I have a 98 Civic (212k km…original clutch btw) and I have a similar tranny problem although I’ve narrowed it to a counter-shaft bearing (noise in every gear except 4th). The thing is, aside from the noise, the tranny is fine. Non car-minded people don’t notice it at all. Your bearing may not be right, but it can probably go a long, long time (more than 50k km).

Unless you have money to blow, I’d ignore it except if it gets much worse or affects the driveability of the car.

Here’s another description of the job. Honestly it sounds like a bitch. At least a full day of work if you haven’t taken the tranny out before: http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=596873
Don’t do it without a manual. Labeled plastic baggies is a good tip, and when I’m going deep into uncharted territory, I like to take pictures along the way to remind myself what goes where when I’m putting it back together.

My trusted local mechanic advised “turn up the radio, and drive it”. He told me some trannies can have these minor issues and still last darn near forever without really needing a rebuild. And indeed that’s how it turned out. I drove the car about 60K more miles before selling it. The problems never got worse.

But then again, a Subaru tranny might be a different beast than a Honda. I’ve never owned such a coarse and unrefined machine. Subaru should label all thier cars “for agricultural use only”.

Car/clutch history:

1977 Toyota Corolla, bought used at 91k, from one of the Iraq weapons inspectors, who I doubt had ever had to replace it. I drove that car to 161k, no problem.

1993 Saturn, bought new, driven to 147 K. Never replaced the clutch, .

1999 HOnda Accord. Bought used at 67k, I doubt the clutch was ever replaced, but don’t know. At 161k, the clutch seems fine.

Maybe Michael Karesh will have some harder data.

The guy says “when I gently press my clutch, the sound immediately goes away, when I remove my foot, the chirping sound is back.”

The key words here are “gently press.” That indicates even a very slight movement of the pedal (i.e., not enough to start disengaging the clutch) stops the noise. The first thing to do is spray WD-40 or such onto the pedal linkage. If that doesn’t work, at the risk of sounding like a Redneck, I’d suggest a cheap Plan B: use duct tape, a wooden block or a hefty rubber band to keep the pedal slightly depressed. Now, that may accelerate throwout bearing wear, but it’s apparently happening anyway.

Thanks for all the nice people who are trying to help me. Post your suggestions as much as you can so that we can pin point this problem.

The closest answer which came to me was this one from a civic forum.
http://www.civicforums.com/forums/36-mechanical-problems-vehicle-issues-fix-forum/246971-diy-diagnose-manual-tranny-noises-save-some.html

According to them, I have a problem called “Input Shaft Bearing”. Dont know what is that but can you guys tell me more about it. Is it worth fixing or not. I hate to get my car all into pieces just beacuse of some bird chirp but then again, I hate the chirping and the bird also… :)

Are you kidding? That’s only roughly 58000mi. A properly driven Civic clutch should give you 3-4 times that mileage!

Agreed. Unless it’s being driven like the car in the picture, the clutch itself should be good for at least 100k miles/160k kms, if not much more.

Changing the belts was a bonus.

Still surprised at needing a new clutch at 94k (km). Sold my 96 Civic EX a few years ago at 157k miles with the original clutch still performing brilliantly.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/piston-slap-niedermeyer-dumps-the-clutch-actually-no/

They confirmed it’s the throw-out bearing. I’m still negotiating with Toyota (they’re just stalling) about a warranty on the first one they installed. And I NEVER ride the clutch.

I thought that I was the only one.

This’ll make Bertel proud: with the wonky electrics, my OCD for cleanliness and the infuriating squeaking, I got to the point where I could disassemble, clean and reassemble the dash in my Jetta in under an hour.

For the Civic-guy, I would go with throw-out bearing. A throw-out bearing or pressure plate failure is a stuck-in-traffic-and-the-car-won’t-budge situation. Even if it just an adjustment that is needed, you’ll be torqued if it’s one of the more serious possibilities.

Added labor for a clutch should be zero since you’re already taking everything out, hence why I brought it up.

If the entire clutch kit is $200, this is a no brainer. Thanks for that.

Now that’s just crazy talk. It’s clearly the exhaust system backing up and causing the clutch pedal to make noise.

I hate chirping sounds from cars. i had a chirp in my 83’s celebrity dashboard, drove me nuts until i dismantled the whole car a put it back together well sort off…

Are you kidding? That’s only roughly 58000mi. A properly driven Civic clutch should give you 3-4 times that mileage! My 93 Civic (now owned by a friend) recently passed 200,000mi on the original clutch!

And IMHO a clutch should last WAY more than 60K miles, even in the worst of driving conditions. The original clutch on my 626 went 220K miles. Very very driver dependant.

#1 cause for failure of the throwout bearing – riding the pedal.