Rt26@AOL.COM writes:

<<  ..my sweeeet widdle baby Ed is making a even soft
grinding noise when I turn  it on and it gets louder when
the clutch pedal is pushed in.....>>

<<   Ed sometimes makes a big ugly THUMP or CLUNK
when taking him out of gear; my old Bessie did that too.
And I get little grinds somtimes when shifting into  gear;
and it's sometimes a little tricky getting into 1st when
downshifting..is this really bad or can it wait? Is my tranny

<< PS: oh yeah, i just noticed a leak of some kind on the
garage floor..it's oily  & clear-at least I didnt notice any color
to it. something's coming out of the  back end anyways...
reminded me of the freon leaking from one of our buses at
work though. >>

Snipping out to the tranny stuff.......

1)  I'd say that the T/O bearing is the culprit.  Usually when
the clutch is disengaged if a trans bearing was going south
then the noise would go away- not get louder.

2) Check the trans oil level lately?  What kind of gear oil
are you using?  Synthetic- right??

3)  Maybe related to #2.  Check your brake fluid.  A clear
oily substance sounds like the clutch slave might be leaking
and as they share the same reservoir as the brakes......

Just some late night thoughts on the subject.

-Todd Hill
 VolksWerks Transaxles
 Olympia, WA
 360-412-0948