Fera Start here:
From what I have been taught here is how you tell the difference. If you have the clutch deperessed and you hear the noise its going to be the pilot bearing or throwout bearing. If you hear the whirring noise when the clutch is released in neutral then its your transmission shaft input bearing. So going from that knowledge move to which your going to replace.

Which is it?

Seagram14 talk to BHR about getting a clutch. They know first hand whos clutchs fail and whos last.

I had mine replaced for $800, parts and labor included. The OEM clutch kit is made by EXEDY; as a set it includes the clutch disc, pressure plate, and the throwout bearing. After the breakdown, I saw my disc and pressure plate in very good condition for something that's been driven for 148,000 miles, my throwout bearing is what shattered. I had all three replaced since we couldn't buy just the bearing itself. That was six months ago before I found out that it can be bought separately; as well as, the pilot bearing, through RotaryFX.com.

If I have the transmission shaft input bearing case, what are the consequences of me not replacing it right now?

well with these things its hit or miss. Should a bearing break off it can cause some pretty serious damage. Then again you could just wear down the transmission input shaft, or even have nothing go wrong at all. You never know how a parts going to act, yours might have worn down as far as it will and it manages to survive the life of the car. Its really all up to chance luck.

It doesn't happen all the time though.. like only when I'm going into my drive way, which is very small and have to dodge my brothers truck...so having the cluth pressed down and gassing the car a little so it wnt stall on me...and when I actually manage to get my car in as soon as I let the clutch go I hear that sound, but besides that I have no other problem with it....so I'm guessing ill b alright..at least I hope

Take it out someplace a little more private, or at least that you dont need to drive. Try it with the car at a stand still and just listen with the windows down. Clutch in, and clutch out how does it act.

Ok I will thanx

when i press the clutch in the sounds go away
when i release the clutch i can hear the bearing rattling

So, it looks like I'll have to be replacing my bearings. (As FERA, mine is making a rather noticable whirring sound with the clutch engaged, where you can hear it idling in N.)

Sweet, I bought it at 36k mi, making that sound, and had read on here that it was normal. I guess they didn't mention needing replacement was normal as well, haha.

Incidentally, I was apparently being paranoid (as always) here. In an unrelated thread, you can tell when rickeo let's out his clutch, making the (faint) "whirring" sound at around 25 seconds in his video:

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...5&postcount=12

So I suppose what I hear is normal ;)

I took mine by a dealership to have them check it out, since mine's still under warranty, they said it was fine, though it's most prominent when it's cold, and it was warmed up when they checked it.

Ah well.

All manual trans cars make throwout bearing noise pretty easy, that's why everytime a manual trans is out, at least the pilot and throwout bearings needs to be changed ( the labor is expensive compared to the parts to just fix throwout).

If the throwout bearing locks down, it can go through the fingers of the clutch pressure plate, and cost for that more expensive part.

See DocBeech prices above.

If it happens with the clutch enganged, its the transmission shaft input bearing. It can be other things inside the transmission but to make it less complicated I will leave it at that.

If the grinding noise occurs when the clutch is disengaged (Pedal to floor) then its either the release bearing, or pilot bearing.

Not to thread jack, but I am in the same ball park here. When I have my foot off the clutch, I hear the noise. When I disengage/put it to the floor, it goes away. I also have grinding from 1st to 2nd gear, but Only when I am shifting faster than usual (Does not happen in any other gear) I have went through some archived threads here and have found these possible issues:

- Forks
- Pilot Bearing
- Input Shaft Bearing
- PPF not properly aligned

My question is - What is the real problem here? I have read multiple opinions on multiple threads. I am wanting to repair myself, though I am sure the labour is not easy?

Kind of weird, mine was the release bearing that made the annoying "mouse-wheel" sound in Neutral and that's the bearing that broke.

A lot of times the release bearing is noisy when its disengaged. But any bearing can make noise when its under stress and worn or damaged. As long as its spinning so I have seen what happened to you in that same condition grace.

As for fungster. Its not easy at all. Unless you have taken a transmission apart I don't suggest you do this on your own. The forks, and shaft input bearing both require you tear down the transmission. The pilot bearing requires a special tool, and if it comes apart a lot of patience. The power plant frame alignment is the easiest of the ones to do you can pretty much follow the shop manual to do that.

But again if you havn't torn a transmission down before, I would recommend you do it with someone that has. It takes a decent amount of time to do as well.