What did I break? 6 speed manual = gearbox full of neutral

Getting on the freeway last night, shifted from 3rd to 4th at about 3/4 throttle and suddenly sounded like it popped out of gear. Put it in gear and nothing, anywhere.
Coasted to the side of the road and had my shitbox towed home. This morning I popped the inspection cover off expecting to see carnage and found nothing.

Quill looks fine, throwout bearing is intact. Had my lovely assistant push on the clutch while I looked, everything moves as it should. Currently have my inspection cam charging so I can see deeper into the bottom of the bellhousing to look for chunks.

Can shift through all gears with the engine running without using the clutch, no grinding or weird noises, feels just like it would if I was shifting with the engine off and the clutch disengaged.

Truck is a box stock 2010 X-Runner with 108,000 miles. Trans was replaced under warranty at 36,000, right before I bought it (by milage it looks like the PO traded it in while it was being repaired).

I have blowed up a couple of Toyota 5 speeds over the years but normally it was something like a bearing failing where you suddenly have a 3 speed and 2 grindy bois or a bunch of expensive noises in the trans.

Is it possible that I just blew the friction material off the clutch disc or is this more of a sign of a sheared input shaft?

Also: Recommendations on a good stock type replacement clutch kit? Truck is stock, will remain stock but I do tend to drive a little more on the spirited side.

As a bonus, I got to ride in my truck on the back of a flatbed towtruck. That was a unique experience.

Happy shitbox:


Sad Broken Shitbox:

 

With everything you've checked, I would look at shift linkage first, or anything that mechanically connects the shifter with the shift forks. I don't know if there's external linkage or if it's a toploader. That would be my first guess. Then I'd move onto the internal stuff like shift forks.

 

They are toploader transmissions. It moves through the gears like it should, feels normal both clutch in and out. No grinds or weird noises.

Just no power from engine making it to the rear wheels.

Wondering if I should be ordering a clutch kit, a replacement trans, both or a replacement truck.

 

The 5 speed transmission in my 2wd Toyota pickup broke. I was in 5th gear and something broke and no power. Fortuneatly I understood my transmission and figured out what happened, I put it in 4th gear which still worked and got off the highway close to a friend's house where I could fix it. The front bearing on the counter shaft failed. 4th gear still worked because it locks the front and rear parts of tha main shaft together and doesn't use the counter shaft.
Your problem might be similar.

 

I have experienced this exact same breakage with a toyota 5 speed. I had 2 or 3 functional gears accompanied with a lot of angry bearing and gear noise.

This one has 7 non functional gears (inc reverse) and no abnormal noises or feeling like I have a transmission full of gravel.

 

Damn, surprised they let you do that. Sounds dangerous.

Can’t help with the trans issue but I’m in for the results

 

Concerns about China virus has them taking a “no riders” policy.
Driver was a riot, told me a story as he was unloading my truck about how a newlywed couple may have conceived their first child in their car during a hour plus tow.

TBH, it didn’t feel that unsafe up there but I have a different definition of unsafe then some people.

 

Jack up 1 rear wheel so you can spin the driveshaft. Have someone spin the tire with the transmission in gear. If you can see the clutch disk spinning, the clutch is toast.

 

Nice X-Runner

My vote is for a smoked clutch. If it does come back as that.... have a LCE dual comp in the 4 banger, really like and recommend it.

 

This was a great suggestion.
Got the ass end up in the air, chocked one wheel and had my lovely assistant spin the other tire.
Yup, everything spins with the trans in gear. I could see the input shaft and disc turning along with some mildly unhappy scraping noises.

So it is looking like just a clutch job instead of a $3,000+ transmission (sigh of relief).

Never had a clutch fail like that before. Worn one or two out over the years and had one that didn’t like trying to handle double the stock horsepower of a vehicle that lead a short, exciting life but sudden onset clutch death is a new one on me.

 

That's a new one to me too.

 

Nice truck. Nice garage!1

 

OP, you may want to look at this TSB from 2009 that also includes the 2010 models:
T-SB-0385-09.pdf

 

7? I"m guessing 1-5 and reverse...and neutral?

 

6 speed trans

 

Gotcha, I didn't know the 2nd gen had the 6spd.

 

It had that TSB done before I bought it. Also had a replacement trans installed under warranty. I am also way north of 60k (108,000).

Betcha that is exactly what happened tho (clutch disc came apart)
Thanks

 

All 6cyl manual 2nd gen tacomas are 6 speeds, 4banger manuals are 5 speeds (that are arguably a better transmission).

 

Gotcha. Mine's an auto..4 banger.

 

may have also cracked or broken some pressure plate parts or fingers which would stop all clamping force as well.