Manual Trans: Do All of Our Toyota Clutches Squeak?

My 09 clutch pedal started creaking (more of a creak than a squek haha) at around 18000 miles and its pretty annoying, havnt gotten around to trying to fix the issue tho. Its real bad when its hot and it seems worse when its hot a very humid like today.

 

09 with 45k just started squeaking

 

2009 2.7 5 speed, 30000 miles just started squeaking. Judging by everyones replys, it seems there is no permanent fix. How about rebuilding it with a steel arm with spherical rod ends? I haven't really got under it yet but that my plan. More to follow . . . .

 

The spin the rod mod worked for me haha, suprisingly it hasnt squeked for 3 weeks now.

 

Had a 99 TRD Tacoma that creaked for over a decade. Problem was a plastic bearing that wore out about every 10-15k miles. Lost count how many times I replaced it. I would live with it for a while until I wanted to drive my truck off a cliff then I would replace it. Heard about the spin the rod fix back then but it never fixed the problem. Just bought a new Tacoma in a MT. Glad to hear Gen 2 Tacos still have this problem.... At least if my new one starts the creaks I will know why.

 

2009 4 cly with 65k. Darn thing started squeaking only days after I drove it off the dealership lot with 59k on it. Seems like everyone with the squeak has a different part of the clutch assembly causing it. From the pedal to the actual transmission. Quite annoying.

 

annoying and embarrassing! i hate when people riding with me ask "what is that noise!?" and i think oh it's just my $30,000 truck with a defective clutch pedal...

 

05 w/ 71k on the clock squeaks all the time. The dealership informed me of the TSB, but also said they have replaced the throwout bearings only to have the same truck come back in the next week with the same problem. Ug.

 

63,000 miles and it went from soft squeak to very annoying squeak. If I drive next to cars that reflect the noise and I have my windows down....kinda sounds like a bunch of crickets under the carriage...

 

This is really the only thing that annoys me about the Tacoma. I have a 2010 Off Road with only 16,000 miles. Especially when it is warm outside, the damn clutch squeaks and it is even worse when it is hotter.

 

F the squeek.

 

I had a 1992 and it had a metal clutch pedal and never made a sound, the next vehicle I own is the current 2004 at has similar shape clutch arm as the 1992 except its plastic and it squeaks.

I test road a 2010 with 12k on it, its pedal is plastic and a different design it creaked, under closer scrutiny it also had lateral movement, not a lot but some the 2004 has no lateral movement. A clutch pedal should not move at all from side to side.

I have seen and heard that others have the same problems, the later models have in some instances a terrible lateral movement.

I was wondering if I can install a earlier model assembly that is metal on my 2004? I may but finding one may be difficult or expensive. What was the last model year for a metal assembly. I wish I had two to compare.

 

It doesn't matter what material the pedal itself is made out of, the problem here is that both the seat (pedal) and the rod cap are made of plastic, and there is nothing present to make sure that fresh grease is continually pushed into the point of contact. When the plastic gets dry, it begins to stick and creak.

Putting in a nice big blob of lithium grease (which is what appears to be in there from factory) should keep the noise at bay for quite a while. In fact, I think that you can fix it permanently like this;

The first step would be to eliminate most of the slack in the pedal between when it starts moving and when it finally contacts the rod end. Not only will this make the clutch feel 1000x better, it is necessary in order to prevent the grease from being pushed out later. At the top up where it is very difficult to get your hand into, the clutch stopper / cruise cancel switch is threaded and adjustable. Adjust to eliminate most (not all) slack, not all because you don't want to leave any pressure on it.

Use lithium grease, and pack it into the cup. Lots of it. Try not to make any air bubbles in it.

My hope is that when the rod moves, rather than pushing grease out of the joint, the excess grease will create a vacuum and draw grease into the void behind the point of contact. If that happens, the contact point will remain lubricated permanently. If not, a blob of lithium grease will fall on your shoe.


A much more complex solution would be to replace the two connections with a dog bone. Dog bone with two ball and cup joints on either end made of steel. The pedal would definitely have to be modified though.

 

I don't think this is actually the problem. There isn't any inherent characteristic of the plastic that indicates that plastic on plastic should squeak, especially given the relative amount of slack available in the seat in the back of the pedal.

I believe the problem is that the bushing (or whatever) that the piston runs through has enough friction that it causes the piston, an by default the end cap, to twist in the seat in the back of the pedal (right hand rule of physics). With enough twisting, tension is created between the end cap and the seat, causing squeaking. Conceptually, grease should relieve some of this friction, but it doesn't always last and seems to drip onto feet. I no longer have my manual Taco, but still wonder whether modification to the dimensions of the end cap or the pedal to prevent the minor binding of the end cap or shims of some sort on either side of the end cap would have fixed the problem. The dog bone idea seems like it would accomplish a similar outcome.

 

I used white lithium greese on the plastic plate the crutch slides against to stop the creeks, I havent had a creek since but I prolly just jinxed myself soooo FML lol

 

It isn't just pressure. There is lateral motion between the two pieces of plastic, when there is nothing to lubricate them, they stick and squeak.

The piston has nothing to do with it. The noise comes from the friction between the plastic end cap of the master cylinder rod and the "cup" that it sits in, which is moulded into the lever itself. It is essentially a 100% plastic ball-and-cup joint. When there is no grease to lubricate the point of contact, the ball (which isn't even round) scrapes in the cup.

Consider what happens to front end ball joints when they run dry. They start making creaking noises, don't they? That is precisely what is happening, except that the ball joint in this case, is made of plastic.

 

Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree, then. Please understand where my experience is coming from: this happened to my 2009 and we could see the wear at the corners of the end cap where it was binding in the back of the pedal. You are right that the noise isn't coming from the piston. It is the friction of the piston moving against a bushing or seal that causes the piston to twist, in turn causing the end cap to bind in the back of the pedal. If the pedal were steel, the end cap would probably be unable to spin as much as it does. The lithium grease reduces the friction of the twisted end cap, reducing the squeak. Until it drips out or wears away. Also, this is not really the same as a ball joint. There is far less movement, heat, and pressure occurring with this joint. But obviously enough to create the crazy-making squeak.

 

Ok. How did you get the grease on the plate? I tried and got grease everywhere but. Can u give more details?

 

Mine does, but only when it's hot out.

 

I just used the straw tube it comes with and very carefully put it on the white plastic plate that rubs against the clutch. Don't really know how to explain it. I'll take a picture for you and post it.