When the car is not in gear with the clutch out, the manual transmission makes a noise I’ve been told indicates a bearing going out. When I put in the clutch, the noise stops. This would seem to indicate the bearing is inside the transmission. My question: What’s the severity of this problem in terms of the cost of the repair? I have 195,000 miles on the car and want to keep it for another several years if possible. The clutch is still original, so I would assume I should have the clutch replaced during this repair.
That would indicate a noisy input shaft bearing in the transmission. When you push in the clutch you disengage the transmission from the engine. With your transmission in neutral and the clutch out the input shaft is the only part of the transmission turning at engine speed. The transmission will need to be removed to replace the input shaft bearing and yes, definately replace the clutch while you are in there. It would be foolish not to. The cost is going to depend on where you live and how much labor rates are in your area. I would call around for the best prices. I would not let this go on very long, a noisy bearing like that could go at any time without any more warning and cause more damage driving your repair cost up.
transman