i have this ticking noise comng coming from the tranny, it increases as i accelerate but once i depress the clutch pedal it goes away. but if i'm rolling and put it in gear as i keep the clutch pedal depressed.. the sound reappears. what could this be?

 

input shaft bearing.

 

Mine had the same noise before i replace the gear oil with some Red Line MT-90.
None after that. Good stuff, try it.

 

could it be the throw out bearing? if it is.. how much is it to replace? and if its the input shaft bearing.. would it be better to just get a used tranny?

 

Think about it, you push the clutch pad in to push the throw out bearing out in order to push the pressure plate to disengage the transmission, if the noise come up at this time, then it would be from the TOB. In you case, yo hear the noise when you engage the tranny, then it have to be coming from the tranny, the input shaft bearing are known to go bad in our car, anyone here can tell you that.
Why would you not consider spending $40 and 15mins to try replacing the gear oil before thinking about getting a used tranny, which would cost you from $600 - $1200 dollars.

 

Magic oil isn't going to solve his problem. Might as well save that $40 and put the oil in a tranny that's not going to contaminate it with metal debris.. As in, one without a busted ISB.

 

I think MT-90 is BETTER than magic. I changed to it, and it all but eliminated some scratching I was getting from the 1-2 and 3-4 synchos.