97 hardbody... "seasonal" throwout bearing noise ?

[Hankster1958]

Our 97 HB.. has a weird issue. the throwout bearing, sometimes makes a "moaning" sound.. NOT a raspy bad bearing noise.. I know what that is...this sound is more like a "dry window crank mechanism sound" if you've ever heard that... and, it only does it, in the cold months... and only during a first few shifts.. like when backing out of a parking space etc.. when it's been shifted enough that the bearing is "warmed up"?? no noises.. and spring thru fall.. no noises... it started doing this that we noticed last winter.. was going to go in come spring, but it stopped, and has worked flawlessly since! But we had a freak cold day a few days back, and when cold, and backing up.. it did that "moan" but only once....

Has anyone else experienced this?? I had one person tell me, it could be the grease in it, it thick/stiff when cold, and once used a few times to "warm it".. it stops. In warm weather.. the grease is more fluid so.... I don't know. Anyone?

[whomadewho]

The throw out bearing is a sealed bearing not likely a grease issue. It could possibly be the throw out bearing,the pilot shaft bearing could present a noise. Could also be the front main bearing in the transmission. Check the fluid level in the transmission. To be on the safe side I would service the transmission. MAKE SURE you read the owners manual so you replace the fluid with the proper weight. A huge mistake is using gear lube that is used in the third member. You may want to consider using a synthetic lube for manual transmissions makes shifting in cold weather a lot easier. When you drain the transmission take note of the color, silver would indicate metal fragments from the transmission. The fill plug is not user friendly. When you purchase the lube I would consider buying a short length of hose to go over the end of the bottle saves times and prevents a lot of frustration.

[Oneshot1984]

I saw this on a friends 97 D21, the pilot bushing " Not a ball Bearing" was dry and gummy,and once it'd warm a bit the noise would go away..... it got worse and worse as time went , it groaned once the clutch was pushed all the way in completely disengaged and would keep groaning until the clutch pedal was released just enough so the input shaft started to rotate again in step with the crankshaft...... he pulled it all apart, the throwout was perfect, just gummy pilot bushing.......all it needed was a super small spot of hi-temp synthetic grease, he used some CRC high temp synthetic......... but he also replaced the bronze bushing with an OEM bronze bushing from nissan, some aftermarket have iron in them and are magnetic" do not use" ,,,also while he was in there he replaced the clutch, pressure plate and throwout bearing, and you should do an transmission input seal too if you have alot of mile on it since you have the transmission off. but if its a beater a spot of grease will make it happy, very, very little, like the amount of the size of a pencel eraser, coating the transmission input shaft and the inside of the bushing....... no big goobers all over !! or it'll sling out onto the clutch surface and then youre all done taking it apart again