Throwout bearing again!!

You might have to drive around for a while with your engine under heavy load...

Then when you arrive at the dealer, leave it running til the tech comes out to check it.

If you drop off in the morning, it wont be there by the time they get to it.

I heard mine, drove around a bit, swung by the dealer, left it running... This was around 4 in the afternoon. I waited for the mechanic to come out to my truck. Pumped the clutch couple time while he was underneath. He definately heard it, scheduled my appointment and wanted it to be scheduled for him to personally work on it.

He told me he never heard it before, but definately new that this needed immediate attention...

 

Shaft wear confirmed.
$1700 worth of parts ordered... to include bell housing. Sounds like Toyota Manufacturing is working up a service kit for this problem.

Hopefully install will be done Thursday.

Thank you all for such great information.

Keith

 

Did they say specifically they were planning to address this with a redesign or TSB, when you say service kit? Thanks for the info!

 

I can't believe what I'm reading. My truck has 75k on it. TOB squeaked when I bought it about a month ago. I didn't think it would come down to replacing the bell housing and this being about a 800 - 1000 DYI repair. This is ridiculous. There has been so many weird/annoying quirks with the truck so far and now I'm having buyers remorse.

 

i took mine to dealer yesterday and they called me last night told me that its going to cost me about 1300 buck for new clutch and all the labor. my truck has a little over 130k miles on it. for those of you have had this problem what did it cost you? does this seen to be a decent price for this kind of work?

 

You have the chirp I presume? Did the estimate include the itemized parts list?

I was just about to comment how the fact that you made it to 130k miles gives me high hopes that I'll have similar results... Nope. I heard a nice chirp today, did some tests in the garage and I have the tell tale signs: chirp with clutch pedal fully released, no chirp slightly pushing on clutch pedal.

My 05 made it to 78k miles. My 07 is at 38k miles. I'll be at the Toyota Dealership Monday morning. I'm speechless.

I need paperwork so if you guys still watch this thread and have your documentation of warranty repair beyond the 36K, please pm me. They are going to look at my truck and you know what they are going to say, "warranty, are you serious?" and I'm well equpped to argue, I even have the 05 failed parts in my garage, but your repair authorizations may be exactly what I need.

 

I posted about the Tacoma RA60 series being nearly identical to the FJ RA61 series 6 speed... well they have the same symptoms and same problem with the Pilot shaft.

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/engine-performance/42991-throwout-bearing-chirp-squeak.html

 

This is encouraging:
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/1316738-post82.html

 

so are the 09 6speeds prone to this problem as well? I bought a brand new 09 with 6 speed manual because i THOUGHT manuals were more durable then automatic, looks like I was wrong with reading this thread and hearing about the weak clutch coming apart and separating into two pieces.

 

Looks like I'm gonna wait till the redesigned one comes out. Recall? I have 76k

 

Tearing the clutch disk off the splined hub could be another longevity issue, time will tell. I'm going to examine my old disk right now.

It appears to me that every single RA60 Tacoma and RA61 FJ 6-speed manual made to date is at the very least, prone to this pilot shaft scoring issue, because they share the exact same design with minor differences. It happens to owners who go off-road and those who don't go off-road, those who lift and modify, and those that remain stock.

I'm really hoping this prototype Bell Housing design for the FJ guys was spawned from the Tacoma issues that came first. I hope that is a direct bolt-on for both series or they've produced new Bell Housings for both. It's also possible that it doesn't exist in the Parts channel yet.

I agree, a recall, not a TSB, would be appropriate, as it would cover every 6-speed produced and not just those vehilces that are within an age or mileage limitation. I have an 8:30 Monday appointment, I'm hoping I get some first hand information.

 

That would be awesome! Please keep us informed!
I never heard back from anyone about this. It is possible they are still checking into it, though.
I can forgive the oil leaks, the leaf springs, and the overhead temp thingy, and EVEN the motor mounts, since they are relativly easy and cheap to fix, but not this, this is SO bad. I wish my truck was still under warranty when I bought it. I should have forked over the extra 2k for the newer, lower milage truck. Live and learn...

 

My chirp stopped Sunday and it did not chirp in front of the Dealer either. On top of that, my Dealer had no answers and absolutely no knowledge on the subject whatsoever, so I'm hoping I'll get some inside info from the FJ guy I pm'd.

I learned something today that I missed all these years. There is a large vent on the top driver's side of the bell housing. It's wide open for venting. I reached up and there it was, wide open, just like shown below. There's also a drain hole at the bottom, which I'm sure can act as a scoop when in not so deep water.

Top Vent:


Bottom Drain:



It makes sense to me that the grease can slowly be washed off or contaminated, causing the the Pilot shaft scoring, if that is in fact contributing to the problem. One thing for sure, no snorkel and deep water fording on an RA60 or RA61. I can also see why non offroaders can have issues as it doesn't seem difficult to slowly contaminate the inside of the bell housing. I can also see a need to vent clutch disk dust but this seems like a weakness to me. I looked at some other bell housings on other 4x4 vehicles and the few I found didn't seem to have these kinds of openings.

I now understand why Toyota questions people specifically if they pressure wash the underside of their vehicle when being serviced for this issue. I had assumed that the bell housing was sealed and all of the openings were covered and gasketed so I didn't understand why they wanted to know that information. Makes sense now.

 

snowboarder,
so I have an 01, 5spd tacoma with 49k for miles that is/has been exhibiting the symptoms described. I have had the truck to the dealer a couple of times and both times the dealer was unable to recreate the sound. this issue first occured 3-4 years ago while on a road trip. I drive the truck daily to and from work, total of 6 miles. I have to stop at approx 6 stoplights along the way and subsequently shift 2-3 times at each light once I get underway again. the noise came an went over the last 3-4 years but now has popped up with a vengence. it has been quite consistent for the last 4 mos and much louder than in the past, also the truck really seams to shudder when stomping the accelerator from a standstill in 1st gear. the tranny is also extremely stiff in 1st-3rd gears and has been since the day I bought it. I am hesitant to go to the dealer yet due to a phone conversation I had the other day with a service writer at my local dealer where I purchased the truck new. when I called to ask some questions and possibly make my appt to come in and have it looked at the writer told me that he had just seen a tacoma with identical issue. he said that initial thoughts were the release bearing but upon further inspection it was determined to be an issue with the , as he called it, the input shaft on the tranny. now I have been looking around quite a bit recently and come to the conclusion that something is wrong with the release bearing or the pilot shaft or both. obviously on paper my warranty has expired due to the time involved but I feel that I am still well under warranty for mileage driven. I am preparing myself to go in there and sit down with the service manager to see what can be done now if anything under warranty as I feel this issue was happening well before any warranty expired. I just wanted to see if you had any insight on this particular transmission as I know its not the same as the one discussed on this thread. thanks.

 

Scooby- at first glance, it looks to me like you have the R150. Comparing that to the new R155 on the 2nd gens, they look very similar. With both series, you get a bolt on Front Bearing Retainer (Pilot Shaft as we've been calling it here) and I've seen that part in person and it is steel and easy to swap with the rest of the standard clutch replacement parts, no bell housing replacements happening there, but that doesn't mean the component doesn't wear down or become scored from lack of lubrication, it just means they made the component easy and affordable to swap out during clutch rebuilds.

Assuming the steel pilot shaft is not worn and not the issue, you may just have a release bearing failure, it happens, but your chatter symptoms could be related to a worn clutch disk and or pressure plate problems. If the disk is worn, it can't withstand the torque involved and can slip, which may be what you are describing? I don't know what to say about the stiffness and I don't know about warranty coverage either, but let us know what they say and what they do for you, maybe they can work a deal with you. I'll shoot you a pm tomorrow on the diagrams I'm looking at. Lastly, and I can't tell for sure, but I don't see anything resembling a vent slot and drain hole on the R150 or R155, but the FSM diagrams aren't detailed enough for me to say with certainty.

 

that sux, good luck

 

I show the W59 in my 01-03 FSM and it shares a similar design with the 150 series, at least with regards to the clutch components we've been talking about. The W59 looks like it has a drain hole at the bottom and there are 2 Clutch Housing covers that look like they install over some openings at the top.