RE: Mom takes kids for first swim of 2005!
All manual 4.0 TJ's do it (well, the one's that don't are the anomaly). The noise lies somewhere in the clutch / throwout bearing area. While I don't know technically what the issue is, I can tell you this:
I've ridden in or test driven 6 or 7 in the past 2 years looking for one for the gf. Out of those, every single one did it.
I had a co-worker who bought a used 00 sport, manual, last year. She swears it didn't do it until she put it in 4Hi and back out. So, since it had a 30 day warranty, she took it back to have it "repaired". The dealer replaced the clutch and gave it back. Still did it. The dealer then replaced the throwout bearing and gave it back. Still did it. Finally, the dealer replaced both the clutch and the throwout bearing (at the same time) and the noise stopped.
It would appear, the throwout bearing is not "bad". Unless you have a warranty on it, you'd throw a lot of money into maybe fixing the noise. And at that, how long will it last? They've been doing it since '97. If there's not a big stink about it, it can't be something serious (unless the government is secretly covering it up because of their loose affiliation to the clutch builders guild, Scully).
SenorCole86-I don't think my CJ does it, then again, I don't think I'd be able to hear it if it did. In your case, it most likely is the throwout bearing. I'd replace it when the clutch goes.
-X
