My '97 3.4 5spd whines in all gears except the 4th one. If read in other places that this is cause by the input bearing. I was wondering if that bearing is fairly easily accessable or if that's a expert job.

 

Unsure about that tranny in specific but most Toyota 5-speeds have an easily accessed input bearing. In all the G, W and R series trannies I've seen so far, once the tranny is out the bearing can be replaced by simply removing the bearing retainer housing and then swapping out the bearing. One banana job after the tranny is removed.

 

There's the rub.

 

I replaced the engine last week, which went really well. Only my clutch doesn't feel right: it jerks everytime you release it, and it's hard to get the transmission into first once everything is warmed up.
We had somewhat of a hard time to separate the engine from the transmission and I must have damaged the input bearing, because it whines pretty loud now. I am pulling the transmission this weekend for the clutch, but if I can't get a bearing I will wait untill I have one.

I found the bolt from the engine to bellhousing not too bad, just make sure you have enough extensions for your socket set. The dust pan cover on the bottom of the bellhousing is almost the worst, since the bolts face forward. I used some extensions last week and took those bolts out from the front of the vehicle.

Thanks for the replies,
Arjan