I am begining to think I am hipper about noises in our M3 but here's my latest project. Our 98 M3 has a 5 speed manual trans. When the clutch pedel in depressed to disengage or released to engage the clutch plate there is a high pitch swishing noise during travel. Sounds to me like it's the carrier bearing / throwout bearing. Hydraulics and pedel travel seem normal with no binding Any Ideas or am I dropping the trans to check it out. Thanks Bud
Swishing noise? If there is noise when the pedal is depressed and the car is in neutral and not moving, then the throwout bearing is bad. If there is noise when the pedal is released and the car is in neutral and not moving it is the input shaft bearing. If there is noise when the pedal is depressed and the car is in gear and not moving, it is the pilot bearing. Any noise that occurs while the pedal is being moved, it might just be the pedal squeaking.
Thanks Paul Looks like the winner is number 3 As you depress the clutch pedel with the car in gear or neutral and the RPM 's are up you get the noise. The higher the RPM the more noise Bud
Sounds like it is more like number 1 than number 3. There is a reason here. If you get the noise when the trans is in gear and in neutral with the pedal down, the throwout bearing is loaded both times, but the pilot bearing will only be spinning when the trans is in gear with the pedal depressed. One way to test this is to run the car, press the clutch and see if the noise changes between in gear and out of gear. If it makes the exact same noise regardless of in or out of gear, it is the throwout bearing. It is a tough call to make, so you may want to have someone look at it (the best way is to have someone listen to it while they are doing another service since they probably won't charge you that way if they are a good shop.) Of course, if the noise gets really bad, take it in, because regardless of the cause then, the trans must come out to remedy the problem, and you might as well do the clutch at that point. How many miles?
