2nd gen manual transmission

Hey guys,

I drive a stock 2012 4cyl MT 4x4. Curious to hear other MT drivers general opinions on the clutch and shifting in these trucks. I've grown to love it, but it took some more time and practice to get it smooth compared with other MT's I've driven.

I live in a pretty snowy place - how do you feel about how they handle in snow? Do you find yourself burning the clutch in icy conditions? What's the rough lifespan of these clutches in the first place? I'm a pretty good with a stick shift, but I've always been curious how much abuse they can take...

Curious to hear ANY manual transmission wisdom/experiences.

Thanks

 

200k plus not unheard of for a clutch

 

My 2012 manual was pretty smooth. Sold it when I blew out my left ACL. Kinda hard to do the clutch for the whole time I was dealing with it.

 

My 2014 has been good but I haven't seen much snow since I got it five years ago. It was a little notchy at first but when I changed out the fluid, it got better. I've had good luck with Lucas but everyone else here swears by Red Line.
I'm at 106,000 miles on everything stock and the clutch feels fine. I did have to adjust the push rod a little because it was engaging toward the top of the pedal travel, and occasionally I turkey baste the fluid out of the reservoir and dump in some new, but so far, so good. You just can't speed shift these things and expect the synchronizers to last (in my opinion).

 

Here is all kinds of information.
If you like to learn, there’s a lot to learn here.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...on-your-5-speed-transmission-write-up.338836/

 

I recently bought a 2010 4 cyl MT 4x4 with 70k miles and it was really hard to get into first and reverse when I first got it. Drained and filled the trans with synthetic gear oil and it started shifting much better.

Mine still gas the stock Dunlop tires and they’re pretty worthless in the snow. So far no clutch issues, fingers crossed.

 

I agree with all of the above.

I used HP tuners and some magic wizardry from Just DSM and got rid of the bloody rev hang which drove me nuts.
Axle wrap is the other pain in the *ss which kills the manual fun. I have yet to solve that one. OME heavys and I'm still fighting it.

 

Forgot to mention, I did the Red Line thing too. Had to buy it online.

 

My first transmission (from a 2011, I'm the original owner since 2010) only lasted 6 years. Well, it still worked, but would pop out of second and sometimes would pop out of third, or grind in ways and at times that it shouldn't. There was some kind of transmission internals upgrade in 2014-2015, so the new transmission works better - it shifts more smoothly than the original ever did.

The clutch accumulator is a good thing to delete. It delays the engagement of the clutch, probably to help out people who don't really know how to drive a manual. It's particularly bad when it's cold.

I use Nissan MTF. I change it quite often, don't want this transmission to fail on me after 6 years - or 10, or 15 for that matter.

 

Clutch life depends on the driver and your location and usage. I had ~110k? on my clutch when I changed it because the transmission failed, and the clutch was at ~90% the original thickness in the FSM. But probably 98% of my miles are on the highway cruising in 5th gear. If I still lived in NYC I'd probably be lucky to get 50k from a clutch on a daily driver. The transmissions don't like to be shifted overly fast, especially second gear, and I have to baby the initial 1-2 shift on a cold morning. I'm currently running Mobil 1 and will eventually try Redline. I replaced the OE Aisin clutch with the same parts from Rock Auto as they were very inexpensive. I think the entire clutch kit was less than $150. I don't drive in snow enough to comment much but have had no issues; I have Michelin AT2 tires- stock Dunlops are pathetic.

Does the 4 cylinder have the accumulator? I've noticed that it doesn't engage directly.

 

2009 v6 4x4, my clutch only lasted ~70k, and I bought the vehicle used at 69.5k. I probably could have gotten more out of it but i knew it was on the way out. Previous owner had installed a tow brake controller and was using it for a small business so I'm sure it saw some heavy use. I'm a MT newb but I know I didn't burn it out that fast

Prior the the repair there was a little bit of resistance in the pedal, and apparently these are somewhat notorious for eating through throw-out bearings. It would bite pretty high up, maybe half way. 1-3 seemed to work fine. 4-6 were only usable with gentle acceleration. I also live in a snowy area and have only been out a handful of times since it got icy, and one of those ended up in the ditch. I'll blame that one on me not knowing how to drive a RWD vehicle (No bed weight, no winter tires, thought I didn't need 4WD on). Upshifting was smooth once I figured out the ranges to rev match to. I don't notice the issues with rev hang people have. Downshifting is still a challenge unless I can go down 1 at a time.

Post repair the pedal has no resistance and the clutch bites right away. I'm still not used to it and have bucked or spun my wheels at stop signs a few times. Shifting is rougher because I need to learn to let it out smoother than I was used to.