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I have just noticed this morning a small high pitched noise when the clutch is out in neutral. I only have to rest my foot on it for it to stop. would this be a hydraulic problem or a clutch spring problem or something else? do I need to take the box out to fix it?

Probably thrust bearing. If it is you have to remove gearbox to get to it. Some might say you then replace the clutch in total or perhaps you just leave it and see if it gets worse.

I had a high pitched screaming sound when I depressed the clutch pedal, thought it was the thrust bearing but when I took the box out I found it was the Spigot Bearing - the bearing that sits inside the flywheel. I decided to put a new clutch in while I had the box out even though it had 60% left on it.

the clutch its self is only a year or so old excedy hd unit. would hope I would not need to replace it so soon. what can go wrong if I don't get to this straight away?

I'm no expert in this department but if it is the Spigot Bearing and it seizes completely then it would likely overheat and break into pieces (nasty). Thrust Bearing ... pretty much the same would apply and ruin the clutch plate, I would guess as per my situation the noise would become a good enough reason to get the Box out of the car, I took a month as the noise worsened before I could get it done, people on the footpath and in the adjacent cars would turn their heads in shock thinking I was torturing a small animal
Get it done ASAP before the RSPCA arrests you ....

Were the thrust and spiggot replaced when you installed the new exedy clutch??

no idea, i will check.

found out they did so will get it looked at.

See here:
http://www.miata.net/garage/noises.html

Scroll down to the CLUTCH section and give this a go.

Let us know if it works for you.

I hope the mechanic who did the job will do the work for free or a least offer a good discount, the bearings should last a lot longer than 12 months ... unless they were super cheap and nasty brand bearings.

PT wrote:See here:
http://www.miata.net/garage/noises.html

Scroll down to the CLUTCH section and give this a go.

Let us know if it works for you.

wow thanks! i will give it a go!

If it's making the noise when it's in neutral and you foot is off the clutch then your clutch, clutch release bearing and spigot bearing are all not in use, but the gearbox is turning. If you push the clutch pedal down then the clutch, spigot and thrust bearing all come into play, but the gearbox stops turning. It sounds more like a gearbox bearing - there are a couple of those bearings turning when it's in neutral.

it will not be a gearbox bearing imo. When you press the clutch pedal the thrust bearing is placed under load and accounts for the change of sound. Clutch specialists normally replace the spigot and thrust bearing as it makes no sense to put in a new clutch and leave a cheap bearing untouched - it will have done as much work as the replaced clutch. The clutch repairer normally warrants their work for a specific period ( not more than 12 mths you can bet) but you would need to look at what they actually warrant. Go back to the fitter and have a natter- I would not be too concerned of imminent failures.

He said the noise is when it's in neutral with the clutch out. I will repeat ... when it's in neutral and the clutch is out then the whole crankshaft, flywheel, spigot bearing, clutch plate, clutch housing and gearbox input shaft all turn together as one locked unit.

I just had a similar issue with the 6spd setup in my 10AE

Turned out to be dead input shaft bearing, so while it was out I just got the box reconditioned with new synchros/bearings, as well as fit a lightened flywheel and ceramic clutch.

The final bill was painful