I started my car up this morning and heard the most god awful noise. It sounded like a motor that was runnng without oil! I shut the car off and checked the oil everything was fine. The problem seems to be the throwout bearing since the noise went away after I let the clutch out. I drove it down the street and the noise eventually went away. What would cause this? And not that I'm complaining but why did the noise eventually go away?

Also the clutch doesn't seem to pop back up as fast as it used to.

I need help to determine what it did this so I don't end up stranded on the side of the road.

Jazz