Throw out/release bearing
 

I think my throwout bearing is going. As soon as a depress the clutch pedal at all I get a whirring noise, gets louder with RPMs, goes away when I release the clutch pedal.

I researched for a clutch replacement and it sounds like the Exedy oem type clutch is what I want. However, there were mixed reviews of the throwout bearing included with the kit. Has Exedy starting using better bearings, should I get a Mazda OEM bearing, some other brand bearing, am I over researching this and should just use the bearing included in the Exedy kit?

The car is an 09 R3 with 75k miles

Is there an easy way to tell if you get an older Koyo bearing in your kit?

So the SKF VKC3600 is a good bearing? They are only $30 on ebay, I might just get it for the piece of mind.

When a throwout bearing fails you will hear it whine when the clutch pedal is released. The noise will go away when the clutch pedal is depressed, putting pressure on the bearing. Did you install a new pilot bearing when you put a new clutch in?

There was a TSB for the series one 8 stating that throwout bearing whine is normal. I installed a new Exedy clutch in my 8 when I put a new engine in and the bearing still makesa little whining noise when there is no pressure on it. Same noise was present on the one I bought new. Same noise on the bearing from the Exedy clutch. Same noise present on my 05 GT.

Any time there is pressure on the clutch pedal it makes noise. In gear, in neutral, stationary, or moving. There is no noise when there is no pressure on the pedal.

I haven't done anything yet other than order the clutch kit. It comes with both a throwout bearing and pilot bearing.

Yea, I had one of those units... Never could get the clutch to engage right. Had the Trans out at least 3 times before I just threw away the throw-out bearing and replaced it. No problems after that.

Update: I ended up using the SKF VKC3600 bearing as it was quite a bit heavier and more substantial looking than the one provided in the Exedy OEM clutch kit.

Would the SKF VKC3600 also work for the series 1 exedy oem clutch replacement? I got a kit but for $30 for piece of mind I would get it

Thanks Charles. I have bought several things from BHR and the service has always been top notch.

Amazon is 3-4 dollars cheaper than ebay, same seller on both sites.