I start the engine, push the clutch halfway down, push the parking brake lever full forward, push the clutch to the floor and I am in low moving forward. I let the clutch up to the halfway point and I am out of low and in neutral. So far everything works correctly. But when I release the clutch to the full up position and go to high I get a loud squeal. The squeal lasts less than a second, then I am in high and everything is fine. I can drive in high with no problems. If I push the clutch half way down for neutral there is no squeal. But when I go back to high I get a squeal.
This happens about half the time when I go from neutral to high. The other half of the time there is no squeal.
I took the inspection plate off the hogshead and I see no obvious reasons for the squeal.
What should I look for as the cause of this noise?
You really can’t see much of the clutch since it is enclosed inside the brake drum. I’ve not had that squealing sound symptom, but it points to perhaps a failing clutch disc or maybe a bad bushing on a triple gear. The slipping when upshifting is likely a weak clutch spring.
There’s not a lot you can do without disassembly. You can try adjusting the three tension screws on the clutch. Maybe a half turn tighter on each. That might improve the upshift slippage but would likely not affect the noise.
I checked the fingers and according to my Transmission Clutch Gap Tool they were a little over 13/16". I tightened each finger one turn and the gap is now approximately 7/8".
I did notice that when the parking brake lever is full forward and I press any pedal all three drums move forward together 1/16". When I pull the lever back the drums move back 1/16". Is that normal?
It is raining here now, I will do a test drive when it clears.
I am not declaring victory yet, BUT I just did a 10 minute test drive with constant shifting and had NO squeal. Shifted fine. It was raining too much to get on the main road, but I should be able to give her a good run tomorrow to know for sure. Again, THANKS!
“That sounds like the crankshaft has 1/16” endplay, or your transmission has a worn bushing, or both. It’s not terrible, nor is it the worst I have seen or heard about. A T / TT can have that much play in the transmission yet exhibit no problems operationally. I would not worry about it until next time the engine has to come apart. "
Thanks, I take that as good news, no need to take it out and repair it now. I intend to drive it hard until I have to pull the engine.
VICTORY!!! Extensive driving and testing today indicate that adjusting the clutch fingers fixed the problem. I am SO happy to find that this was an easy fix.