Grinding in 3rd gear...what's going on?!
 

Hey all,

This has happened twice now, and I'm a little concerned because I cannot replicate the issue and the car is only 2k miles old.

The car is still young so I'm not abusing it or shifting/driving harshly. But on spirited driving when shifting from second to third, I thought I wasn't putting it into gear all the way and when I release the clutch I get a nasty grind. I step back on the clutch and bring it in to neutral, but it still grinds for a brief moment before letting go. This only happens on third so far.

I've driven stick my whole life and I've driven my car enough to know where third is, so it's not like I'm not used to where third should be. It almost feels like there's a lockout in third but when I'm not shifting I'm not going to granny shift and wait to make sure that it's in before moving on. That's what I've been doing lately just out of fear for my tranny, but come on, that's not any way to drive.

I know that until I can replicate it Toyota won't look at it. I don't have a whole lot of experience with these transmissions, so based on your guys' experience, am I alright? And has anyone else experienced this issue?

Thanks guys.

Hmm, I'm no expert nor have I encountered this grinding. But I wonder if it's from maybe air in the clutch lines? Especially if your speed shifting of some sort. The delay of the clutch disengaging and gear switching could cause the grind. I could be wrong but a possibility.

Oh I never thought about that. Thanks for your input. But would that cause this phenomenon in third gear exclusively? That sounds like it could affect all gears equally. But it's food for thought. I'll check the clutch lines this weekend.

Anyone else have other suggestions? I'm open to anything. I want to protect my baby :(

Look in the TSB's in this forum and you'll find that a lot of people's shifters and shifting experience from 3rd gear isn't all that great, or any gear for that matter...you may want to take it back to the dealer and explain your exact problem to them. I'm fairly certain there's a TSB for that.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...light=3rd+gear

Read.