Clutch/gearbox Noise

[Frobbet]

Hi guys Iv just bought a IS220d 2006, on the test drive she was fine but on my way home I noticed when I press the clutch in I get what I can only describe as a faint metallic spinning noise!!

Had her in the garage today and the mechanic told me it sounds like a trustier bearing in the gear box!! Dose anyone know anything about this noise, and if there is a fix for it, and is it a problem, I have read elsewhere that it is quite common, and none seams to have an idea!!!

If it is the trustier bearing dose anyone know how much that would cost to sort, I know its labour intensive as the gearbox has to come out!!

any feedback would be great.

Thanks

[is200 Newbie]

Take it back to where it was purchased from and have it looked at.

Swap for an auto IS250

[Marcin Osiecki]

Hi, did you manage to get this sorted? I seem to have the same issue. If yes what was the problem and how much did it cost to fix?

[Frobbet]

My mechanic is almost 100% sure it's the thrust bearing. After discussing it with him we decided to leave it be. He quoted about 1.5k to fix it. As the gear box would have to be removed, a new clutch fitted due to the removal of the gear box and the replacement of the part. Plus it's about an 8 hour Labour charge if all goes well. He assured me from the severity of the noise I had (which was very slight) it would probably sort itself, as it would probably be due to the fact it's sat in a garage for over a year doing very little. He told me if the baring had really gone you would hear a exceedingly loud wiring noise when pressing the clutch. I don't know how yours sounds but I gave the car a good blast on the way down south taking the car up to max revs and pushing in the clutch and holding it in for about 10 seconds And I haven't had heard it since!! If it's the same thing I described above and isn't to loud I wouldn't pay much attention to it. From my 6 month of having the car the only thing I dislike about it is the gear box. I think the just inherently cheap!! Hope this helps!

[Marcin Osiecki]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I have replaced the clutch and dual mass flywheel on mine and the noise is gone.... but I now get vibration on the gearbox knob.. :) oh, as you said, it seems like its a cheap gear box.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

My mechanic is almost 100% sure it's the thrust bearing. After discussing it with him we decided to leave it be. He quoted about 1.5k to fix it. As the gear box would have to be removed, a new clutch fitted due to the removal of the gear box and the replacement of the part. Plus it's about an 8 hour Labour charge if all goes well. He assured me from the severity of the noise I had (which was very slight) it would probably sort itself, as it would probably be due to the fact it's sat in a garage for over a year doing very little. He told me if the baring had really gone you would hear a exceedingly loud wiring noise when pressing the clutch. I don't know how yours sounds but I gave the car a good blast on the way down south taking the car up to max revs and pushing in the clutch and holding it in for about 10 seconds And I haven't had heard it since!! If it's the same thing I described above and isn't to loud I wouldn't pay much attention to it. From my 6 month of having the car the only thing I dislike about it is the gear box. I think the just inherently cheap!! Hope this helps!

8 hours to drop the tranny, remove the clutch and get to the thrust bearing then replace and pull all back together??? That's absolutely insane!!! I've seen a clutch replaced on an IS200 and the car all put back together again in less than 3 hours. The official book time told to be by a mate who's a Toyota tech is 2.5hours so why is it going to take him 8 hours!! Plus I had my clutch replaced for about £300 that's including the price if a new clutch, pressure plate and thrust bearing and the labour charge.

No offence but I think you may need to find another mechanic!

[Frobbet]

That's what I thought to as well but iv had it confirmed by another garage as well that it would take about 8 hours!! I don't know i'm not a mechanic in any séance of the word, they said it was due to the fact the gear box would have to come out and so on and so forth, but if it can be done in that sort of time frame at that sort of cost then maybe it would be worth looking into it again if the noise reappears, which it undoubtedly will!!

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Lexus Bristol quoted me £620 for a new clutch that's fitted by a main dealer and yes the transmission (gearbox) has to come out for a new clutch but it's only bolted on with transmission mounts it's not as if they are rebuilding the inside of the transmission. You also have to drop the prop shaft but again it's only bolts need undoing! Only tricky bit is not breaking the transmission oil seals between the prop and tranny!

Think you just picked 2 poor garages or they are so unfamiliar with a Lexus that they cover themselves by quoting 8 hours labour time. Also a thrust bearing would cost just a few quid for the part, Maybe £10-20.... So £1500 and £1480 of it is labour.... And they say main dealers are a rip off! Wow!

[Frobbet]

Fair enough, haha ye seams fairly simple, I would say its that there not familiar with the make up of the car, the guy I go to is only a small place and has always done right by me so I cant complain, but fair enough, certainly makes it easier to understand, thanks for the info.

[Gaz31]

Clutch kit inc. flywheel for is220d is £1050 at best eBay price, So £450 for the labour. You wouldn't go in and just replace the thrust bearing as a couple of months later the flywheel will probably go or the clutch plate

[Frobbet]

ye I had figured that through the research I have done, everyone says if your going to do something like the thrust bearing you do the clutch and all associated things as a point of necessity or your just going to cause problems for yourself. but as I said my problem has sorted itself, so weather the bearing was just sticky or there was something else I don't know! but as they say, out of sight out of mined!! I'm not going to go looking for problems if there no longer presenting themselves!!

[Gaz31]

That's good then John, it could be because it was sitting around for a while as you say. I was pointing it out more to Chris though who seemed to be quoting you figures for his is200 clutch replacement, not a 220d

[Frobbet]

Ahh right fair enough, I wouldn't have thought that there would be much difference in the two gear systems?? or am I wrong on that?? sorry just interested!

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Clutch and flywheel on the 200 is about £1000-1500 as well but I'd inspect the flywheel for scorching or pitting before deciding to change it. Flywheels are majorly expensive but I didn't change mine when the clutch on my 200 was changed because the flywheel had very little wrong with it and everything was fine after fitting the new clutch. Clutch/flywheel replacement are very similar prices as it's the same job/parts but on a different model.

And anyway the point I was making was that the garage wanted to charge £1500 just for a bearing, no mention of a new clutch by Frobbet or a new flywheel. If there was mention of that then I wouldn't even have commented on this thread as that sounds about right if you're changing everything!

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

A duel mass flywheel for an IS200 is actually more expensive from the dealer part only than a flywheel for a 250.

And yes both transmissions are similar as they are both manual and rear wheel drive.

[Frobbet]

I did say in my response about the work needed that it was 1.5k due to the gear box removal and clutch replacement due to the gear box being removed, But either way it makes no difference. Ahh right fair enough, that's what I figured, I don't know the specs for the the IS200 but wondered if the difference in torque would have made a difference to the type of gear box and flywheel that is in the two different models!

[Gaz31]

John never said it was just the thrust bearing that was going to be replaced, it says above that the clutch would be replaced too so not just a £20 part. If a clutch was replaced you'd be crazy not to do the dual mass flywheel on a diesel, this is probably where the large quote came from

** beet me to it John

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Alright I apologise... Was just trying to stop a member getting completely ripped off and £1500 is still too much just for a clutch, about right with clutch and flywheel.

Again sorry for trying to help.....

[Frobbet]

haha no your absolutely right, best to have checked than not :), appreciate all the info :)

[Kev B]

I would have to agree with Chris.

Inspection is the first thing required before replacing the Flywheel. Why have a bigger outlay if it is not necessary?

It will also make the difference between being out of pocket and being severely out of pocket.....

If the op is stating that the mechanic has diagnosed the Thrust Bearing then the mechanic should be quoting on the Thrust Bearing as the minimum and the Clutch Kit as the maximum with a separate quote on whether or not the Flywheel will need replacing. He should also explain his reasoning for offering that type of price structure which helps the customer form a better understanding of what is required and what the options are.

Also, 8 hours is a long, long time for this job but that would ultimately depend on the mechanic and his knowledge of the vehicle. If Autodata states 2.5 to 4 hours and the mechanic decides on 8 hours then that is the mechanics problem, he should work at the speed that is considered normal within industry. If he wants to take longer then why should we as customers suffer?

That said, it's great news to hear that the problem has fixed itself!

[Gaz31]

Yes it sounds like the mechanic should be clear in what work he is quoting to undertake to start with.

Dual mass flywheels usually fail before or around the same time as the clutch, sometimes before sometimes after. It's up to the owner if they don't want to change the flywheel when replacing the clutch but in my opinion it would be crazy not too. Also a lot depends on the millage on the car, if your paying for the car to be stripped down to replace the thrust bearing on a car with over 100k miles I'd just replace the lot but that's me. It's highly likely the clutch would be worn out if the thrust bearing needs replacing too as these tend to outlast clutches. A lot of its and buts but the main thing is the OP doesn't need to worry about it anymore