I am on my third clutch in my 146 ti. 176,000 miles and still going
strong so no complaints. On both occasions the clutch failure was
preceded by a rushing noise when the clutch pedal was depressed. In
both cases it was the thrust bearing which was wearing.

I was advised that if the feel of the clutch pedal is not changing then
you should be OK but any change and you should replace the clutch. I
ignored this advice the second time and suffered a complete failure (the
clutch would not disengage - scary in town traffic).

On both occasions I paid about £400, mostly labour. Apparently the
2.0l twinspark is a sh*t of a job. I don't know about the 1.6 (boxer?).

Chris S wrote:
> Hi
>
> my clutch on my 1997 146 1.6ts has been noisey for about a year now ,
> when you depress the pedal theres like a a "sssssshhh" sound which goes
> away when you life the pedal again.
>
> thats been happening for about a year now and doesn't seem to be
> getting any worse , but in the past couple of weeks theres been that
> noise plus a metal against metal tapping / rubbing noise on occasions,
> which i can actually feel on the pedal, it sounds horrible, but goes
> away when you lift the pedal.
>
> everything else feels ok, car changes gear ok, clutch isn't slipping or
> anything like that, the gear change is fine!
>
> does it sound like a new clutch is on it's way!? , or could it be
> something inside the clutch that needs changing/fixing , i've been
> quoted about £400 for a new clutch which is a bit steep!
>
> thanks
>
> Chris
>