Clutch squeaking

I would have posted this question last week, but I have been out of state
for the past week.

I think that I may have mentioned a week or two ago that I just replaced the
window lift motor in my 95 sl1 after it had not been working for the past 3
maybe 4 years.

Now that the window is working I notice that the clutch is squeaking. I can
only hear the squeaking when the window is down and when I am parked next to
another car or wall such as when I go to a drive thru.

Since the only reason I can hear the squeak is because I now have the
drivers window working I have absolutely no idea how long it has been doing
this. Days, weeks, months or maybe even years your guess is about as good
as mine.

I was wondering if this could be caused just by some part needing to be
greased or may it be a sign that some part of the clutch is about to go out.

Anyone have any insights?

Mark.

 

It squeaks when being used. When ever I push it in or release is the
only time you can hear any noise and then usually only if I have my
drivers window down and I am parked next to something.

Years ago I had a jeep with a bad clutch that did just the opposite,
it would be quite when being used but when driving down the road there
was a constant squeak until the clutch finally failed one day and the
peddal feel to the floor.

Of course the Jeep (a 78 CJ5) had a spring clutch, where as my Saturn
uses a hydrolaic clutch which I am not as familar with.

Mark.

 

Hmmm..

I had a 97 SL2 manual. There is a bushing on the clutch pedal where it
pivots. When that gets dry (no lubricant) the clutch pedal squeaks every
time it is pushed in or released. But, it only squeaks when the pedal is
being moved.

I fixed that problem by:

1) Buying another bushing from the Saturn dealer.
2) Lubricating the new one with teflon grease (Radio Shack sells it).
3) Replacing the old bushing with the new one. Go in from under the dash.
You have to contort your body to get to the pedal. Remove the two clips (one
on each pivot). Remove pedal, grease the main pivot, and put it back in.

 

I had a 97 SL2 manual. There is a bushing on the clutch pedal where it

Since he can only hear the noise with the window down, it probably isn't coming
from under the dash.

If the noise happens whenever you have the clutch depressed then its probably
the throwout bearing. In that case, you're probably better off leaving it alone
until it needs to be fixed.

 

Yeah, when being moved is the only time I hear any noise I will have to look
into that.

I will take a look at the throw out bearing also, thanks for the suggestion.
Money is tight right now so if it is something that is about to go I hope
that it will continue to work for a couple weeks because it will be at least
that long before I can afford to do anything with it.

Thanks for both of your suggestions, now at least I have an idea of
somethings that I should be looking for.

Mark.

 

Does it do it regardless of whether the engine is running?

-DanD

 

If it's a dry clutch pedal bushing, it will only squeak when the pedal is
being moved.

And, as my esteemed colleague Bandit points out, the window position should
have no bearing on whether you hear a dry bushing.

The good news is (if it's the bushing) it's a cheap fix. You can probably
fix it for free using any grease and not replacing the bushing.

 

I had not noticed if it squeaked while off or only while on. I think that
is partly because generally the only time I use the clutch while the car is
off is when I am at home about to go to work, or at work about to come
home. In both cases I am pushing the clutch in to start the car so my
window is still up, plus in both cases I am never parked next to anything
that would cause the echo effect allowing me to hear it in the first place.

There have been times where I was parked and opened my door before releasing
the clutch and was able to hear the squeak, the car would have been turned
off in those cases.

Not being sure how to answer your question I went outside and tried the
clutch and for the first time in a couple weeks or something like that I
could not get it to squeak at all, regardless of whether the car was on or
off.

The car had been sitting for several hours since last used, I don't know if
that had anything to do with it.

Mark.