I just recently picked up a 96 Civic DX w/Manual Trans. Recently when drivng the car as I pushed in the Clutch all the way to the stops (floor), A strange noise (scraping) came from the engine compartment. If I let the clutch up about 1/2 way the noise stopped. I first thought it might be the throwout bearing, but I noticed that as the noise was being generated the Speedo needle dropped to zero and the Dash Brake light came on. I don't have a clue as to why the three are related. It did it for several minutes then it stopped Help!!!

 

Just in case anybody else has this problem.... What was happening was that the iginition key was sticky and did not return to the run mode by itself. So it was stuck on "Start". Everytime I pushed in the clutch the starter interlock was opened and the starter motor tried to start the already running car. Whenever the iginition switch is flipped to "Start" all power to the dash is cut off (hence the speedo needle dropping) as well as checking the Brake system (Light on).

 

Thanks for the follow up.