is it the thrust bearing? any clues???

Yup...sounds like the release bearing is on it's way out. I had the same problem with my MY98 and it was corrected by replacing the release bearing.

Cheers,

Alex

Believe you can solve this by putting some spray grease carefully on the release bearing through the clutch release fork hole..

There was a thread about it the other week..
Hopefully someone will come along and explain further..

but basically you just remove the gaiter from the release fork hole ontop of the gear box and use a very long straw on the spray can and a torch etc.. worth trying for the cost of a can of spray grease rather than gearbox out etc..

JGM :)

thats cool cheers.

had a go at the latter, no use though, just pricing up a new clutch and get it done at the same time. :D