2004 Civic - Input Shaft Bearing question

[coanda_2013]

Hi, I'm after some advice.

My mum's got a 2004 Honda Civic 1.6. It's a nice old thing - low miles for the year (52k) cared for with some nice extras - leather etc.

However, I drove it the other day and it seems to have developed the symptoms of the notorious (for this model) input shaft bearing failture - light rumbling noise in nutueral which disappears when the clutch is down. It's just the noise at idle for now - it changes gear just fine and there's no noise when it's being driven. The car doesn't do high miles but it is used on busy city and suburban roads where the lower gears are used quite a lot.

I'd like some advice or opinions on how long the car can go on without repairing it given it likely to have dodgy bearings. Would replacing the transmission fluid help slow the decline? When it finally goes is it worth fixing given the car's probably with £1.5k (am I been bring optimistic with this valuation?).

Any advice or opinions are welcome.

[thatdude]

Hmmm...usually, a bearing like that has a whine which raises with revs. Is it possible that the throw-out bearing on the clutch is now worn?