22 Pro clutch burned out at 29k miles

That is NOT normal.
Not normal wear and tear.

Unless you were dumping the clutch and banging the shifts at redline.

 

yeah something failed and it's still no where near a common occurrence. No disrespect to your buddy, but let's do the math; he's seen 2 with a bad clutch, in how many manuals Tacoma's has he seen in total?

 

Likely a defect. Wear is not sudden or dramatic. You start feeiing slippage, and it increases. Ive seen this in other peoples cars...

In my many manual gearboxes - some driven well into the 200k miles, ive never had to replace a clutch.

 

Did a valet take your truck for a joy ride one day?

 

There is no way they can say it is normal wear and tear by just taking off the inspection plate. They will need to drop the trans and do a proper diagnosis. The problem is, if they still deem it as "normal wear and tear" then you are stuck with the bill. So it will be a gamble on your part. Sure looks like something is defective and should be covered under warranty though. Also, open a case with Toyota North America. They suck to call but you need to get the ball rolling there just in case the dealer denies warranty. Toyota NA may be able to pay you to pay the dealer to fix the problem. I've done that with my truck.

 

I had this happen recently with my Golf R. Put in a South Bend Stage 2 endurance clutch and it shit the bed after about 2000 miles when the pressure plate failed. South Bend indicated it was likely that an air bubble got into the mold and led to a breakdown in structural integrity. It had been a little fussy going into 1st gear for a few week and then one day I pulled into a drive thru to get breakfast and the car would no longer go into gear. All covered under South Bend's warranty but I still had to pay labor for another install. If this is what happened to yours I'd say it should be covered under warranty.

 

I've seen that twice on VWs. Once on a Golf and once on a Passat


OP I would consider pushing back against the dealer on this. Like people are saying, normal wear and tear is when the friction disc gets thin over time. That results in slipping when accelerating or going up hills but it doesn't prevent you from putting it in gear. You can select gears all day you just won't move forward when you release the clutch pedal

There is nothing "normal" about not being able to put a manual transmission in gear. Something broke. This was a failure of the clutch unit (prematurely)

But, they're probably going to deny regardless. Clutches always fall under "wear items" on paperwork. With insurance, warrantees, etc. That's just how it works

Sorry

 

That ain’t right. Sorry op.

 

Has anyone else driven your truck? If so did it smell like burnt clutch when you got it back?
A couple hours with a bad manual driver can get it to this point. Don't ask how I know

 

There are truly only 2 options here.
1. Someone abused the truck
2. Factory defect

unfortunately with clutches it is hard to tell until you pull the whole assembly/pressure plate/flywheel apart …

in your case that looks quite catastrophic and not normal. Normal wear and tear doesn’t have clutch fibers peeking through the inspection window.

Toyota clutches can last 200-300k miles depending on driver…

 

I had a 19 MT off road .... the clutches are indeed weak and you will get no sign of slipping as it just went out for me... sold the truck shortly after that. I think the oem clutches promote too much slip with that accumulator.