Exterior clutch creak

I have a 2010 PreRunner, regular cab, 5 speed. 60k miles on it. My clutch over the last few months had started creaking, and it was coming from around the slave cylinder area outside of the truck. It was worse when the truck had been sitting overnight, and typically most noticeable when letting off of the pedal. After the truck warmed up, the noise was gone, but the pedal was not smooth on release.

I replaced the slave cylinder this weekend, and the old one that come out was definitely not smooth when operating the plunger by hand against my tabletop. I lubed the contact area of the new one as I put it in, and the noise went away, the clutch pedal felt much smoother and lighter, and all was right in the world.

Until this morning, when the noise came back. Again, verified it's coming from outside, under the truck (not the pedal itself, I keep that well lubed). It's worse when cold, almost gone when warmed up. And mostly on release of the pedal.

I'm assuming it's the throwout bearing, or release fork? Anyone have any input before I pull the tranny off to check it out?

(And I did search a bit before posting, but all I found was the master cylinder and pedal creaking...)


Thanks,
Keith

 

Mine does that too. Toyota mechanic told me to spray white lithium grease on the fork where the rod from the slave cylinder makes contact. He said to have someone depress the clutch pedal while you do this to work it in. This only works for a while & you have to do it again. Don't know of a cure for it, just a temporary fix.