Manual Transmission Problems - 2005 Tacoma 4 Cyl. Manual 4x4

200,000 miles+ without much to grieve over until last night on a road trip. The gears became hard to shift into. It was to the point it would actually take some strength to put the truck into another gear, but would drive fine once in gear.

The lower gears are virtually impossible. I cannot put it in first gear with the engine on or it will stall - even with the clutch all the way down. If I turn the engine off with I can put the truck in first, but as soon as I start the engine it wants to take off (even with the clutch fully down). Reverse is the same. Once I am moving, with some force I can shift through the higher gears.

Anyone ideas on what the issue is?

 

My 04 clutch cylinder went bad around 200k. Does the clutch feel normal? It was like a $50 dollar part from Napa.

 

While I have never had an issue like this it sounds more like the clutch to me than the transmission.

Curious what you find out and best of luck.

 

check the master and slave. sounds like the clutch isn't doing it's job.

 

Contaminated fluid is dark and won't work right. Turkey baster the reservoir add new clean fluid, drive it and repeat. Flushing clutch fluid on aged cyls. can be problematic.

 

It could be one of the hydraulic parts, slave or master cylinder, logical place to start since the issue started suddenly. If it's the original clutch, it probably needs to be replaced. I got about 140K miles out of my last Toyota truck clutch. At higher RPMs a good driver can shift gears without the clutch. Not recommended, but doable.

 

Is your truck trying to move forward on its own even when the clutch is fully depressed when you try putting it in gear? When mine did this it was also very difficult to get into gear and it ended up needing a new clutch.

also, is there any leaking fluid in the cab below the clutch pedal? If so, this would point to a clutch master cylinder thats on its way out