Autocrossed yesterday. Drove about 250 miles after that without a problem. This morning when I started my car after the releasing the clutch pedal, I hear a scratching/crunching sound. This sound only happens when the clutch is released, in or out of gear. It gets louder and faster when rpms rise during driving. Besides the sound, the car drives normally, shifts normally. Any ideas? I will take it to get checked out ASAP, but meanwhile is it safe to drive? thanks, Jesse

If the noise occured during pedal travel (i.e. AS you were releasing the pedal) the problem could be a cracked throw out arm or pressure place spring. If the noise happens after the cluth is all the way out it sounds like a throw out bearing. The bearing is easy to change when getting a new clutch and the pressure plate should be changed when the clutch is replaced. Not sure about the arm, but the tranny may have to come out. I suppose the noise could be a busted spring in the clutch disk. >

Dave, all, Thanks for the help. You and several others have suggested that my problem may be the throwout bearing. My question is can ONLY the bearing be replaced? Or does the clutch and pressure plate also need to be replaced? This is odd because my clutch was replaced less than 20K miles ago. What's going on w/the bearing to cause the noise? Thanks again, Jesse

These bearings just go bad over time. They are the actual contact from the pedal to the pressure plate attached to the flywheel. They are constantly spinning at whatever the speed of the engine is spinning at when ever there is ANY pressure put on the clutch pedal (i.e. resting your foot on the pedal to the point of resistance). 20k miles is a short life, but driving habits directly affect the life of these bearings. I don't just mean hot rodding the car around. Like I said, resting your foot on the pedal keeps this bearing in constant motion. Excessive shifting or downshifting is also hard on the throw out bearing. Do you hear the noise the whole time there is pressure on the pedal? This would be more typcal of throwout bearing failure. If it's just a short cruching noise it could be the bearing spinning down once the pressure is off, although it sounds more like throw out arm. It could also be the slave cylinder, although not likely. They are small, and hearing any noise from them over the engine would be difficult. There's a lot of stuff going on there. Best to have someone you trust familiar with clutches listen to the noise. >What's going on w/the bearing to cause the noise? > >Thanks again, >Jesse