I have a 305 TPI with a T-5 manual, and I have noticed a "whirring" sound when I push the clutch in. It goes away when I put it in gear, then starts up again as I'm driving, and also in neutral. It has been suggested to me that the prob is an input shaft bearing gone bad. So, I went out and got the bearing. I've been quoted 500.00 for the whole shabang, including resurfacing my flywheel,(which I know needs to be done). Any suggestions my friends??

 

If it's the clutch gear bearing, it will make noise whenever the trans is turning; i.e. when the clutch is out. But, lots of other bearings in the trans make noise then too, especially the countergear bearings, and all the little roller bearings the gears ride on.

If it makes noise when the clutch is pushed in, the trans is in gear, and the car is sitting still, it's the throwout bearing.

if it makes noise all the time except when it's in 4th gear, it's the bearings between the clutch gear and the main shaft. It's usually cheaper to come up with another trans than it is to fix this.

Some amount of noise is normal. Compare yours to other 5-speed cars, listen to them from underneath; if yours isn't too different from them, then leave it alone.

One thing to do though, is make sure it's full of fluid... the factory recommends ATF for your trans because it has composition synchro clutch facing and for minimum drag (a gas mileage thing), but synthetic gear lube such as mobil 1, red Line MTL, etc. all work fine. I run half & half ATF & Mobil 1 in mine.

 

BadRed,

That sounds plausible. You may also have a throwout bearing problem, which would explain the noise when the clutch is disengaged. A T-5 is not a bad transmission, but it is not smooth as silk, either.

If you've never rebuilt a manual transmission yourself, I'd tend to think the $500 is a pretty fair deal, considering that you'll need to press the bearings off and on, and that the clutch hardware alone is about $100 of that total. If you're really into doing it yourself, you'll have to find a press and bearing heater, or visit a machine shop to have the bearings removed and replaced from the input shaft (and any others that may be discovered to have wear).