2003 F150 2WD 4.6 V8. (Recently purchased) (supposedly has new clutch and master cylinder)

Removed Trans to inspect clutch systems because of chattering coming from within bell housing. And also a lot of side to side movement while in gear in 2nd and 3rd gear

clutch cover fingers look good. Not bend or misaligned
Flywheel seems to have some hot spots on it. some scorning (felt with finger nail)
input shaft has a good amount of movement (not sure if normal)
input shaft bearings look good. opened transmission cover. Didn't see any metal shards or broken teeth.
pilot/throwout bearing look good
cylinder looks new or newer
pressure plate has lots of meat on it.

My questions is could the hot spots on the flywheel really cause the chatter? or possibly the movement in the input shaft

I can take pics of everything as its still apart.

Im stumped. don't really wanna spend $300-$400 in parts replacing everything. Need help narrowing down the issue

 

I replied to your other thread under #24, before I read or realized this was your post. I'm convinced that your noise is from an input shaft bearing. With the hot spots on the flywheel, the previous owner must have had the clutch disc worn too thin ie plum wore out OR they must have been using the truck hard. Does it look like the clutch disc that is in there was new? Later.

 

Thanks for the reply. The clutch plate doesn't look new. The only thing that looks somewhat new is the master cylinder. And even that I cannot be sure of.

how difficult is it to replace the input shaft bearing? also when I spun the input shaft I noticed 1 of the teeth on one of the gears is cracked off abot 3/4 of the way.

how can I post pics. Ill take pics of everything so we don't have to guess. You can see what I see

 

here are some pics. The last one takes you to the video stored in my photobucket

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I don't know how hard it would be to replace the input shaft bearing. If somebody knew just how to do it, I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult. I wouldn't know offhand.

To really do the job right, the pressure plate, clutch disc, pilot bearing, throwout bearing and slave cylinder should probably all be replaced. And the flywheel resurfaced if it's rough. I wouldn't skimp on the slave cylinder and throwout bearing, I would go genuine Ford, I've read too many horror stories where the parts store slave cylinders fail in a very short time.

I can't tell what's up with that gear and the chipped piece in the second from bottom picture. It looks to me like the chipped piece came from somewhere else and is just sitting on top. I must be missing something.

Any more questions feel free to ask.

 

so ive decided to replace the entire clutch system in hopes that it will stop the chattering noise. The flywheel has many hot spots and the bearings look rough.

im still debating whether to work on the input shaft bearing. I would think that once the input shaft sits is properly aligned when re installed there wouldn't be any play.

it would be a shame to do all this to still have the noise. Ive read so many forums that say the throw out bearing is the culprit and then again others say the input shaft bearing. Having trouble narrowing down the exact issue.

I guess worst case scenario is Ill have to remove trans again if the problem continues

 

What you explained under #7 in your other thread sure makes it seem like the noise would be in the transmission. Being a two wheel drive wouldn't be as bad to remove the transmission again, but still a heck of a job.

 

I agree, you should replace the whole clutch system, including the flywheel and pilot bearing. I'd also look at getting the tranny rebuilt. While you have the flywheel out, I'd also replace the rear main seal.

The M5OD is a light duty tranny, it can't handle anything stronger than a bone stock 4.6 without issues. It's also limited to towing about 2500# because of this.

 

That transmission/clutch has had the beat out of it. The hot spots on the flywheel are from clutch slippage. The transmission needs repairs. The chipped tooth is from dropping the clutch in first. The input shaft should not move like a joy stick. Yours most likely does. That allows the gears to spread apart and or walk. This allows the teeth to come out of full contact and they chip. Behind the clutch there is a cover. It holds the shims in place for the input shaft and intermediate shaft bearings. You can buy the shims and shim it yourself. While you are replacing the clutch be sure to replace the pilot bearing. My clutch guy will not warranty if I don't.