I recently bought a stock NA VL. Its 5-speed manual and have noticed a sort of rattling noise when the clutch is out and when driving in a low gear. As soon as i put the clutch in (clutch disengaged) the noise stops. Could this be a worn out thrust bearing or something, because i have noticed that it has been getting worse over the past few days. The clutch still works fine (Doesn't slip), and motor sounds great. Gearbox doesnt seem to have any problems either. Has anyone had this problem before or have any idea of what it could be? :?

Yeah probably thrust bearing, if the noise isnt that loud....my thrust bearing sorta makes a scraping noise which you can only usually hear if its in nuetral and the clutch is out (engaged).

Yeah sounds like that, a scraping noise, but i can hear it when driving in low gears too, especially when i back off to use engine as a brake. It gets louder when the car has warmed up too. Is it serious enough to need replacing now or could i leave it a while. Im a little short on the cash at the moment. Also is it expensive and can i do it myself? Thanx!

The thrust bearing is noisy when you push the clutch in, when its out and your foot is not on the clutch and it makes noise its the input shaft bearing in the gearbox...

Mine did that when I first bought it,I swapped the driveline over from my other VL which was in better nick (had a smoky motor & shot transmission),the needle bearing inside the input shaft was totally chewed out and had minced out & broken the 3rd-4th synchro ring and chipped some of the other gears. It also sometimes couldn't go into 3rd & 4th gear. In your case it may even be a shot spigot bush,in my case the car had a whirring sound on deceleration & under load but it wasn't the spigot bushing which caused that. If your flywheel is slightly warped (I know mine isn't the best),the reverse gears will always or sometimes clash when changing into that gear,with mine I can also feel a pulsation through the car then releasing the clutch,when I bought the 5 speed conversion for my other car the clutch wasn't marked and the flywheel appeared to be slightly warped but I couldn't afford a new clutch & pressure plate at the time,nor to remachine the flywheel,so I just put it together and hoped for the best. I will be fitting a new clutch when I go to build this motor.

Quote: Originally Posted by carcrazy The thrust bearing is noisy when you push the clutch in, when its out and your foot is not on the clutch and it makes noise its the input shaft bearing in the gearbox... 8O You sure?? So its not my thrust bearing if its only making the noise when i let the clutch out.....?? :? Whats the job like on replacing the input shaft bearing??

This is a major job which will require the removal of the gearbox and for it to be overhauled,if you go to this extent then you should really replace all the bearings. As I mentioned in my VL,the input shaft bearing wasn't too bad,but the mainshaft pilot needle bearing which is located inside the input shaft (behind the 3rd/4th synchro assy) was totally chewed out causing the noise & damage. Though I would also check the spigot bush inside the crank to see if that isn't chewed out,but then again if that was the case you may have trouble getting it into any gear.

Well that sounds interesting..... I can only hear the noise when i put it in netruel and let the clutch out while im stopped....you can hear it outside the car not too loud but u can hear it.....i always thought it was the throw out bearing because when the clutch is out there is no pressure on it (eg. spins freely causing it to make noise) but when the clutch is in it pushes causing the noise to stop while like that....get what i mean??