Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior heeeeeeeelp

Ok i have a 2002 celica gts. i have this huge problem with shifting to second gear at high rpms. I'm a really good driver usually 3rd to 5th i can shift fast as hell same with second but the gears just wont and engage. it always keeps grinding. even when it goes in gear at 2nd i still get that grinding feeling on my hand and really have to fight with it to get it in gear. i'm going to get a pfc soon, but i want to know why i'm having this problem. Please help, i'm not having fun racing. Oh yeah, i've miss shifted second gear so many times i have 47 000 km, why heaven't i've blown my engine yet like everyone else who missshifts. I also have a B&M ss, but had this problem even wih stock shifter.

it could be your reverse gate and you keep hitting it, or a bad syncro maybe? try slower shifts and see if that helps or dont go into such a high rpm. maybe a short shifter will help your throws.

I have a B&M ss, like i said i had this problem before. Sometimes even when i shift slow it still grinds. When i shift to second i'm always having to make sure i pull it heard in normal driving. Shouldn't it feel like any of the other gears. All the cars i drove did. I also like to race and plan on moding the car as soon as i fix this problem. It should be under warranty i think.

it might only be under the 3 year 30k one, not sure though. it could be your syncro for 2nd gear is going bad. good luck

Thanks, it is a posibility. I still have warranty until november 2004. I'm from canada.

Is there any other possibilities.

are you sure you are pushing the clutch far enough in? sometimes if you dont it makes that grinding feeling

if its grinding going in its your synchros, i had the same prob, ended up replacing the tranny, bunch of f'd up gears. now i keep hitting the reverse gate, just cant win!

Ok I have a 00 gts and so does one of my friends. I have the same problems. I have do some research and here is what i found. I blew up my engine about 8 months ago and I got it covered under a goodwill warranty still costs me 2k but anyway I to the tech what was going on with my shifting, I had them install a fidanza flywheel and a ACT stage 2 clutch. They tore open my tranny while the engine was out, and my second gear was hashed. got it fixed and i still have the same problem, Toyota just doesn't make a smooth shifting tranny. Try either shifting slower don't bang it in 2nd or if you still want to shift fast hold the gas a little when shifting hard. it's the only cure i've found.

If you've misshifted more than once, on the UPDATED transmission, I think you are not driving the car properly.

Take it easy on the transmission, you probably blew it.

This is simply not true.

The problem is that the Celica was designed as a right hand driver, and the 2000-early 2001 tranny had a different shifter assembly/spring/etc that was wrong for the car, and it was updated. The reason the tranny doesn't hold up, is that the lever is pulling against the cable, because a right hand drive has a different pull on the cable.

I had my transmission updated to the new style after several shift linkages broke (4 total) and it's been great ever since. It used to grind going into 2nd gear, never went into reverse.

Now, it does all that smoothly. It's not that it's a poor tranny, it's got the wrong type of shift mechanism. Some people can use it properly, others can't. My linkage broke the first time, and since they no longer produce the old style linkage, toyota just stuck the new linkage on the old style mechanism, and it subsequently broke numerous times.

The updated transmission changes the gate position, shift spring, etc. Go read the TSB for the details.

You tha Man what did it cost you to get it 'updated' ?

nothing, I filed a lawsuit against Toyota because they no longer manufactured the part that I need to fix it, and DARCARs refused to fix it.

After that, they decided they would rather fix it for free (was $900) because if I won, that means it would become a recall, rather than a TSB.

Talk to your service department, they might go 50/50 with you, or even cover it 100% if it's broken.

yup i hear the later models' shifters are more precise and accurate

Thanks for all the response. I've tried just about anything, from holding the clutch in longer to make sure it is disengaged, tried different angles on the shift lever when i pull it down. After i miss second it becomes hard to to put it to second in normal driving for the first couple shifts. Like i said 3rd 4th 5th feels just amazing. After a lot of miss shifts, should i get my tranny fluid changed, the car has 47 000 km.

ya, they did all of that stuff also. change the shift springs and all that other stuff, That is for misshifts not gettin into the geat. Toyota put stiffer spring into it to get a better shifter feel. But the way the teeth on the gears are what determines how smooth your transmission is going to shift. Why don't you pull apart the transmission look at second gear and the way the teeth are cut and tell me that i'm wrong

I got my tranny fluid changed today and they said that it was pitch black. I also got the linkages lubed up. Anyways now i can shift to second fast, though it still not very smooth, but that's about as good as these tranny's are. Atleast it doesn't grind and it feel awesome, kinda. Thanks for all the response.

dats good to hear that you got urs fixed...

here comes mine...maybe i shouldnt worry but today i was drivin home on the freeway and was on 5th gear. Suddenly my cars rpm went down and felt like an automatic changing gear then went back up again. Is that somethin i should worri bout???