Grinding Gears (Syncros?)

[carma143]

So twice in 2 days I have had it where I believe the syncros did not properly function. The first time occured where a Mercedes stopped in the middle of the street and I was forced to halt (3 seconds from 30mph). When I began to roll into 1st there was no issue. But when I tried transitioning to 2nd, there was that wall that stopped me from changing, accompanied with a loud grind and a vibration that traveled up my right arm.

Yesterday the same thing occurred, but when transitioning from 2nd to neutral.

I made sure in both cases that I had the clutch fully depressed.

I do have a 6 year warranty, in which I can get repairs at any repair shop or dealership at the original dealership's expense.
Any thoughts?

[gramicci101]

A bad syncro shouldn't keep you from shifting from a gear into neutral; it should only affect you when trying to shift into gear.

Double clutch from first to second and see what happens. If all of a sudden second goes in smoothly where it used to grind, you may have a bad syncro. If you're not familiar with the process, clutch in, shift first to neutral, clutch out. Clutch in, shift neutral to second, clutch out.

I had to figure this out when the second and fifth gear syncros shit themselves on my old 2.5RS.

[carma143]

Is it possible I have a bad clutch?

Edit: The incident where I was already moving and trying to transition to 2nd, what I ended up doing was releasing my foot from the clutch, then depressing it all the way, which allowed me to take the shifter out of 1st and place it in 2nd.

During the second incident I waited for the car to stop, and that allowed me to make the switch straight into first.

[radroach]

Was the car cold? Drivin less than 15 minutes in the cold?

When cold, I never force the shift 1st to 2nd. Ill put continual, soft force downward towards 2nd until the transmission lets me through nicely. Its either that or double clutch or just do my shift very slowly with a small rev in between. This is how I always warm up the car the first 5 mins of driving from a cold start.

[kodyo]

1st and 2nd will basically block you from shifting if you aren't rev matching or if the transmission is cold.

When you released the clutch in neutral, then pushed in clutch back in and shifted into second is called double clutching. When this happens to me, I do this or I'll blip the throttle and try to shift again and it usually sticks. Never try to force it into gear. Just do what I said above and you'll likely get it in gear.

If you haven't already, I'd swap trans fluid for Motul 300.

[ZZT86]

This gearbox is a real pest when cold, 1-2 & 2-3 are typical. When the gear oil warms up everything changes for the almost perfect gear change !

[SuperDave]

i've had this issue as well, even when the car is warmed up. is this covered by the powertrain warranty?

[ZZT86]

It should be smooth when warm. If not hassle Toyota for a fix.

[carma143]

Originally Posted by SuperDave

i've had this issue as well, even when the car is warmed up. is this covered by the powertrain warranty?

Both times occured after the oil temp was shown above the 1/2 way mark and in the afternoon. I don't shift all that quickly within the first minutes of startup (maybe 0.6 seconds disengaging to engaging).

[StayTrueSF]

I have the same issue. It feels like the clutch doesn't fully engage to let me into 2nd or 3rd. Also have trouble shifting smoothly. I let the tech test drive it and he said he couldn't do anything. Hoping to have another one drive it next service.

[aagun]

Use anther oil brands