I start up my car engine and straight away I hear a rough sounding noise.

I am in neutral and then as soon as I put the clutch pedal down and hold it down the noise stops.

When I am driving the noise is still there until I reach 40mph and above.

And my car drives beautifully even though it has done almost 100K miles.
It is a 2003 Honda Civic.

Any ideas what it might be?

If it disappears when you dip the clutch it’s potentially clutch related, so maybe release bearing (would need the entire clutch replacing)

That it’s there until you hit 40mph is odd, it could be something else at fault like a crank pulley which is the opposite end of the engine but connected to the clutch system via a crank

I had a similar issue on my bmw and the pulley disintegrated one day

Worst case if it’s the clutch, it the bill will be £300 ish


Get your local garage to have a listen

If you decide it’s not financially worth it to repair, just flog it as spares/repair

Deffo sounds like a Clutch release bearing as GIADJ says

Does sound like the release bearing. Sometimes they will whine until you reach a certain speed. On another note, one way to exacerbate their wear and tear is keeping the clutch engaged when waiting at lights etc, instead of handbrake and neutral.

Thanks guys

I had a Honda Civic Type R 2004 (Ep3) same as yours . had the same noise it was a heat shield on the drive shaft. it's a common problem on that model of civic
Read here
https://type-r-owners.co.uk/forums/inde ... eld.51614/

My release bearing ended up sounding like a flock of Parakeets.

Worst racket I've ever heard.

The release bearing only works when the clutch pedal is pressed, it releases the clutch. If the noise is there without touching the clutch pedal then it won't be the release bearing.

More likely to be a clutch plate or gearbox issue.

ynot wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 10:02 pm

The release bearing only works when the clutch pedal is pressed, it releases the clutch. If the noise is there without touching the clutch pedal then it won't be the release bearing.

More likely to be a clutch plate or gearbox issue.

When you press the clutch pedal, you’re applying pressure to the release bearing so it reduces the noise
The release bearing makes more noise when you’re not pressing the pedal

GodIsADeeJay81 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 20, 2023 10:12 pm

When you press the clutch pedal, you’re applying pressure to the release bearing so it reduces the noise
The release bearing makes more noise when you’re not pressing the pedal

If the release bearing makes a noise when the pedal is not pressed then the clutch is not adjusted correctly. When the pedal is not pressed the bearing should be still and not turning, - it only comes into play when the pedal is pressed.

Have you checked your engine compartment for a flock of parakeets?

Dual mass flywheel breaking up, and or as others have said, release bearing. Brace for a wallop of a bill!

claret wizard wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 21, 2023 12:08 am

Have you checked your engine compartment for a flock of parakeets?

If I had a photograph of that there’d be something to remind me

CharlieinNewMexico wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 21, 2023 5:51 am

If I had a photograph of that there’d be something to remind me

Nice One!

It's not a release bearing - more likely to be the gearbox front bearing.

Bullabill wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 21, 2023 8:17 am

It's not a release bearing - more likely to be the gearbox front bearing.

Could be either. Hard to know without taking it to bits. The noise stopping when the clutch pedal is depressed is indicative though.

Also, I should add OP - I had a very similar issue on a 2006 Honda Jazz (manual).

This garage in Eccles supplied and fitted a refurbished gearbox AND clutch for £550 in less than a day. A bargain imo. https://maps.app.goo.gl/W5EsdiU9T4WAUY6p9

ClaretOfMancunia wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 21, 2023 12:34 pm

The noise stopping when the clutch pedal is depressed is indicative though.

Correct. In neutral with the engine running, clutch pedal not depressed, the front gearbox bearing is spinning but the release bearing is not. When the pedal is depressed the release bearing spins and the gearbox bearing stops.

Turn the radio up!

Bullabill wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 21, 2023 1:50 pm

Correct. In neutral with the engine running, clutch pedal not depressed, the front gearbox bearing is spinning but the release bearing is not. When the pedal is depressed the release bearing spins and the gearbox bearing stops.

I seriously hope you’re not a real car mechanic .

Might need a right good rodding up the big end

Or possibly some action up the exhaust pipe

I needed my back axle looked at by a mechanic recently

Lowbankclaret wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 21, 2023 11:07 pm

I seriously hope you’re not a real car mechanic .

Why is that? I don't understand.

There is some very poor advice given in this thread - probably well-intentioned but, nevertheless, incorrect. I've explained why the release bearing is not the cause and as no-one has attempted to answer the query about why the noise persists up to about 40mph this is why:

When the car is in motion in the lower gears the power from the engine is applied via the front gearbox bearing and its associated gearing. Once the vehicle is in top gear the load on the front bearing is reduced to next-to-nothing. So, below 40mph the bearing makes plenty of noise, and above 40mph (in top gear) the noise reduces to next-to-nothing.

The release bearing has no load applied to it until the pedal is pressed, so no reason why it would make any noise with the clutch up as it's not even rotating

It sits between the clutch lever and the fingers of the clutch plate and allows the non rotating clutch lever to be able to depress the rotating clutch fingers.

I've changed enough of them over the years that I never want to see one again

There's a helpful video here which shows the release bearing doing the square root of nothing until the pedal is pressed

https://youtu.be/o8SNwgvLpg8?si=x0g6NCU2HMntN6Q3

Lowbankclaret wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 21, 2023 11:07 pm

I seriously hope you’re not a real car mechanic .

Everything he's said is correct though

The release bearing does not spin when the clutch is up. The gearbox input shaft does spin until the clutch is disengaged

Croydon Claret wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 22, 2023 7:05 am

Everything he's said is correct though

The release bearing does not spin when the clutch is up. The gearbox input shaft does spin until the clutch is disengaged

Yes it does, it’s always in contact with the clutch cover plate, only lightly but it’s there
That’s why they make the rattle when not under pressure and the noise stops when the clutch peddle is pressed

If it wasn’t in contact with the clutch cover plate then the bearing would be trying to grip onto a clutch that’s spinning at it thousands of rpms and that would smash it up

Just remembered the old Peugeot 405 clutch kit had the release bearing attached to the pressure plate and you used to have to hook the release forks onto the bearing when fitting the gearbox

The worst design ever, and I had blocked it from memory because it was an horrendous idea, but proves my point

GodIsADeeJay81 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 22, 2023 11:38 am

Just remembered the old Peugeot 405 clutch kit had the release bearing attached to the pressure plate and you used to have to hook the release forks onto the bearing when fitting the gearbox

The worst design ever, and I had blocked it from memory because it was an horrendous idea, but proves my point

Our French friends had some strange quirks in their cars ...

Mrs Clarets4me's first car was an 1986 Peugeot 309 which had a propensity to leak water into the distributor cap. It was a known fault ... Peugeot recommended a drawstring plastic bag to be placed over the cap and tightened. They sold them at main dealers and even had their own part-number !

James May's 1976 Citroen Ami, which he used for the time-trial rally in Majorca, was still fitted with a crank handle option to start it with ...

GodIsADeeJay81 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:27 am

If it wasn’t in contact with the clutch cover plate then the bearing would be trying to grip onto a clutch that’s spinning at it thousands of rpms and that would smash it up

Give it up GIADJ, (and supporter Bosscat) You're wrong and you must know you're floundering. You are saying that the release bearing is turning whenever the engine is running - virtually for the life of the car!
Have a look at the video that Croydon Claret posted.

https://youtu.be/o8SNwgvLpg8?si=x0g6NCU2HMntN6Q3

Bullabill wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 22, 2023 2:01 pm

Give it up GIADJ, (and supporter Bosscat) You're wrong and you must know you're floundering. You are saying that the release bearing is turning whenever the engine is running - virtually for the life of the car!
Have a look at the video that Croydon Claret posted.

https://youtu.be/o8SNwgvLpg8?si=x0g6NCU2HMntN6Q3

Ok sure
I’m not overly arsed about batting this about all day
I’ve done more clutches than I care to remember and I’m a qualified DSG technician too

But you carry on saying what you want