My clutch makes a whining noise

Well i have a 96 xj 4cyl, 5peed, 178000 miles. When i hold the clutch pedal to the floor for more than a few seconds or so (like if i am at a stop) it will start making a faint high-pitched whining. The clutch engages smoothy, doesnt slip, and allows for smooth shifts. I am gentle with it too. At first i was thinking it might be the throwout bearing, but wouldnt that make for an aukward (spelling?) feeling pedal? It is an intermittent thing and im not sure how long it has been going on, bc you can only hear it if you open the window and stick your head out. My stereo is always going, so this is probly why i havent noticed it before.

Any ideas, or is this no big deal?

throwout bearing for sure...

^^^what he said

so can i drive it for the time being or should i fix it now?

You'll be fine driving it as long as your clutch operates well. Or till the squeeling gets the best of ya..

i drove mine til it exploded, then hard shifted the rest of the way home...not all too difficult to do, but not that great for the trans

BlueMJ said:

i drove mine til it exploded, then hard shifted the rest of the way home...not all too difficult to do, but not that great for the trans

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sounds like a good plan to me!

I dont put a whole lot of miles on it anyway, and i know how to do it... im just lazy. Thanks for the help guys

It could also be the pilot brg. in the flywheel. Anytime the clutch is disengaged, that brg. is also turning. Relative to the throwout or release brg. it is smaller and tends to make a higher pitch noise. Either way, if you don't mind pulling the trans yourself it would be worth checking them both. If its the pilot brg. its possible that it is just dry, and you could lube it and put it back together w/ nothing but your time spent.

Brian

RJJR said:

sounds like a good plan to me!

I dont put a whole lot of miles on it anyway, and i know how to do it... im just lazy. Thanks for the help guys

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If you do end up replacing it, get a MOPAR slave/t-out bearing unit. I used those cheap ass auto zone/NAPA/advance auto crap and they lasted anywhere from 10-25k miles before they went again.....yes, I've been through 3 slave cylinders in 35k miles......what a f*cking PITA. The MOPAR has held for almost 25k miles itself already with no leaking or whining. Search for posts with my user name...there's a few on this topic.