Strange clutch issues

Hello Tacoma World!!

I'm a new member with an '07 AC 2.7L 5-speed 4WD with about 89k on it. It's actually my Mom's truck. We have always been a family of Toyota truck owners. I learned to drive on an '89 Xtra-cab when I was 13. Since then I've owned an '87 4Runner, a '92 SR5 Xtra-cab, a '96 T100 and an '05 Tacoma DCSB. Now I drive an '01 Tundra. All of these vehicles had manual trannys except for the Tundra.

Anyway, I had a chance to drive her truck the other day for the first time in a while and noticed that the clutch has several issues that I don't think are normal. I tried a search on the subject but couldn't find anything similar to my problems.

First of all, upon really cold starts (under 10 degrees) I have to keep the clutch pedal depressed for about 10 seconds (in neutral), or else the engine will slowly come to a stall. Also the clutch only engages/disengages at the very top-end of the pedal stroke, and it feels like a very short window which makes it hard to get a smooth shift, especially from 1st to 2nd gear. I've been told that this is an indication that the clutch is going out, but the first time I noticed it was the last time I drove this truck about 20k miles ago, and it hasn't gotten any worse. So far, the clutch is not slipping and all the gears go in and out smoothly with out any grinding or grabiness. So, is this the normal clutch action for the 4cyl 5-speed?

When cruising at highway speeds around 65 mph and in the 2500-3500rpm range I am experiencing another bit of shifting weirdness... The engine RPMs are not dropping as soon as I depress the clutch pedal to shift up or down. It takes a solid 3 or 4 seconds before the RPMs drop on their own. Because of this, I complete my shifts faster than the time it takes for the revs to drop, so I have to ease the clutch back out so that the engine can adjust to the transmission speed without being slammed to hard(which is already tough enough because of the the short clutch window). However, if I take the engine RPMs up to 4000 or more they drop immediately allowing for a smooth quick shift...

I am really at a loss about this. I would take it to the dealership to have them look at it but my local dealership is moving and doesn't have any available appointments for another 3 weeks. Besides they already looked at it once while it was in for an oil change and said there is nothing wrong with it, which I highly doubt at this point. The only other Toyota mechanic I trust is 100 miles away. Has anyone else experienced this type of weirdness from their 2.7L 5-speed?

Thanks in advance for the help and suggestions!

 

It sounds to me like the only clutch problem you describe is engaging at the top of the travel. That is probably wear. The other problems sound like engine control problems.

 

The rev hang between 4th and 5th gears seems to be fairly common. I know mine does this if I am a fraction of a second too early pushing the clutch in while letting off the throttle. Took me over a year to figure out how to minimize the amount of time the revs hang, and it still does it if I'm tired or not paying attention. I did discover that if you unhook the battery for 10 minutes or longer it won't do this for the first hundred or so miles afterward.

I haven't had the issues with the engine coming to a stall on a cold start with the clutch disengaged. In fact it's just the opposite, cold starts usually result in the engine shooting up to 2100 rpms for about 5-10 seconds before finally coming down to ~1500 rpms, regardless of whether the clutch is engaged or disengaged.

The 1st to 2nd shift "crunch" is pretty common too. I try to avoid it by shifting early and slow, usually having to mini-blip the throttle before letting the clutch back out because the RPM's have dropped too low.

The 5-speed is a chore to drive, that's for sure.

 

Yeah the rev hang (which is a good way of describing it) is in 4th and 5th gears only. As long as I am cruising in the 2500-3500rpm range, take my foot off the gas and press in the clutch, the revs will initially jump up 200rpm and then kind of hang for three or four seconds before dropping... Feels very unresponsive. Why would the engine continue to rev even though I'm completely off the gas and in neutral? I suppose it could be some sort of engine management issue rather than the clutch, but looks like ecoterra experiences this too...

Just wondering if any other 2.7 owners can chime in on this if they've experienced or noticed the same thing. If you have no idea what I'm talking about then please let me know so I can keep looking into what I can do to get it fixed.

Thanks!

PS. This is an awesome Forum! A lot of nice looking Tacomas out there!!

 

It might be time for a throttle body cleaning, which should help the stalling and maybe the rev hang if it is worse than normal. Rev hang is normal with the throttle-by-wire system though. Clean the MAF at the same time.