DOES bad Throw-out bearing= tranny problems?

alright here it is. my 96 xj with the ax15 was having tranny probs. in the beginning it was fine in 2wd, the only time it would give me probs was in 4h when down shifting from 4th to 3rd. Then it started shifting funny 2wd. I would put the cltuch in while stopped, put into 1st from nuetral, gas like normal, and drive like norm, it was when i would let off teh gas and slow allittle, the tranny, or i belive the tranny at least, would grind like something is slipping. It did this in 1-4 gears the same way. whe it happened i threw the clutch in a put it into nuetral. thsi would remedy it put even after i put it in Nuet. it still grinded for a hsort time, like 3 sec. or so. I didnt know where to start, so i bought a syncro kit and seal kit. We pulled thetranny, dissembled it, and looked at the gears and syncors- To my suprise and dismay nothing looked worn. The syncors looked ok, as with all of teh gears. I know what i heard, and to me when metal grinds metal even a little i should see it. As i said the only thing i saw that was wrong was the throw-out bearing. please help!

The only things that can cause gears to grind are that the clutch isn't releasing or the synco's are hosed. Clutch releasing is a result of the Master Cylinder creating the pressure needed for the Slave Cylinder to move the throw out bearing surface. The typical failure of a throwout bearing is a squeeling noise. A way to tell if the clutch is releasing is by feel. Drive down the street and accellerate slightly. Push in the clutch. Slide the tranny out of gear. Is there a bump when the tranny goes into neutral? If so then the clutch isn't allowing the tranny to shift properly. If there is no bump, but it still grinds going into gear, then your syncros are most likely the problem.

I had a similar problem in my 94 Geo Tracker. I had changed the clutch out with a friend but the clutch kit we bought didn't include the throw-out bearing. 40,000 miles later it started shifting funny and making a strange grinding/squealing noise. Then it started slipping real bad. This was my first car and I was stupid about it cuz I kept driving even tho I knew there were problems. Once the tranny started slipping real bad I gave up and parked it til I could get it fixed. Took it to a tranny shop and they said a bad throw-out bearing had allowed the input shaft to bounce around in the tranny some and it had in turn destroyed the gears and synchros. Had to get a full re-build done for $2000. On a vehicle that in perfect, pristine condition with a soft buyer was only worth $3000. I'd definitely look into making sure you get it taken of ASAP and don't drive it