Strange clutch noise

The last two days my truck has made a strange noise when pushing in the clutch to start it for the first time of the day.

Yesterday it did it one time and I couldn't get it to do it again so I didn't know where it was coming from. But today my door was still open so when I pushed the clutch in I heard a metal on metal clunk noise so I released the clutch and pushed it in again and it happened a second time but wouldn't do it again after that. It's definitely coming from under the truck and happens as the pedal is moving downward near the end of travel.

Have any of you guys with the 6 speed experienced this? If so should I worry or is this just another Toyota 6 speed quirk?

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

Ask in here. You'll get a better response.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...and-bs-thread-all-generations-welcome.406844/

 

Will do. Thanks.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...on-your-6-speed-transmissiom-write-up.338840/

 

I have seen this write up and it has A LOT of information in it. I haven't been able to get through it all and I haven't seen anything that seems relevent to this specific noise. It's not the TOB chirp or the clutch pedal squeak (which I have already dealt with in my truck). This noise is just one single clunk and that's it. Is there something in that write up that covers this that i just missed?

 

Do you get the clunk in neutral when starting the truck or is your transmission in gear when starting with the clutch pushed in ?
Are you on a hill in your driveway ?

Do you have Red Line transmission fluid in the transmission ?
The input shaft in these transmissions are absolutely huge . The input shaft goes directly through the transmission from the front to the back
When you let the clutch out in neutral , that huge input shaft starts to turn along with all the gearing synchronizers on the mainshaft .
The transmission housing is made of alluminum and the slightest noise can be heard.
Without hearing the truck or test driving in person , this is my best guess .
Backlash within the transmission gearing . The sound should go away once the transmission is warm as everything expands with heat .
Is there a fix ? try some Red Line fluid to see if it makes a difference.
Not sure of your mileage but you may be due for a fluid change . All the guys here swear Red Line fluid is the cats @ss

 

The truck is in neutral when I start it. My driveway is sloped. And no I don't have red line in my transmission. I have been thinking about changing to red line but my truck only has 18,000 miles on it. The sound does go away and everything works great just the same as it always has (aside from being a little bit notchy, which has gotten a little better). So it sounds like this is probably normal. I plan on switching to red line in the near future. So do you think I need to adjust the free play in my clutch or is that only something that needs to happen after replacing the clutch? I know that the throw out bearings in these trucks tend to go out and I'm trying to avoid that as much as possible. Thanks for the help.

 

The clutch free play problem is something that you cant avoid . Toyota doesnt allow enough clearance for a proper adjustment .Piss poor engineering to describe the problem at the basic level .Tacoma,s are plauged with this issue
Eventually your bearing will start loading against the pressure plate and there is nothing you can do to stop it .
I am working on a fix for this which will eliminate some of the clutch and throw out bearing issues that the Tacoma suffers with .
I need some time but I guarantee the issue will be resolved .

I think your noise is considered normal and trust you are using the e brake when starting ?
To make the noise a little less concerning , try changing to Red Line fluid on your next fluid change.
Red Line has better lubricating properties than the standard gear oil from factory . The input shaft should remain wet with fluid overnight rather than the fluid draining into the bottom of your transmission

 

I do keep the e-brake engaged when starting. I will definitely change to red line as soon as i can. And I'm definitely interested in your fix for the free play issue. I will watch out for that. I definitely don't want to deal with that headache. Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it.

 

Do you park in your driveway the same orientation each time? I wonder if you parked the opposite direction if the clunk would still occur.

 

Yeah I park the same way every time (except tonight I'm parking it in the garage because we might get some good sized hail tonight). I don't normally park in my garage because it barely fits and it makes it hard to go in and out.

 

OP, while in neutral try pressing the clutch pedal all the way down to the floor a few times using your hand. You may be better able to isolate.

 

Gearcruncher, I know you mean well but this is getting old following you around and making corrections about the 6-speed clutch and transmission. I have had every last piece of both apart and personally rebuilt each. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the clutch or the way Toyota designed it. A spring in the slave cylinder causes a predetermined preload on the clutch fork and throwout bearing and the bearing spins 100% of the time the engine is running -- by design.

The master cylinder has a stop on it that limits the how far it can move the pushrod back and the only way one could possibly place additional force on the throwout bearing against the pressure plate would be to ride the clutch pedal with their foot, lengthen the MC pushrod so that there is no space between the back of the pedal and the pushrod, or to put a spring in the clutch slave cylinder with greater force.