designed to slide along the input shaft of the transmission. Triple-check that you have the new one mounted correctly to the clutch fork, or you'll be pulling it all apart again to fix it.

 

Ok based on the fact that it only makes noise when clutch is engaged without the slightest pressure on the pedal, if i put a slight amount on the pedal to make the noise stop, any estimations as to how long it may last? Funds just aren't available at the moment. I think i might just have to bring it to the shop.

 

I have no idea how long it could last. I drove mine for maybe 2-3 weeks till I figured out what it was and replaced it. The part itself is only around $15 IIRC. Labor is what will kill you if you pay someone to do it.

 

Yea I definitely would prefer to do it myself. Does the tranny need to be
Completely removed from under the hood? Or just disconnected from the bellhousing? And what all needs to be disconnected from tranny? Wires? Torque converter? Speedo? Etc.

 

The trans needs to be removed from under the car. The only way to remove it from under the hood is to pull the engine with the trans attached. And that is a LOT more work than just removing the trans from under the car.

Remove the cap from the distributor before you start, because the engine will tip back towards the firewall when you pull the trans and can crack the distributor cap against the firewall.

You will need to raise the car and remove the driveshaft, torque arm, trans crossmember, shifter, clutch slave cylinder(don't let it hang by the hose), reverse switch wiring connector, speedo cable or wiring connector and unbolt the trans from the bellhousing.

The bellhousing needs to come off to replace the throwout bearing. The bearing is attached to the end of the clutch fork.