F-Body Europe

Ok, this is a somewhat long story, but I think its needed to sort it all out- I'm dyin' over here.

So, my clutch was slippin on hard launches and it started making a noise like the throughout bearing so it seemed clear it was time to change them out. I replaced the stock clutch with the LS6 clutch, pressure plate, and fly wheel. I then swapped the slave and throughout bearing from the LS6 as well (all new parts). I got the car back and about three days later it started making the noise again. I drove it for a few more days and took it to a tranny shop who looked at the tranny and said there were some warn parts and rebuilt it under warranty. I got the car back from the rebuild and the noise was still there. They took the tranny out again and found that the Pilot bearing was shredded so we replaced it with a bronze pilot bushing. I drove it for a week (about 100 miles or less) and had no problems, I put it on the boat to bring it here. I picked it up last week and drove it down from Bremerhaven. Throughout the trip I noticed the sound once again. It makes kind of a grunting/whining sound (pretty loud) shifting into 2-6 gears (up or down and various RPMs).

My questions:

Could the week of driving on the bad pilot bearing have screwed up the new throughout bearing?

Will it hurt the car driving it like this?

Is there a good after market slave and throughout bearing for use with an LS6 clutch?

Is there any chance the input shaft could be damaged and causing the problem or could it have restripped the new pilot bushing?

Is there any other thing that could be causin' this noise?

This is on a Stock M6 LS1, 99 SS. No power adders or major mods (catback, lid, and Pro 5.0 is about it). 94,000 miles on it though.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Scott

Scott,
Is the noise your hearing sound like "chattering"??? I wouldn't think tha driving it around for a week (100 miles)with a bad pilot bearing would trash the bearings on the input shaft. The LS6 clutch, pressure plate, throw out bearing, is a good set up if you don't have any real high performance mods. Mine lasted for 28,000 miles. Unfortunately you don't know how the guys at the port drove your car. Does the car drive ok now??? As for the slave, do you still have the stock factory unit in the car??? If so check on a 01-02 slave, or an adjustable one from Thunder Racing. Where are you located at here in Germany????

Scott
Sounds like you got the diagnosis down
next step is to pull it apart and verify. that shoud only be about 4 hrs . from that you will be able to see what you would have to do.

I pulled mine apart in 2 hours by myself yesterday! I've done this way too many times! Just make sure to upgrade to an '01 slave cylinder!

I've already got the 01-02 Slave cylinder in there, so if its the bearing going again Do I need to get the whole assembly or just by a new bearing?

Anyone out there want to go for a ride to hear it for your selves?


BTW - I'm at Ramstein and thanks for all the help.