i have a 1997 gmc 1500. it has a 4.3l 5speed manual. when the clutch pedal is all the way out it makes it makes a whining noise. when the clutch pedal is in it doesn't have a ny noise. help!!!! i just bought this truck for my son. help, help.

 

Your gonna have to look inside the bell housing with a light and have someone press the clutch pedal back and forth to see. Could be a a bad fork, worn out throw out bearing, maybe the slave cylinder has air in it. I think its the throw out bearing. Either way, the transmission has to be taken off, which is not very hard. I can do it in bout 40 mins. on the ground.

 

is there a way of looking inside without taking the bell housing off? maybe a inspection cover? if its the throw out bearing should i replace everything else, like the clutch, etc.

 

Well the bell housing is seperate from the tranny case. But thats the only way is to take everything off. And yes might as well replace everything. The new clutch kit comes with a new bearing. Also take the flywheel off and take it to a machine shop that does head work and have them resurface it. Costs bout $30 bucks. If you dont then the new clutch disc will burn out at a quicker rate and cause possible slippage. Trust me this job is fairly easy. Much easier than taking a automatic tranny off. I could actually pick up the tranny while lying down and put it up in place.

 

i was looking today at the bell housing and noticed that were the slave cylinder house goes into the bell housing its like a 1"-1.5" open hole and another smaller hole above it. is this normal or should there be a plug in the hole?

 

Na thats normal.

 

it seems that would allow all kinds of dirt and winter salt get in there.

 

I've ran into that before using aftermarket clutch kits. Problem I had was they aren't exactly same thickness as Honda's and that extra thickness was taking up any slack you should have had.