bad throwout bearing?

[mach1one]

I think I've heard this noise for awhile but it was real subtle so I didn't mind it much.

Anyway, when I was at my friends house yesterday and I cranked my car, he noticed a squealing type noise. He listened while I drove around and it could be heard while I was driving at low speeds. The noise goes away once the clutch is pushed in, even just a little bit. And when I drive for maybe 5 mins I can't hear it. I stuck my head out the car and the noise is definately coming from under the car, somewhere in the tranny area I guess.

Is it the throwout bearing? My clutch is slipping a small bit and if it is that I might as well throw an act 2600 clutch kit in there too. What happens when the throwout bearing goes bad and what will eventually happen if I drive it for too long like that?

 

[sjwelna]

I'll just tell you my little story with a bad TO bearing, keep in mind this was kind of an extreme case, but it did happen to me.

Starting out from a light one night, only a month or two after I bought my car, my clutch pedal stuck to the floor. Naturally I was like "WTF??" and fearing the worst that it was CW. I was in the middle of the intersection, so I had to actually pull the pedal up from the floor with my foot and limp it to my (now) ex-girlfriend's house. Keep in mind, this was only about 10 blocks down the road. I pull it in front of her house, and park it for the night, and then have it towed the following morning.

These were the "symptoms" that i was having when the clutch stuck:

-sticking clutch pedal
-loud high-pitched squealing noise with clutch depressed (very similar in sound to a bad power steering pump squeel, only about 10x louder)

What happened is that the clutch fork appeared to have slipped off behind the TO bearing and torqued it, causing it to kind of twist. It mangled the shaft that it sits on and cost me a tranny.

FWIW, this was what happened to me, I doubt your situation is this extreme, but a bad TO bearing is nothing to laugh at.

-Steve