Stiff clutch (worn pilot bearing?)

JackeeBoy

I noticed recently in my Fiesta that shifting gears felt a bit stiff. I then noticed a noise from where the engine is making a constant knocking around sound that gets louder/faster when I turn on the air con or heated windows (assuming the engine is working harder?). The noise goes away however once I put the clutch down. Does a brief Google search and it's suggesting a worn pilot bearing. My questions are -

I got my clutch replaced a couple months ago, is this related?
Is it a problem I should get looked at straight away?

Goudy

Pilot bearings tend to whine or grind when the clutch is disengaged, ie, when you press the pedal down.

The clutch release bearing, that pushes against the pressure plate when you depress the pedal to disengage the clutch can often rattle when the pedal is released (pedal up) they usually do this when they are old and have worn out. I would have expected that to have been changed with the clutch recently.


It it a diesel or a ST? (I believe the 1.0 Ecoboost also has a DMF)
If so, could be the Dual Mass Flywheel.

I had a similar issue with a Ford diesel 2.0 TDCI engine when my DMF was on it's way out a few years ago.
Ringing and knocking and with the pedal held down it pulsated and throbbed under my foot.

As the crankshaft was now unbalanced due to the faulty DMF wobbling about, it caused the dampened crank pulley on the other end of the crank that ran the aux belt (alternator and AC pump) to wobble about, this caused the belts tensioner to chatter and rattle whenever the AC pump or alternator was loaded up.

It was worse at idle, but it still chattered away a bit under load.

It ruined the rubber that bonded the two halves of the crank pulley together and rattled the tensioner to bits.

I only found this out after replacing the clutch and flywheel, as a bit miffed as it would have been easier to sort when the 'box was out.