Mk3/NC Noise from Clutch/Gearbox??

[garyMX5]

Have a slight noise from clutch/gearbox on a 2006 Mk3/NC 1.8 (5-speed gearbox), and not sure whether it's something to be concerned about or not??

Noise is rotational bearing noise, evident when car is stationary in neutral, but only when clutch is engaged (pedal up), and noise disappears when clutch is fully disengaged (pedal down) with no drive to gearbox. It's a slight noise only that you really need to listen for, and it's not evident over typical road noise when driving. Don't think it's characteristic of release bearing noise, I've lived with that in the past and in that case light touch on pedal, enough to take up free play on pedal and lightly load release bearing, was enough to get noise to change/disappear, but in this case clutch needs to be pressed sufficiently to fully disengage drive to gearbox to get noise to disappear, and I'm thinking maybe gearbox bearing noise and/or gear noise???

Has anyone else experienced anything similar, and is it characteristic of NC gearbox, or is it maybe something I should be concerned about??

[sidewaysreilly]

Maybe the boots around the lever are letting more noise in as the car ages. I had that whine/noise, changed the boots and noise went. Wouldn't worry about it too much.