On Mon, 29 Dec 2003, Eric Zeno wrote:

> Bad pilot bearing.  When cold there is just enough clearance
> for the input shaft, (or whats left of it) to work properly.
> After things get heated up the input shaft in being gulded
> by what it left of  the pilot bearing.  This makes the clutch
> act as if it is dragging.   A simple test for this is turnning off
> the engine.  If you can shift fine, with the engine off,  this is
> it!   Start taking the transaxle out, or risk damaging it also.

Another classic symptom of a bad pilot bearing is a grating, scraping, or
growling noise when the clutch is pushed in, the engine is running, and
the tranny is in gear, that goes away with the clutch out in neutral.

David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Volkswagen Diesel Westfalia
'94 Honda Civic Si -- For Sale
'86 Volvo 240DL wagon