Central tube between clutch and gearbox

[geoffbateman]

I was wandering if any one out there has had this apart or has an assembly drawing of the tube and shaft arrangement. The reason for asking is that I've never had one apart but I would have thought that there would be a support bearing or similar at the front end (clutch end) of the tube, or in the clutch bell housing, to support the front end of the shaft which goes between the clutch and the gearbox. I've checked the parts book and there appears to be a bush of some kind, but no bearing shown.
I have a bit of a bearing type rumble with the engine running and the gearbox in neutral with the clutch engaged. The noise dissappears when the clutch is pressed. Normally I would diagnose that as gearbox input shaft bearing noise, but then thought that there must be something at the front end to support the shaft and that maybe that would be the cause of it. I'm just trying to research the job out a little bit before I take on removing the gearbox unit for an inspection. I don't know whether or not this noise is normal/acceptable so any comments would be gratefully received.
Thank.

 

[wolfie308]

Geoff, sounds like the clutch release/thrust bearing(not sure of the correct term) and if not particularly loud, probably not worth addressing unless you were changing the clutch.

I have a similar sounding noise from time to time, which I've had since I got the car 6+ years/ 30k miles and hasn't got any worse. Doesn't tend to happen when fully warmed up.

 

[barks944]

There are four bearings in the 'torque tube' which may cause this issue. My turbo has a similar noise with the engine in neutral and the clutch engaged. I am going to swap out the bearings, possibly with some nice aftermarket ones which a guy in the states has had made.