Clunky Shifting 2001 2.7 Tacoma

I have an 01 2.7 4x4 w/240 000kms on it. It doesn't shift as smoothly as I think it should. I can get it to shift smooth if I really take my time with it. Its kind of thud or something when I shift. I searched some posts, but most of them are for hard shifting, which isn't the case for me. I would say its sometimes like when you don't quite get the clutch right and you let out and it thuds a bit. I have always driven a standard, so i dont think its me. Seems to happen when I let the clutch out and it engages the gear. Seems to be a little worse in the lower gears.
When my girlfriend drives it, it does it all the time ( ;

From what I have read, changing the gear box fluid to Amsoil GL4 or redline MT4 has helped others. I will try that, and if there is a tutorial for that somewhere, that would help.

Was curious if anyone had any other thoughts, and what I could check/test myself.

 

How many miles on the clutch? Might try bleeding the clutch master cylinder & slave cylinder. I'd also check u-joints as they can make some odd vibrations/sounds when they go bad.

 

Not sure. I am the third owner, last owner didn't do the clutch. Do it may be original. Ill look into your recommendations. Is the process difficult?

 

There's not many good reviews on first gen manual transmissions. A lot of people say they're kind of a clunky/dump truck transmission. I have exactly what you have OP, you nailed it on the head with your description. I can get it to shift smooth if I'm slow with it. If anyone has recommendations or solutions, I'll be glad to hear em.

 

Clutch isn't particularly hard (just removing the transmission is the worst). The worst part of removing the tranny is removing all the other parts: exhaust bracket, dust guard (or whatever those flimsy metal bottom covers of the tranny are called), starter, clutch slave cylinder, both shifters (they are actually easy, it is all the plastic interior stuff that you need to make sure you don't lose the screws to), both driveshafts (if 4x4), transmission crossmember and the 4 transmission bolts (17 mm if I recall). Get some VERY LONG extensions (4 feet of them i think is what I used) and remove the top two from the back side of the tranny using a swivel. Other than the labor to remove all that stuff, the only difficult part is the pilot bearing (you will need a slide hammer puller). If you are NOT going to resurface the flywheel, it is actually very quick to swap out the pressure plate and clutch assembly, plus the bearing on the transmission spline. IF you remove the flywheel, get new bolts for it. DO NOT reuse the originals as they stretch when they are torqued and are throw away items after that. I have some pictures if you need them. By far the hardest part for me was getting the transmission BACK on the motor. It took a bit of playing with the tranny assembly to get it lined back up and far enough on the pressure plate to fully seat to the block.

 

Also, my truck shifts fine. When it started getting clunky is when went ahead and changed the clutch. It is NOT a sports car, it won't be the smoothest shifting system out there, but it is definitely better after I put the new clutch in. If you are the 3rd owner, i'd change the clutch.

U-Joints - lay under the truck (with it off) and see if you can twist the driveshafts. If they move at all, I'd replace them. MUCH easier than the clutch. 8-10 bolts depending on if you have carrier bearing or not, and the driveshaft will fall off. Press the u-joint out, press a new one in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIzzAxS3gcU if you have the "slop" in that video - time for new u-joints.

 

Thanks for all that. I will take a look underneath and test the u joints. As for changing the clutch out myself, might be beyond my abilities

Ill try a few other things first before I look at clutch.

Next week I plan to change fluids so I will post here if that helps. I wonder what a clutch job will cost at a shop?

 

Okay. Here comes the stupid questions part of my post.

I went under the car, with it in neutral, and twisted the driveshaft. Whole thing moves back and forth about a cm when I twist it. Is this the proper way to test it? Should their be any motion in the driveshaft? Should I be testing it in gear? Sorry, but my mechanical skills are low, and its actually one of my goals to improve with this new to me truck.

 

We all gotta start somewhere. Best part of TW is that your questions will get answered no matter how dumb they might sound.

 

And in the video, I noticed they mentioned vibrations as a symptom. I feel like I have that when I am in higher RPMs.

 

Test it in gear. There should be no vertical or horizontal movement on the driveshaft. New u joints will not even twist (in gear). If the shaft, at the u joints, has play in it they are shot. I twist while watching the joint. You will see it move up, down or side to side if it is bad.

 

Prices vary... I was quoted between 500 and 800 at various shops. I bought the kit from rockauto.com for around 100 shipped. I swapped it in a few hours taking my time. I installed a new flywheel and new flywheel bolts at the same time.

I can disconnect and remove the tranny in 30 minutes or less using hand tools and a transmission jack. If I had to, I'd imagine I could complete the entire job in 1 to 1.5 hours. Give it a shot, it really isn't difficult at all. Just be patient. Not blowing smoke, I have only done 3 or 4 clutch changes with 75% being on some v8 mustangs.

Fluid change on a manual transmission won't do anything. It is there for lubrication, not in a hydraulic capacity as automatic transmissions operate. Tcase and rear axle fluid may help though.

 

There are some extremely knowledgeable folks around here, I have learned a lot just reading and asking questions. If you attempt it and get stuck, a few pictures and many members of TW cab probably point you in the right direction.

 

I pulled some pictures of my truck during my rebuild to help out if you want to tackle this task.

1. Remove the trim around the shifters and remove the shifters (gear shifter you press down and turn, 4x4 shifter remove the retaining clip (put it in 4 high) and pull the shifter out).


2. Remove the Starter, Clutch Slave Cylinder, lower dust cover, exhaust bracket (if you are using it - headers don't).
3. disconnect all the electrical connections (o2 sensors, t-case connection, etc).

4. put a jack under the transmission and lightly give it some of the tranny weight.
5. disconnect the driveshafts on the t-case (just remove the entire front driveshaft, it is easier) and transmission tail. (**note: you may have to remove the 2 bolts from the carrier bearing to get enough movement in the DS to disconnect it from the transmission)
6. remove the 4 bolts holding the transmission to the engine block.
7. remove the transmission cross member (4 bolts on the tranny and 4 bolts holding the cross member to the frame).
8. Remove the transmission using the jack and get it back far enough to give you room to work on the pressure plate, flywheel and disk.
9. Pull the clutch plate/pressure plate and clutch disk off. (6 bolts hold the pressure plate on)

(**sorry, but I don't have a picture of the back of the motor. I pulled the motor to rebuild it, so I didn't worry about the flywheel from underneath the truck).
10. Use a slide hammer puller to remove the pilot bearing. Drive in a the replacement evenly with a big socket or bearing driver.
11. **if removing the flywheel, do that now and resurface/replace it. USE NEW BOLTS!
12. Install clutch disk and pressure plates (some say what direction to install the disk, others don't. pictures during disassembly, help in reassembly). Use the alignment tool with your kit to line up the clutch disk with the pilot bearing.
13. Replace Carrier bearing and grease the transmission splines.

14. Bolt the Transmission back up and repeat steps 1-8 in reverse order.

I may have missed something, but it is fairly straight forward. This is all from memory, so again there may be something I am missing, but it wouldn't be major.

 

Does the gear shifter feel 'sloppy'? If so, then there is a nylon bushing at the lower end of the shift lever that can disentegrate over time. This can cause difficulty shifting. This is common in Toyotas, and is an easy DIY fix. The new bushing is likely under $10.

May not fix your particular problem, though, but worth looking at.

 

The shifter seat can also disintegrate too. Replacements for both can be found at marlin crawler. I did both on my 92 and 02 and they made a noticeable difference in shift feel.

 

I will change the fluid in the transfer case and rear axle first and see if that gets me anything. From there I will look at all the other suggestions. Shifter doesn't seem to be sloppy to me but I will investigate it.

Again thanks for the detailed instructions, they will come on handy should I have to tackle it.
I wish I knew the last time the clutch was done

 

I changed all my fluids and my truck still shifts like a dump truck. I think it's play in my carrier bearing and possibly u-joints

I found if you shift at 2500 or higher rpms with this 2.7 it shifts smoother and the driveline seems happier when you let the clutch out.

 

Yeah when I got my '04 last month I was pretty concerned that something was up with my manual transmission, I would describe it almost as a 'crunchy' shift at times...it never fails to go into gear but it isn't what I would call buttery smooth (like my previous Scion was). But it is a 12 year old truck with a reputation for not having the greatest feeling manual, so I'm not overly concerned anymore. I've gotten used to it and it doesn't bother me lately, if there was indeed something wrong with the transmission I imagine it wouldn't be something I could get used to. That and it's only got 25k miles on it so there shouldn't be any issue related to wear and tear.

I do intend on switching out the fluid with something recommended on here as that seems to have helped some people. I just take my time shifting and keep in mind that with a long clutch/shifter, trying to force it to go faster than it was designed to will only make it feel odd.

 

Let us know! I'm curious myself as I state above, I've gotten used to mine but if you're able to get your's to shift more smoothly I'd like to try out whatever it is that worked.