6MT in 3rd Gen. MTF Choices

You can try pumping the clutch a couple times to warm up the fluid somewhat or let the engine warm up a few minutes before driving.

 

I've got three quarts of this oil on order, too, since the 1-2 shift is very balky (especially in the cold) unless you wait FOREVER between clutching in and moving the lever to 2nd. All these people that say "you gotta shift it faster!" I dunno what they're on about. You shift it too fast and it's like the shifter is hitting a brick wall.

 

I come from the EVO X world and the manual transmissions were known to be quite notchy as well. I just picked up my taco yesterday and it feels similar to the evo in terms of notchiness. A common solution for the evo was to swap the fluid with a redline cocktail which consisted of mixing redline mtl with mt90. I forget the exact ratio but it helped a lot. Coupled that with a stick style shift knob and it was good to go. Not sure it would cure the tacoma but might be worth looking into

 

im not sure what you are referring to by hitting a wall. If you're confusing fast shifting with power shifting then I might agree. Maybe you're not lining up the slot properly.

 

1st to 2nd takes more finesse, and yea it takes forever when it’s cold. But the rest of the shifts I can do better if I do quick shifts. I definitely cannot shift this like a race car

 

I find my 1st to 2nd doesn't block me as well as it should. I can intermittently feel it roll over one or two gear teeth as it's engaging 2nd, even with the clutch to the floor. Do you guys feel the same thing? At first I was thinking defective synchro, but I've read quite a few others calling the 1-2 shift "notchy". I'm planning to try shifting quicker as recommended earlier in the thread to see if that helps.

 

For what it's worth , there's a lot of first time truck owners on here, first time manual transmission truck owners on here, and I guess the majority are new to the 3rd gen motor on here. So I'd take the "notchy" comments with a grain of salt.

From first to second under normal acceleration I have zero issues at all. Never had. Not even going to bring up break in time because people will read it wrong.

Under hard acceleration I do cut the throttle a moment early, pause for a longer fraction, then pop the clutch and shift. It help eliminate the severe rev hang that can take place. I've had great luck with it.

Not saying there are never issues, but I feel sometimes this site give folks Munchausen syndrome

 

My daily driver for the last 14 years was a manual. Have driven at least a dozen other manual-transmission vehicles from friends, family, etc. ranging from a 1989 F-250 to modern vehicles. If this was a clapped out truck with 300,000 miles on it, I wouldn't have such high expectations, but it ain't. Less than 1000 miles on my Tacoma. Here's what is getting my goat, just for the record:

• When shifting from 1-2 (with the clutch fully in of course), when the tranny is cold, I have to maintain pressure for a relatively long time on the lever when pushing it into 2nd gear until (I assume) the synchros do their blankity-blank job. Doesn't matter if you're driving like a grandpa or hustling. For all the other gear changes, the gear lever just falls into the gear I'm selecting, no hesitation or difficulty getting it into the next gear. The problem goes away when the tranny warms up. I suspect it's an oil issue: not enough friction for the synchros, or maybe the dealership guy that ferried my new truck did something that damaged the tranny while driving the truck ~300 miles to deliver it to me.
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• Sometimes can't get it into 1st, even at a dead stop. I never try to shift from 2nd to 1st when moving. The trick is, of course, to shift back to neutral and let the clutch in to spin the tranny again and hope for a better engagement... With every manual I've driven I occasionally encounter this, but it's happened way more times with my Tacoma than any other vehicle I've driven.

The rev hang is annoying, but that's not a transmission issue -- that's engine programming.

 

Pretty much exactly what I feel sometimes, and exactly how I would describe it as well. I'm at 30K and have 3 quarts of the Ford stuff on its way. Its not a huge issue and shifts pretty well regardless. I think they simply got 1st gear a bit too low and too spread from 2nd. Meanwhile 4th and 5th don't quite have enough spread.