Scratchy sound when in low gears

[Agour]

Hi all!

I've got a mk3 c5 estate, and it has started making a very faint scratchy sound.

Almost like a brake pad rubbing, it comes and goes on a somewhat regular pattern.

Only happens when driving and in gear. More revs seems to make it louder. It is still barely noticeable though..

Knock it out of gear and the noise stops.

I haven't noticed it in any gear higher than 3rd, but it might just be the road noise drowning it out.

I had the clutch replaced about 30k miles ago, so I'm hoping it's not that...

Any ideas? Chances are I'll have to take it to a garage, but thought I'd ask here first for ideas

Thanks!

[GiveMeABreak]

Did you have the Dual Mass Flywheel replaced at the same time as the clutch? These will rarely outlast 2 clutches and it's therefore recommended they are replaced at the same time. When they wear, they can also cause vibration or noise as they start to get bad before finally breaking up. When that happens they can cause periphery damage to other components. Just keep an eye on it.

Other issues may be one of the gears in the gearbox itself.
You could just have a brake pad sticking on the calliper too.

[Agour]

Yeah I had the DMF and clutch replaced together - that was at 103k miles (car is on about 130k now I think).

I do get quite hard wobbling when I brake hard - which I figured was either the tracking being off, or the discs being warped. Haven't got around to swapping the discs out yet.

If it was a brake pad sticking, that would be consistent whether the car is in gear or not, surely?

I guess by process of elimination its probably the gearbox

[GiveMeABreak]

Correct, it's going to be a matter of ruling one or the other out. Now you say you have the wobbling, I'm further inclined to suggest the disc (s) as that's a tell tale sign that will cause vibration when braking and you may here the disc noise as the pad contacts the disc if it is uneven.

I hope you haven't been through Rufford Ford! That'll warp hot discs straight away.

[Agour]

Yeah I thought it was that at first - but if I take the car out of gear whilst moving the noise dissapears instantly. Which wouldn't make a difference to the discs?

[GiveMeABreak]

Correct, so you may have 2 separate issues here the wobbly discs and something clutch / gearbox related.

[chunky2778]

Most likely the gearbox/diff bearings

[Stewart(oily)]

Inner CV joints and driveshaft intermediate bearings with play can give wobbling gearlever and rhythmic shaking, that comes and goes.