DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

My B T6 has developed a noise from the gearbox area that has after many hours of investigation has beaten me, as I start off from stationary whilst feathering the clutch,it’s a rotating noise that starts slowly then gets faster , it’s coming from the gearbox/ clutch area and it happens in both first and reverse gear, it does sound as it’s metal on metal. After a few yards it stops or is reduced in volume and over a journey will go altogether, only reappearing after a period standing still.
At first I thought it was the clutch release bearing, after replacing it the noise is still there, next I checked and topped of the gearbox oil to no avail as the noise persists. Have checked clutch cable tension and can only think it may be the fingers on the clutch pressure plate being uneven and engaging unevenly.
Has anyone experienced this and if so were you able to cure it?, any suggestions welcome as it sounds awful.

It is not the springs in the actual clutch plate that have gone loose or the centre spigot on it?

Is speed of noise in proportion to road speed or engine speed?

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The noise is only when the car moves from a static position.

After searching ‘The 356 Registry’s’ site I may have found the answer!, a number of posts describe the situation and their conclusion is it’s the new thrust bearing that I installed. Apparently all replacement thrust bearings are not made equal.
The one to go for is the fag bearing made in Germany, the ones made in Mexico and Brazil have a tendency to exhibit the symptoms I am experiencing, ie screeching.
It would appear that I have replaced my screeching old one with a new screeching one, obviously I am unable to verify this until I drop the engine which I am unwilling to do until the winter.

In the meantime I have checked that the old one is made in the Fatherland and the advise is to clean and repack with grease and replace. So that’s a £100 wasted and learning to live with the screeching which to be fair is louder on the inside than outside, if any of you are interested here is link below-

https://forum.porsche356registry.org/vi ... hp?t=36792

If it's a rotating noise that starts slowly and gets faster, a key discriminant is whether it's in proportion to engine speed or speed of travel. Also, you didn't mention that it's when you depress the clutch, which was the case in the linked problem. Just wouldn't want you spending time and money on another fix that didn't fix it, is all.

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Thanks for your comments, I stated it’s when I feather the clutch on starting to move, in other words part clutch, as soon as I release the pedal (ie full clutch) the screeching goes. I think the registry thread is the best lead as to the cause. Rather than buy another replacement I will strip, clean and repack the original thrust bearing ( its German) and fit it in the winter layup and hopefully that will be the end of it.

I agree, sounds clutchy in that case. Sorry, I missed that bit.

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When I changed my early T2 diaphragm clutch for a standard spring version bought from Barry Curtis he also supplied me with a new release bearing. This was a great decision the diaphragm clutch assembly was always needing adjustment and I never knew why till I saw many years ago there was a problem that caused them to change the version to that I used on my 356C.

However, the new clutch release bearing I installed with the spring clutch 15 years ago or so, soon developed the screech sound as you describe only when depressing the clutch to move away after start up. There was no problem once the engine was warm and the screech was more evident when the car was driven during the winter time.

So... I did think I would have to attend to it but slowly over time the screech as you say worse from inside the car got less pronounced and then after about 2,000 miles ( or about 4 years! ) it was heard only in Winter start ups. In the past 2,000 miles only once or twice generally its perfect like the clutch!

I cannot explain it I often thought the bearing had no lubrication but maybe the clearances inside it were too close. In any event all I would have done would have been to change it. I have the receipt and maybe Barry itemized the make of it and I will check.
If it had continued all those years ago when then the engine was warm I would have have changed it I did swear at it all that time ago, it did annoy me.

Roy