Slave Cylinder noise. Hard shift into 1st

Hey there,
I have a 98 Tacoma 3.4 manual,
I had the transmission rebuilt about a year and a half ago because it was having a difficult time shifting into first. The truck has 287,000 miles on it and when the tranny was rebuilt it probably had ~250K at the time.
It has
* rebuilt tranny
* new OEM clutch
* resurfaced flywheel OEM
* new master cylinder OEM
* new slave cylinder OEM
* shifter seat and bushing OEM

Filled with Redline MT90

Anyway it still has a hard time shifting into first and also 2nd and sometimes 3rd. Mostly 1st. it’s tough, it just doesn’t want to go but I can force it into gear. If I’m rolling to a stop at .5 MPH then I can slip it into 1st easy. I’ve tried double clutching and that doesn’t help. 2nd gear ‘sometimes’ has a notch that it catches on before going all the way into gear. When the truck has sat overnight and I start her up in the morning the shifting seems to be decent but it quickly gets tough again. It shifts fine on the freeway and around town for the most part it’s mainly when I’m dead stopped trying to get into 1st. 1st has to be forced and 2nd ‘gets caught’. 3rd occasionally gets ‘caught’. 1st is by far the most troublesome.

Now, I’ve been noticing a noise for about a month now. A sort of constant creaking whenever the truck is running, all the time. And I just figured out tonight that it’s coming from the piece that the slave cylinder connects to. The piece that mounts to the tranny. could this be the culprit?

I have attached a photo of the piece I’m referring to. And a link to a YouTube clip that I posted so you can hear the noise and see how it goes away when I press my hand on it. Depending on how hard I press it will turn from a high chirp to a creak. And if I press harder the noise goes away completely.
link:
https://youtu.be/auZpZU0uVR0?si=MeN1HLZmpLQjQNtI

Any feedback is greatly appreciated
Thankyou
-Kyle

 

I can't help on the shifting issue, but the noise is similar to mine.

On my '03 3.4 5spd I had a chirping sound that would go away with very slight press on the clutch. Does yours go away with a little (or a lot of) clutch pressure?

I had had a new clutch put in before that. Took it back to shop. He wasn't sure. Took to other shops they thought throw out bearing. Took back to first shop. New Clutch on warranty. Noise gone, then back. Anyway, eventually, he pealed back the rubber boot (in your video) and found the fork was dancing around on the rod and that was the noise. A little clutch pedal pressure stiffens it all up and noise is gone. He greased it and that lasted 1000 miles and noise came back. That was 2 years ago. Now I'll have noise for a month then gone for a month and it drove me nuts for a while, and now I don't really "hear" it.... As the trans guy said, no damage is being done, its just annoying.

There are many threads about chirping noise from that area. I found most to be wrong as mine was as described above. See if your clutch pedal will make it go away and see about getting lubrication in there on the fork/rod under boot. You should be able to peel the boot back and see it. On mine, the boot is just dry fitted on the square hole on the housing where the slave enters.

I didn't try using hand pressure to stop mine as you did, but I'll try just for fun...

 

Try pulling it into 2nd then try putting it into first and see if it shifts easier. Sometimes things are just worn too far. I had a 5 speed on a Ranger pickup with the exact issue. I tried all of the half fixes and had the trans out and apart a couple of times in an attempt to resolve the issue. I finally stepped up and replaced the 1-2 complete slider assembly. It wasnt cheap but it fixed the problem. You could put it in 1st now while it was rolling.

I have seen a spring on the fork to keep constant pressure against the pushrod to solve the rattling.

 

I've done some research and vehicles getting into 1st gear on a manual transmission is a tale as old as time. People reference that 1st gear is hard cut and an inherently more difficult to shift into gear. This isn't a good enough explanation for me. The approach that it's part of manual transmission life, to anticipate these things, and adjust your driving style accordingly. Yeah, cool... no... something mechanically can be improved here.

I'm not sure if my information is beneficial, just contributing to the pool of data here. 5VZFE w/R150 transmission, 170k miles. Never rebuilt.

Stock clutch: Never had any issues. Started to slip at 15 psi around 4k rpms.
SPEC Stage 3+ w/LCE Lightweight Flywheel: Best street friendly setup w/performance in mind. There was a little bit of chatter during break-in, but it went away after about 1k miles.
Everything was perfect until I upgraded to the SPEC Stage 5, but I needed the torque holding capacity.

LCE Lightweight Flywheel paired with a SPEC Stage 5 Clutch w/5k miles on it:
Now putting it into first is difficult, sometimes. When the transmission is cold, it's easier to put in gear, but once it warms up the binding and difficulty increases. It is more difficult to put the transmission into 1st if I have my foot on the brake and it can't "slip" into gear (never the case before).

Clutch engagement is fine, but will chirp and screech if you try to slip it for longer than a half a second (Metallic clutch life).
2nd gear is ok. 3rd gear is ok. 4th gear will make the clutch screech on a downshift into it (probably Metallic clutch life). 5th gear fine.

My thoughts have gone to low transmission fluid, but the fluid level looks fine. Maybe I need to flush it all? I did notice the rear transmission centering pin isn't perfectly centered in the middle of the mount and is more towards the rear. Before, it was always dead nuts centered, but after the Stage 5 clutch install, the pin is closer to the back of the grommet hole. I had to weld-in thicker engine perches and when I mocked it, everything was centered... and I still had the Stage 3+ clutch at the time. What does yours look like?

I think I'm going to bleed the slave cylinder, pull the shift boot, lubricate the pivot point and fork and see if that helps. I remember the (new) clutch slave cylinder being a bitch to bleed (lots of pumps) when I installed the Spec 3+ clutch. I had a mechanic install the Stage 5, so maybe he didn't give it the slave cylinder some love? Ughh, the truck is down for other things (new seatbelt webbing, oil drain line improvements, possible turbo rebuild), so I should do it now.

 

What transmission fluid do you have in it?

 

redline MT90 gear oil

 

I don’t know what mine looks like but ever That has been done was done with OEM parts. The flywheel was resurfaced

it’s almost as is something is not it the right place. It just doesn’t want to line up. There is no ‘grinding’ into gear just a bit ’notchy’

 

I believe it does go away when I depress the clutch. Where the pedal connects to the pushrod with a rod and cotter pin, I added a plastic bushing in between that a made out of a G2 Pilot writing pen. I was going to make a post on it because it took away my pedal squeak and click. Also added some grease to it. Lasted a long while, I only recently replaced it.
But that is an unrelated issuse

 

I have tried everything imaginable, nothing helps it go into 1st easier except if I’m rolling at half a mile per hour to a stop, then I can slip it into 1st smoothly. Otherwise it’s a fight. It just doesn’t want to go into gear.
I have replace nearly everything I can think of with OEM parts. And the rebuild was supposedly done with OEM parts

 

I had this same issue, though it was in a 89' Volvo 240. I lived with it for years- could only get it into 1st if I was rolling to a stop and the other gears were notchy feeling. The fix was new pilot and throwout bearings. Did you replace both bearings when you did the clutch?

 

Try replacing that cracked flex line... out of left field thought... I am thinking that if the flex line is swelling at the bend where the cover is split that when you push in the clutch not all of the hydraulic pressure is being used to push the pushrod.

 

I was having hard shifting not too long after replacing the clutch, putting in new shifter bushing and seat, and replacing the fluid. Slave was replaced before all of that as well. It ended up being the fork. It finally snapped. Mechanic showed it to me, and you can tell that it was cracked for a while before snapping.

 

Does anyone know where to get a replacement clutch fork rubber boot cover like OP has in the first pic ? I was replacing my starter and noticed mine was missing.

 

Would it still shift into gear when the fork was snapped? Or was it unable to go into gear at that point?
If you could shift into gear, was it kind of ‘notchy’ ? Mine has a notch into second. It catches on it before it goes into gear

 

Thanks for posting this, I had my clutch replaced a few months ago and noticed the same noise after the work was done. I managed to quiet it down yesterday by greasing the fork and rod under the boot. Now I'm down to like 4 weird noises in my truck.

 

Before it snapped, it was getting harder and harder to get into gear as time went on. I was in heavy traffic when it snapped. So I didn’t even try to shift without a clutch (Finding the right spot with the right rpm’s where you can slip it into gear without pressing the clutch pedal). I just pulled over.

 

Depends on your trans I think but this is one version:

Toyota 31126-34010 Boot, Clutch Release Fork

They're on Amzn and Toyota Parts deal and others for about $20. But check fitment to your specs.

 

It sounds to me like you have 2 different issues. That chirping immediately makes me think throw out bearing. As for shifting into first, that sounds like synchros to me.
All of my prior experience is with muscle cars though. So I guess take my opinion with a grain of salt.

 

Okay so I’ve been absent from Tacoma world but I’m back to resurrect this thread because my truck took an L on Friday

clutch went to the floor, but I tried pumping it and had about 2 inches of clutch before the floor I could use to get into gear and drive. Took it to the mechanic yesterday and he replaced master cyl and slave and still no luck. Anyway we discovered that the ‘knob’ ? That the clutch fork mounts to was gone. Broken off? Anyone had this happen?