Hi All, recently got my car it has 51k on the clock, i had to do the boost hose and I've given it a thorough service it has FSH also.

Anyways, I have noticed that when I press the clutch in, from the very top of the travel, to about halfway down , there is a sort of rattling, it's not clunking like some people describe, just a quiet rattle almost whir, I can't hear the noise when foot is off the clutch, and it also disappears when fully depressed.

Not slipping, smelling, or crunching gears, could anyone aid me in a diagnosis from these symptoms ?

How likely is it to last before whatever it is fails ? It seems a bit like thrust bearing when I had an Astra with one that went.

But I'm so worried about the whole DMF thing, if it were to be the clutch, then the DMF would surely be changed as a matter of course I'd guess, also what about SMF conversion , would this be a good idea ?

Also how many hours labour should I expect to be paying ?

Forget the SMF conversion unless your a taxi driver and don't mind losing your fillings. If you were to replace the clutch, the flywheel would need doing at the same time as you stated. But realistically should easily last you the rest of the time you own the car. Mine only needed replacing for the first time at 111k, all due to how its been driven, or if the previous owner had a tendency to ride the clutch. I wouldn't worry about it for now, if the flywheel were going you would normally hear a clunking without the clutch pressed in, also when pressing down you may be able to feel the car shudder, especially through the pedal. As you say there is no smell and no slipping so in my opinion its nothing to be concerned about.

Thanks for the reply ...

No vibrations through the pedal or gearstick, just a bit concerned its the beginning of the end! 50k, it's been family owned since new.

Is it normal to have ANY however slight operational noise when the pedal is pressed slightly down?

And also how many hours is this job book time does anyone know ?

The noise could just be down to a release bearing getting dry, again, depends on conditions before you got the car. I don't know the specific book time, but I did mine on the drive with a friend, started at 9am, dinner at 12pm and finished with all tools away before 2pm, I'd imagine if you had a ramp and do these things all the time you could easily knock some time off that.

The noise does sound like the release bearing wearing out. As you probably know the bearing is part of the concentric slave cylinder. You're quite right in thinking that the DMF should be changed with the clutch. Once the bearing starts to get noisy it can fail fairly quickly, so I would be prepared for a largish bill. Normally takes me about4-5 hours.

There's me thinking if I take it easy it will go on forever, nothing's Made like it used to be is it, I'm only young but I can still remember clutches taking alot more abuse than 50k of parental driving mainly motorway too :(

Got a quote for the whole lot for £360 inc VAT for an LuK setup, just not sure how much my mechanic will charge yet.

You obviously aren't old enough to remember the early mk1 escorts, which used to go after about 20k!

I've only ever had to replace one clutch over 8 vehicles, and most of those were driven with extreme spirit and very little vehicle sympathy, so I guess I've been lucky, it's just 50k on a diesel seems so little for a car that's been owned from new in one family, never towed, not a particularly hilly area. Guess just bad luck.

On another note, what is the best driving style ? Do I pull away at low revs at the expense of the DMF, or higher at the expense of friction material?