I noticed on my car when I start the car in the morning my engine has been much louder than normal. Its just a loud mechanical noise. Not quite like a grinding but anyway...this happens when its in neutral. when I push the clutch to the ground the noise goes away. If I release the clutch it comes back. after the car warms up you can hear it a little but its not nearly as bad. with the stereo off driving the car you can hear some noise too. in all situations when I press the clutch to the floor the noise goes away.

Relavant facts:

engine has about 9,000 miles
clutch is ACT and is recent
There is no acceleration problems
there is no shifting problems, no grinding of gears

Any ideas? I'm gonna take it to my mechanic next week but I thought someone may have an idea.

 

I thought you left the forum?

Anyway, you might check your throw-out bearing. Was it replaced with the clutch?

 

I left for a while. The clutch was replaced about 25K miles ago. Maybe 30K ago with an ACT S/S. The noise stops when the clutch is depressed, it only happens in neutral, does that sound like the throw out bearing?

 

If it were the throw-out bearing it would be when the clutch is disengaged (pedal in).

It's the mainshaft transmission bearing most likely.. How many miles on the trans.

 

The transmission has 172,000 miles. I dont notice any difference other than the noise. It seems to work fine. Is that bad?

 

Either that or a transmission bearing. The throw-out bearing I would be the easiest to check/change first.

 

That hasn't always been the case (especially if you search the forum for this problem), however with the mileage of his tranny (that he has now disclosed) I would wager more on the tranny being the problem.

 

its not as bad after the car is warmed up. Can I just prentend there is no problem?

 

my car has the same problem and I am suspecting the throwout bearing. Mine does it even while accelerating, not just in neutral, but it's more noticable in neutral. WIth my foot of the clutch it's like this mechanical kind of noise like you said. Then you step on the clutch and the noise goes away. I think it would make sense for it to be the throwout bearing too. As it just sits there spinning freely with your foot off the clutch, if it's bad like mine probably is, then it makes that noise. When you step on the clutch and the baering is pressed up against the clutch, the noise goes away. It's kind of annoying, but i'm debating whether it's worth pulling the tranny to fix or not. I don't think there's too many other things that would make noise in a stationary posistion when the clutch is pushed in. And it's the kind of noise that I think only a shitty bearing like the throwout bearing can make. hard to describe in words....

 

when's the last time you changed the fluid? Put some redline in there, it may buy you a few extra miles and may stop the noise (if it's the tranny).

 

When I broke my diff in Oct 2002 I had Redline put in for the tranny fluid.

 

I just got my tranny rebuild put in new clutch, bearing and stuff.

The noise is still there. I think its the tranny noise, I thought it would go away, but apparently when the tranny is freewheeling(in neutral), it made some noise.
When you put in clutch, then no noise...

 

so you got a rebuild and new clutch and it still makes noise?

 

Are you guys running a lightweight flywheel? There are noise issues associated with those.

Zero, from your description, I'm with those that say it's the TO bearing. However, is the noise a rhythmic, steady, "whirring" or creaking kind of noise? If so, then I'll say it's your tranny... maybe the layshaft bearings... if you don't mind the noise, it *is* something you can live with, however it will get louder, and you'll need a rebuild or swap sooner or later. As mentioned, check the fluid level, and also try lubing the slave cylinder arm to see if that helps.

 

ok, i just got my car back 2 weeks ago. installed was a brand new clutch, act pp, and sprung 6-puck, with a JUN flywheel. the same sound is in my car and is WAY loud. i also got the urethane motor mounts installed, so i think they transmit more sound also. so i thought it could be a throwout bearing, but it just got replaced. it made the sound before my motor went out, and after replacing all sorts of stuff, its still there, and louder. so i think its probably in the tranny somewhere. my car is loud anyway, so it doesn't bug me too bad, but at a light and drive thu windows its a pain. so for what its worth, i'm thinking its a bearing in the tranny also.
how much are tranny rebuilds?

 

paximus: You can pick up a used tranny for a few hundred dollars. However, the asskicker will be the labor charges to reinstall everything again.