Lost Faith - 6SPD and toyota

My 6 speed has had no grinding issues and I'm creeping up on 20,000 miles...It's always been clunky but no grinds...It's not the best transmission but I like it just fine.

 

49000 miles on mine with no issues I must have lucked out when I got it new at the end of 2008.

 

I wouldn't listen to that dealer or their "engineer". Every engineer that I've ever met has had no common sense, nor any practical knowledge of mechanical systems. They can do any math problem in the book, but ask them operate a machine or diagnose an issue on the spot, and they're useless.

 

Took this vid this morning. MT90 lets me finger shift. Why they don't get a contract with Redline and put this stuff in factory is beyond me.

Ignore my 'miss' - apparently multitasking a phone camera was too much for my coordination this morning

http://youtu.be/EEIou2q2FL0

 

Most people will vote on a subject regardless of whether or not they have any experience with the topic.

 

Ouch! that hurt. I don't resemble that description at all.

 

Agreed, my job is to diagnose and solve mechanical system issues first, do equations second to verify my findings...Real engineers are not CAD monkeys

 

My clutch squeeks and my transmission is far from smoothest shifting. No grinding though. I thought the shifts went much smoother once i installed the trd short shifter and after talking with badger i switched to the mt-90. Feels even better now. Still happy i went with the manual. Autos are boring.

 

Gee, what a nice thing to say. While I can't comment on the Engineers you have experienced , you sound like a total dumb ass making statements like that. Who do you think designs complex mechanical systems anyway? Like transmissions, jet engines, aircraft, etc., not to mention putting such systems into production.

 

I haven't met you.

I have a Mechanical Engineering degree and I work with engineers on a daily basis. The vast majority of the engineers I work with aren't capable of turning a screw driver. Designing something on paper and physically being able to create something or trouble shooting something are very different.

 

My college professor for drafting 101 recommended we all take classes in metalworking/welding and CNC. He said he was forever having problems when he worked at GM because mechanical engineers who had never actually worked in the shop kept designing stuff that was impossible to fabricate outside of CAD software, and he had to forever fix their mistakes.

From that perspective, I can appreciate the difference between an engineer with shop/field experience and one who's just plain green. IMO the degree isn't worth much without the other. They don't get better either unless they really care about improving their abilities.

A real engineer shouldn't say a grinding noise when shifting is normal without explanation. IMHO The only engineers qualified to judge the OP's transmission are the ones that designed and tested it, and know all their inner workings, and truth be told if they are worth their salt they won't say it's normal, they'll put in the effort to determine the source of the problem and rectify it.

Remember, "normal" = "your problem", i.e. "I don't want to help you [anymore]."

 

@ bager did u use synthetic fluid? Did u do the tranny flush or just the drain refill. My 6spd 4x4 is all claunky from 1 to 2nd. And i just bought with 40000 ,miles

 

2012, 7000 miles and no problems with 6spd. A bit clunky but no grinding. To me it seems like the tranny likes to be driven hard. If you try to shift around 2000-2500 rpm its not happy. Shift at 3000-4000 rpm and she's smooth.

Yeah the 6spd gets worse MPG, yeah there's some problems, yeah yeah auto's better. yeah yeah yeah. But driving the manual is WAY more fun. I love it and wouldn't trade back if I had the chance.

 

FYI. Engineers don't get promoted to Engineer. Engineers have to go to school, get a degree, work for 4 years, and then pass a professional practice exam before they can call themselves engineers.

I do agree tho, sometimes there is no replacement for hands on experience.

As for the 6spd, mine has under 8000km, and still shifts terrible, grinds if you try to shift too quick, very clunky too. The 6sp in my Xterra with 170K km on it feels 10x better. For the record, I'm also a Reline MT90 believer. The Xterra had a grind going into 5th when I bought it with 110K km. I changed all fluids shortly after purchase, now at 170K km, the 5th gear grind is gone and has not returned. Going to try the redline fluid in the Taco, see what happens.

 

The 6-spd is OK with me, but you have to shift with authority, shove the clutch all the way to the floor and bang it into gear. You can't be sitting way back from the wheel all cool lounging like a gangsta in the driver seat. It's a truck, not some sissy shifter.

 

I've had three 2nd Gen Tacomas ('07, '08 and '12) with 6 speeds and all three have shifted fine. The throw has a bit of a gated feel, but once you get used to it it's not a big deal.

One thing that I've noticed is that each subsequent Taco had a softer clutch than the previous one. The '07 was unforgiving and grabbed like an on/off switch. The '08 was slightly better. The '12 is the most forgiving and has the smoothest engagement.

 

I guess I can contribute my complaints to the fact that I spend 90% of my time in the Xterra, and 10% in the Taco, so when I jump in the Taco, my body and brain are conditioned to the way the Xterra's clutch, engine, and transmission work together, and it results in jerky, clunky, akward shifting in the Taco until I can recalibrate my senses, lol. I have noticed that after I've been in it for some consecutive miles, it's far less annoying and I stop hitting the space between 3rd and 5th on the way to 5th No excuse for the grinding tho.

 

I love my 6-spd. I am going onto 4k miles and have no issues thus far. If I start having issues I will switch to MT90.

Do you guys drain the fluid then refill or do a full flush?

 

Gearbox has no fancy crevasses to flush like Auto. Straight up drain and fill. 3Qts will do ya.

 

While I understand the point you are trying to make here... Mechanics cannot be "promoted" to engineers. That's like saying an registered nurse can get promoted to an orthroscopic surgeon. Different professions altogether. Unfortunately, the engineering community lags behind other professions in prosecuting those who use deceiving titles (i.e., imagine if a pharmacy tech started calling themselves a registered pharmacist and checking prescriptions - jail).

*EDIT* lol this is almost a repost of the first post on this page... guess you pissed off some engineers on here!