psychicmechanic wrote:
>
> Try lubricating the clutch release lever both at the clutch slave cylinder
> pivot point and waayy back inside the clutch housing were it pivots (use a
> long brush) spay chain lube can work as a temporary measure. A lack of
> lubrication and corrosion at this point is the most common cause of this
> noise.
>


Thanks for all the helpful replies! I did some more googling and found
some varying opinions on what might cause the noise; it seems the
release bearing could be the culprit in some cases when the clutch is
not depressed, and in some cases when it is depressed. Lack of proper
lubrication also mentioned consistently. The funny thing is that this is
not the first time that the dealer worked on this; the first time, they
thought it was the timing belt auto tensioner and replaced that, along
with the timing belt. (Just under 60000 km, but still under warranty, so
hey. Only annoying thing is I'll probably have to pay the same labor
later on to get the water pump changed!) Bit inconvenient though, as
they had the car all day on a working day.