Manual tranny (NV4500) diagnosis help plz

[Medical_Bartender]

Well poop. Was driving my '94 Dodge Ram 2500 home from work the other day and the transmission developed a nasty-ish rattle/tapping/marbles sound. I heard it coasting under an overpass and babied it home until I could do a more thorough assessment. Basically, when in neutral and clutch not engaged (pedal out) and I give it gas or blip the throttle it will start tapping/rattling at a pretty noticeable volume. The same thing happens when I coast in gear, but I can't really hear it when I coast in neutral to a stop. I can shift into all 5 forward gears and reverse without any difficulty or grinding. It moves under load without making any noises either. Any ideas guys?

I bought the truck about 6-7 months ago from the original owner. He said the throwout bearing had been making noise for quite some time (slight tapping noise on startup until tranny gets warm). He used the truck to tow his travel trailer all over the mountains - 123k on the original clutch/transmission as of yesterday.

I'm thinking replace clutch, flywheel (maybe), and all the bearings/fork etc, but the actual guts of the transmission should be good considering it shifts and runs fine correct?

Will

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[TheRealStreetcommander]

Does the rattle go away when you simply rest your foot on the clutch and apply very slight pressure? Not enough to disengage the clutch, just enough to preload it? If so, it may be throw-out bearing.

If not, it could be one of the shaft bearings or bearing cages that have failed or cracked, creating excessive new clearance. You'll want to get that situation corrected soon, before it becomes an expensive transmission hard-parts replacement effort. The bearing concern can probably be confirmed when trans is out for your clutch job, without having to fully disassemble.