Clutch bearing squeal

[Joepaoletti]

Hey. Just got a new project: 1986 325es. The car sat for 5 or 6 years without running. I’ve got the engine up and running now, moving on to the manual tranny. There’s a serious squeal only when the clutch pedal is depressed. Based on researching othe posts on this forum, I’ve concluded it needs a new throw-out bearing. Two questions:

Any estimates on the number of labor hours to pull the trans and bell housing And replace the bearings, and probably the clutch while it’s opened?

is there any possibility the squealing bearing could be remediated with addition of new gearbox fluid (assuming the old fluid sat for 5 years?

thanks

[superj]

oil won't help it. its independent of the oil for the transmission and engine.

i have never had a lift or transmission jack or anything like that so i always had to do clutch stuff the hard way. i would take it out one day and put it back the next. not that it took two days but after getting it out i would be tired and want a break so i would take a break the rest of the day and the same on the install day. if you have access to the proper tools, its probably very quick and easy to do in a day.

what made it feel so long to me though, is all the shields and stuff you take off before you even get to the transmission.

[tomstin]

The issue with replacing the clutch is getting to the bell housing bolts. The top few can be a real pain in the butt. Pelican has a nice write up that helped me.

[Joepaoletti]

Thanks for the replies. I’m seriously considering doing it myself. I totally would stretch it across 2 days. Looks like the exhaust has to come off first 😩. But I’m also gonna talk to a local mechanic today to see what he’d charge for labor. It may be worth paying someone who has a lift and good tools. Would love to hear other success stories or horror stories doing it themselves…..

[superj]

when you pull the exhaust, just unbolt it at the two flanges of the exhaust manifold, the triangle shaped ones above the passenger motor mount. they are three bolts that are easy to get with an extension and a universal on the end. then just slide the exhaust out the back once you take the hangers loose by the gas tank and transmission