Celica Forums General Discussion General Update: Toyota says i need a new clutch, 3rd clutch in 85k miles

My transmission has been acting up lately. The shifter sometimes will not go in gear for anything.
I would have to shut the car off for a minute or two just so that it BARELY squeezes in gear...

My mods: JDM TRD clutch KIT, front filled engine mount and TWM short shifter..

What could be the problem?
The clutch engagement point is VERY low compared to most manual transmission cars I've driven. Does the clutch need to be bleeded?
Does the clutch need to be adjusted so the engagement point isn't so low?
If so, is that done at the pedal or on the transmission? Plz help

Clutch engagement is due to the fact that you have a new/aftermarket clutch. Mine drastically changed and took a little getting used to when I got my new one installed.

As for the gear selection problem, have you tried letting go of the clutch, and then trying it again?

yea I have. sometimes it would then go into gear and other times it wouldn't.
I didn't want to man handle it since the whole shifter assembly is like made out of thick plastic.
This is really stressfull

What gears will it not go into without "persuasion?"

mainly the first 2 including reverse. I ran into this problem by having this occur when i was driving around today.

The service manual says hard shifting is probably due to:
1) Control Cable (faulty)
2) synchronizer ring (worn or damaged)
3) shifter key spring damaged

Well, the only reason it would be the synchro is if it grinds while you are shifting in motion.


As for the "hard to get into reverse sometimes," I feel ya. Seems to be a common problem with the tranny in the first two years with the 7th gen.

So what is the car's problem if the shifter won't go in gear?

I think it would have to do with the way the linkage and cables are set up. Perhaps it has something to do with the tranny, and sometimes when we go to shift, something (internally) isn't synchronized.

Hopefully someone else would know, but I doubt it. This has been a common issue for a while.


A while back, I heard that Diablo had his shift gates revised to what the 02+ (I believe) have now, and he said it shifts smooth like butta.

i just had my tranny switched from the 00 to the 02+ and it shifts fine. no mods to my tranny though. you seem inteligent enough to know grinding usually is synchromesh and or gear. im guessing you should try to flush the system and see if that doesn't help.

If its a hydralic clutch then check your brake fluid. If youre low or even out the clutch wont engage at all.

I just took out my front engine mount and ripped out the extra poly Urethane filling the previous owner had filled it with. taking off the under bodyengine plastics was mission in itself.

I plan to bleed the clutch and need be, replace the gear oil with MT90. I just wish i had someone to help me with the bleeding

Someone else had a similar problem and had the dealership diagnose it as a broken pressure plate. If that's the case, i'm going to be a broke sucker for a while. goddamn my car

I would recommend against bleeding the clutch yourself. I bled the clutch out on my other car (prelude) and it turned out to be a nightmare. Unless you really know what youre doing i would let someone else bleed your clutch out if thats what you decide to do.

A friend just helped me bleed my clutch lines and guess what? We bled it for like 5-6 times and on the 2nd time, there was so much air in the clutch line that it appeared to FART out air. Before starting though, we filled up the reservoir with brake fluid

What a relief. I'm glad that this didn't cost me a penny. Thank god for good friends.

check the shift linkage lines, they are SUPER brittle in the GTS.

If they break, you'll get stuck in gear and have to get a tow.

Mainly the horizontal one breaks.

I'll keep that in mind, thanks!

off topic: did youg et your r6?

nope, the guy selling it didn't have clear title, it was in someone else's name so I think it was stolen.

I found a Kawasaki Ninja 250 (it's a first bike, so don't flame ) that is in mint shape that I'm going to ride on (Kawasaki racing green owns)

Plus, it's faster than a GTS

my trd clutch engages right off the floor. The dealer told me that it is supposed to be that sensitive, when others drive my car they seem to complain but im used to it. However once in a while my car grinds as i shift it into reverse. IS this normal?

Grinding sometimes in reverse is normal as there are no syncros in reverse.

To Steven's problem, You may need to replace your gear oil and use like a Synthetic oil, like Redline or GM Syncromesh. That might fix your problem.

You're still gonna have that problem. I bled my lines and the problem still persisted.


And it's not the pressure plate, because mine was replaced with my clutch as they usually are. It's the linkage.

Today, as i was driving to work the problem came back.
My damn car left me stranded at work.
I had to wait 4 hours for a flat bed tow truck to come that could accommidate my lowered car.
I'm so fed up with this car.

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I have MT90 in the car right now

Looks like your tranny is shot.

Haha slidr, not the news i wanted to hear. I think it's bad synchros. I'll wait for toyota to diagnose the problem

Regardless, it might be cheaper to swap out the tranny for a new/used one. Transmission work is expensive, and if Toyota does it, then it may cost way too much. If you have a mechanic that can do it for cheaper, then go that route.


But if you are under warranty, that's a whole other story.

I have no warranty. I'd do the tranny swap myself.

you probably have bad bearings, and synchronizer rings...I had a random rattle that started a few weeks back and I took it to the dealer, and they fixed it under warranty, but before I got it there I had similar problems...and yeah, the TRD clutch engages just off the floor, its nuts. I drove my frien's GTS, and he had the TRD japan clutch, and it was super sensitive

Update: Several toyota techs including the service manager checked out everything but inside the tranny for problems and found none.
The problem still persists.
They've come to the conclusion that the clutch needs to be replaced.
This is going to cost me roughly $1000+.
This will be my 3rd clutch in less than 85,000 miles.
I had my orignal clutch replaced at 60,000 miles.
I love what you do for me TOYOTA

if it only grinds in reverse that's normal, but if it grinds in any other gears too, no redline, GM or whatever fluid people recommended you will fix the problem. I have 3 manual cars and these fluid can't fix any of them. Only rebuild can fix gear grinding problem!!!!