2014 FRS with 56K kms, Odd transmission issue.
 

I'm hearing a faint sort of whining sound during cold starts,

When the clutch is pressed in, the noise goes away, when I take my foot off, it comes back.

After a quick drive, the noise goes away. quick restart, the noise is not there.

It comes and goes from day to day, the car is out of warranty period.

Shifts gears without an issue, no odd noises

Throwout bearing.

Looked into that, quite possibly it.
Would you say this is a beginning stage?
how urgently should this be addressed?
Whats the costs involved?

Thank you for your reply!

I replaced the clutch in my '13 FR-S around ~63k miles because the TOB is doing what you are describing. Apparently the grease in the earlier TOB will stop doing its job, which is why you are hearing it screech. Unaddressed, the TOB could fail and leave you stranded.

The revised '17+ TOB (with the white dot) is the updated part and should remedy this issue. The part itself is around $30... the labor to replace it is equivalent to a clutch job unfortunately. :thumbdown:

Yeah, cheap part .. to get to which one needs to drop gearbox. :(
So hint1: always worth to change out cheap-ish TOB too, whenever you do clutch related or any work related to engine out/gearbox off, so as to replacement last longer.
hint2: for twins worth getting updated TOB revision part number, which supposed to have improved lubrication, supposed to last longer. (IIRC toyota SU003-07349, subaru 30502AA150)

https://youtu.be/XMwN-GH-Fzw

here is a video, its hard to hear because it is soo subtle, but pretty much as described, a faint whining noise during cold starts goes away when the clutch is pressed in, also goes away after warms up or some driving. Thank you for your replies