YOUR Manual Trans?

Thought I’d post up a few quick questions for all you Manual Trans owners. I’ve noticed that the trans and gear box on my 2009 access cab 4x4 SR5 made in California in 2008 is not the greatest. Are people impressed with their MT?. I drove a TRD and it just shifted better/seemed more solid.

Not sure if this should be happening, but I can actually get rolling from a dead stop by shifting into 1st, and letting the clutch our slowly. I never have to give it any gas. It also feels like the sweet spot on the clutch (where it engages) doesn’t happen until the very very last second when the clutch is about ½ to 1 inch from being all the way up.

Other funny things with my manual trans, very noisy. Now I consider myself on OK MT driver. No matter how smooth I am, I can always hear very loud mechanical noises while shifting. Like it’s going into gear hard. THUD!

What are some issues you guys are having with your MT?

 

It's a truck trans...so it's a bit beefier than a sports car or whatever...and the tolerances are a bit looser so it will make noise.
As far as getting started without putting gas to the engine- That's fine. It means the engine is powerful enuf at idle to start moving the car without stalling.

I haven't had any issues with my 6 speed TRD Sport- The gearing is a LITTLE short for daily driving- but some skip shifts fix that...and when I had 1200# in the truck while I was moving over the weekend-The shifts were PERFECT.

 

Yeah, this is my first truck. Use to drive a Corola.

Another quick question:

What happens mechanically when you shift into N. Are the gears free floating inside the gear box? I notice a lot of clunking and rattling when in N and going over bumps at abour 10-25 MPH

 

My 5 spd is fine and I grind them every once in a while cause Im old and unskilled.

 

What Brunes said. Its not the smoothest tranny out there. Yes, its geared short. You can crawl along, shift, no gas, esp in 4lo.

City unloaded in stop-n-go or 70+ all the time, probably not the best match. But loaded up, towing, mtns, off road, or on snow this tranny is perfect. In the country, I've found MPG is same as the auto, except interstate speeds.

Takes some finese, all the clutch action is in a short window at about 80% released and I've seen people have a tendendancy to dump it. Hence thunk. Need a little more on the gas pedal. Overall after 4+ years of ownership, no issues, no compliants for how I use it.

The clutch pedal travel is long, the last 5/8" is dead space. You can shorten it up for pennies or even with them, see write up the 'Cheap/free mods' thread.

 

Everything you mentioned is the same on my 5 spd, but I got used to it and I'm sure you will too. These transmissions may not be very refined, but they seem to be very tough and reliable.

 

Hmm, I think all the gears are always meshed together. Does that make sense?

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/transmission3.htm

 

And as for the original post, I'm pretty happy with my tranny. At first I disliked it because my Eclipse tranny was just sweet. After a while, I figured out how she liked to be treated ( ) and now we both get along.

 

what he said...
sometimes you just gotta take the time and get a better feel for your manual trans. my driving habbits changed drastically switching from my civic to my srt-4.

GL with the 6spd. sometimes i wish i would have gotten the manual trans.

 

So what could be making that moise? the drive shaft shaking around? It only makes the noise in N, which leads me to think it must be the gears?

 

It could be shift forks, synchronizers, bearings, gears, shafts, or a whole number of items inside a manual trans. I wouldn't worry about it, they all make some noise. I don't even notice these things anymore, but I did when the truck was new and had the same concerns that you have now.

 

I also agree with everybody here. I've owned tons of manual trans trucks. All were Toyota's from 1978 and up. This one is my favorite by far. Has tons of power, can start with barely any gas and pulls like a SOB. Toyota really did their homework on the 05+ models. Yes, mine makes noise too. Especially when out of gear in neutral going slow over bumps like you mentioned.

 

test drove a TRD and it didn't make the noise in N, is that because each truck is different? or the TRD has better parts?

 

After driving a HEEP 4.0L Stick this toyota manual is a million times better, no slip, great "pinch", heck my stick doesnt even wobble when engaged. Im very impressed so far but that may change in 30K.

 

Same trans in the TRD and non-TRD. You really have to "know" the trans to even hear or feel the noise I'm referring to. I've even heard it in different years/models so I know it's normal.

 

The noise I'm referring to is load not only can you hear it but you can feel it! It sounds like something is bouncing around, very loud. I'll try and take a video tonight. I really don't think it's normal!

 

If it makes you guys feel better, GM uses these transmissions. The 5 spd is used in the Colorado, Solstice, and Sky while the 6 spd is used in the new Camaro V6. I have never seen a single failure of any of these transmissions here at the Chevy dealer I work at. Of course the Camaro just came out so that's unfair of me to judge the 6 spd on personal experience, but we are having trouble with the V8 6 spd made by Tremec. Aisin makes very reliable manual transmissions, too bad they didn't make the one for the Camaro SS V8.

 

I just realized the first sentence in that paragragh was scary.

 

so it's normal?

 

Based on your discription of the noise, you may want to run it by the dealer just to be safe. Like I said, these transmissions are very reliable, but that doesn't mean you don't have an issue with yours. Nothing mass produced is 100% reliable.