Grinding while in Neutral with clutch disengaged?
 

Background:

S5 TII swapped engine, drivetrain, etc. at the first of summer. I installed a new throw out bearing, clutch, clutch release plate, pilot bearing. slave cylinder, stainless hose, and master cylinder.

The only parts that I did not replace with new is the flywheel and the clutch fork. The last 5-10 times that I have driven my car the clutch started feel like it "clicked" at the point that it disengages.

Someone who knows for sure please tell me what I should check/replace/repair. It's just gotten cold so I haven't been out there to check it out. I've been indoors messing with some stereo stuff.

Thanks in Advance,

Maybe the pilot bearing? Does it start to do this when its hot?

It does it when it's cold. I didn't drive it around I was just idling it in the driveway while test fitting some speakers.

I'll have to get in the garage and check it out, gosh I'm tired of fooling with transmissions.

Over the years mine has "clicked" and it was nothing more than the rod to the fork that needed lubrcation.

Might be the throw out bearing coming apart

If it's a bearing noise (grinding) with the clutch disengaged (pedal on floor) then that means the throwout bearing is bad. That's only if it continually grinds. If it "clicks" once while disengaging the clutch and you don't hear any more noises after that, then you just need to dab a little grease on the pivot points for the clutch fork. Unfortunately, you'll have to pull the transmission off again. However, it's really not going to hurt anything for a while, so if you want to wait until it gets warmer outside to do it then you should be ok. Just don't get so used to it that you don't ever fix it.

Sorry, my wording was incorrect. I meant to say that when the car is in neutral, and foot is off the clutch is when the grinding noise occurs.

In gear it makes no noise, and drives fine. It just started doing that yesterday while idling in the driveway. I went down the drive and back to see if it would stop, but it kept doing it.

I have the same issue, took it to the shop that did my clutch and we diagnosed it as the input shaft bearing... but it could be the pilot bearing as well.

I am just getting a new trans and replacing all the bearings and seals and swapping it all at once.

Had the input shaft/main bearing do this too. With my foot off the clutch, there was a whirling noise that was RPM dependent. I'd think that if it were the pilot bearing you may also have some grinding issues when shifting.

The input shaft main bearing? How do I get that out to replace it? (assuming transmission is already out, is it behind the throw out bearing and I can pull it, or do I have to disassemble the entire transmission to replace it?)

Yep.

It's hard to say without hearing it. It may be as simple as a throwout bearing, but I had the same noise problem on my NA transmission. I had to replace the input shaft bearing, but it soon went bad again. TII transmissions are of a better design, so it probably won't happen again if it turns out to be bad.

It is a TII transmission. Like I said I replaced every part I could short of the flywheel before installing it. That was less than 500 miles ago.

Yeah, I knew you had the TII trans, but I was just stating that the NA transmissions are known for that input shaft bearing for going bad really fast.

New parts go bad too. Not as likely, but it happens. If you have a warranty on the TOB, try exchanging it for a new new one. A couple hours labor of your own time replacing a free bearing is still free ;)

If it's still noisy after that, then it's probably the input shaft bearing.

I'm fairly sure it should be pretty obvious if it's the pilot bearing or the throw out bearing. I'll know more for sure once I pull the transmission. That'll be in a few weeks at the earliest, maybe later with Christmas and New Years.

Thanks for all the help guys. I may start looking for a good transmission to swap in it.