Just recently, I've been getting an awful clopping/grinding noise from the transmission area of my 97' Outback. The noise is present whenever the car is moving, or if the clutch is engaged at idle while in neutral. It sounds like there's a bearing that's going out, or just a very loud gear noise.
It disappears completely when the clutch is pushed in, but resumes whenever the car is moving, whether coasting in neutral with the clutch engaged, or disengaged. Also, the "clopping" increases frequency when, for example, the car is coasting, with the clutch disengaged, and I put it into 2nd gear, and the synchronizer matches the speeds of the two shafts in the transmission. This leads me to believe that the problem lies somewhere along the input shaft of the transmission.
I've been getting noises from the clutch while it is engaged for a while now, ever since I had an incident in the mountains last year where I got stuck in a snow bank, and was repeatedly going from reverse to first gear to try and rock the car out, causing the clutch to smoke in the process. Since then, the there has always been a "whirring" sound when the clutch is engaged. Only after I came home from a 20 mile drive on country roads did the more severe, "clopping" noise come about that I can hear when the car is moving.
Any ideas as to what could be causing this would be appreciated. Thanks.
Here's a video: