Spider clutch issue?

["Paul Misencik" <paul@domain.elided>]

My 1987 Graduate is exhibiting something I need help diagnosing.  Here's
what happens:

When the car is cold, it makes a slight grumbling rattle which seems to be
coming from the clutch area.  Opening the hood and listening closely seems
to confirm this is indeed where the sound is coming from, and depressing the
clutch (whether in gear or not) makes the sound vanish imediately.  I can
sort of "feel" the rattle when resting my hand gently on the shift lever,
but it is very, very slight.

The sound continues when doddling along in any gear as long as the clutch
pedal is not depressed.

After about five minutes of warm-up running, the sound vanishes completely,
and will not return until the car sits for an extended period and gets very
cold again.

Everything feels fine with the clutch and transmission.  It shifts smoothly,
the clutch seems to engage and disengage normally, and other than the sound,
it's pretty much transparent in terms of how the car runs and drives.

Before I start tearing into it, anyone know what's up?

Thanks in advance,

Paul Misencik
P. Roman Media
Huntersville, NC  28078
email: paul@domain.elided
www.paoloroman.com

----- Original Message -----
From: <maxid@domain.elided>
To: <alfa@domain.elided>
Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 12:41 PM
Subject: Re: Issue with 164L Climate control


> I have the same problem in my 1991 164S. When it is cold outside, even if
I
> set the heat at 64 F (or 18 C), I get a full blast of heat. It has been
like
> that since I bought the car at 64K (now has 102K).
>
> It is OK as long as the engine coolant is cold, but after 20 min of
driving, I
> just resort to cycling the system on/off at the 64 F setting. I haven't
had
> the time to overhaul the stepper motors and I am not even sure that they
are
> broken even though I have recently begun hearing the supposedly telltale
> ticking sounds from behind the central dash, albeit they appear when HVAC
off.
>
> The HVAC unit has a self-diagnosis feature which is activated by
> simultaneously depressing "AUTO" and the air flow button that directs air
to
> the floor. It takes about 20 s. Thereafter, recorded fault codes will be
> displayed every time the "floor" button is depressed. There are 15 fault
> codes, including for the sensors. There is no fault code for the common
> stepper motor problem. I tried to run my self-test once without abnormal
> findings.
>
> Others who have experienced the same problems advised to clean out dust
from
> the little fan assembly in the overhead console that houses the indoor
temp
> sensor, but this did not work for me.
>
> Personally, I have ordered the reinforced gears from AlfaPro in Australia;
I
> am waiting for a good occasion to throw them in and see whether this
problem
> remains.
>
> If you want a temperature lower than what it dishes out at 64 F but higher
> than at LO, you can run it at LO and ECON. This will disable the A/C
> compressor.
>
> However, the A/C is automatically disabled in cold outside temperatures
(below
> 41F, someone has scribbled in my Electrical Service Manual). I don't know
if
> this is a necessary feature to save the system from freezing over. The A/C
is
> known to be helpful in clearing the windows from condensation on cold,
humid
> days; and other cars (e.g. my former '90 Subaru Legacy) seemed to be able
to
> run the A/C in all temperatures. Any comments on the last point?
>
> Sonny '91 164S, Baltimore
> --
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