problems shifting gears

"Today I started my car, it was in Reverse when I started it and the entire car shook!"

Did you have your foot on the clutch when you turned the key?

Sounds like your hydrolic system is having trouble pressurizing. do gears engage easier after pumping the clutch? spend an afternoon looking over all the hoses for leaks or cracks.

Does anybody know of an easy swap to improve the pressure? another Toyota item found at a wreckers maybe?

Well my mechanic says I have lost my hydraulics for sure, wants me to take it to another shop to confirm yes/no clutch altogether, probably yes

Time to save up for 10+ hr clutch job

Bummer,

You might want to consider taking it to www.rocketrally.com

Pat richards rally team runs it. they fabricate all kinds of stuff for their team canada subaru's.

Obviously they have tonnes of experience with 4wd turbo cars. i called them up about doing the clutch on my car a while back now and they said they would do it. probably around 8-9 hours i think he said. but dont quote me on that.

Pat also mentioned that he's worked on the gtfour before. and when i mentioned it he said "NOOOO WAY" jokingly ofcoarse. guess he knows how tough they can be lol.

Corey

Well I don't know for sure, have to take it somewhere else to get inspected... but the car won't shift gears when it's on, it will shift when it's turned off though lol (helpful)

thx for the suggestions correy

So get this, the car's been sitting for a while because I had to get it towed after it would not shift gears whatsoever. So I go to start it up one day, just to start it so the battery doesn't die and to let some oil run through it. For the heck of it I try shifting gears (engine on, car parked) and it works. The next thing you know, I Can drive the car perfectly normal, shift fine, clutch not slipping. :twisted:

So my mechanic figures something is loose or something is wrong inside the clutch which would cause this strange intermittant behavior of one day it drives fine and one day you can't shift gears at all!!!!

Which for me basically means a new clutch, by the time you open it up to look what's wrong, may as well get a new one, plus anything else that needs to be done... so that's that. :shrug: Bizarre, I Tell ya.

Oh ya - Considering I drive like a granny - am I best to go with an OEM clutch?!

Which for me basically means a new clutch, by the time you open it up to look what's wrong, may as well get a new one, plus anything else that needs to be done... so that's that. Bizarre, I Tell ya.

Oh ya - Considering I drive like a granny - am I best to go with an OEM clutch?!

Click to expand...

"Plus anything else that needs to be done..." = look at my thread. it will start adding up quick. Remember all i was planning on doing was a clutch and adding new performance parts also.

if the timing belt hasnt been done recently - id get that done while the motor is out. which means the associated pulleys should be changed. At which point you'll be able to see all the seals, and determine if they are leaking or not. And while the tranny is out, the drive seals should be replaced. and so on and so on. :twisted:

Oem clutch will be fine, and probably last the longest. Cheap too. i think you can get the entire thing for under $350 from 1sttoyota.

So has the hydraulic system been ruled out? Sure is cheaper to change that stuff first, than it is to rip into a clutch.

Ya it basically has - checked by mechanic and the clutch fluid is full, the slave & master are not leaking.

I realize how it's gonna go, corey! Thank you for the warning though! :shock:
The car needs engine work done anyway, since it's leaking quite a bit of oil (and power steering and transmission leaks) has a cooling and cold starting problem anyway. So I understand it's not like how many hundres this is gonna cost but how many G's !!

What can I expect from a car with 230,000 KM though? I've driven it for the 3 years I've had it problem-free ---- Time to put some money into her maintenance~

Now.... where can I find 5 grand or so... :lol:

[you're right Corey - $260 total for disc, pressure plate + release bearing]

Most likely the transaxle has been filled with an inappropriate spec fluid.

If it happens again drain what's in there and refill with plain ATF, drive conservatively for a month or so and note if that improves it. If so you have your answer, if not nothing lost.

howcome ATF? is ATF GL-5?

ATF is equivalent GL4 rated. Apparently, Toyota changed their minds regarding this spec and 'uprated' the requirement to GL5 possibly due to the presence of hypoid type gears in the transaxle.

However, some modern gear oils, especially the synthetic types, can be incompatible with the synchros in this gearbox causing extreme shifting issues. The synchros love ATF, which will be fine in the transaxle even for an extended period let alone a month or so of conservative driving.