sactown

Its the bearing, mine made a ton of noise when I had the new clutch installed, went to the dealership they put in a new bearing and it did quite down some, and has gotten quiter with more miles.

tlpvt

mine does the same thing, but not too loud. dealer said it's normal [sm=headbang.gif][sm=chairshot.gif]. tried 2 other stangs on the lot and the noise (different levels) was there too. not sure how it affects longetivity.

ski

Actually, a "clutch release bearing" is built into the S197's slave cylinder. Butit would seem that this bearingis not causing the noise that you're hearing, because it normally spins only when the clutch pedal is depressed.
However, if yourclutch assembly and/or tranny were either manufacturedwith incorrect tolerancesor were installed improperly, thenthe release bearingmay have beenin continuous contact with the pressure plate's fingers since day 1, whether or not the clutch pedal is depressed. And that will wear out the bearing prematurely, since it's not designed for continuous use.

Another possible causeisthe tranny's input shaft bearing, whichspins when the clutch pedal is released in neutral. And the noise may not be noticeable when thetranny is in gear and the car is moving because of theadditionalnoise from the other gears, engine, exhaust, blower, wind, road, etc.