5 speed clutch/transmission diagnosis

[1blink]

1997 sr5, 5 speed manual transmission, 204,000 miles. Likely the original clutch.

Symptoms:
1. Clutch chatter, seems like a warped pressure plate. Comes and goes. This, I can live with.

2. Once or twice a month she slips out of 1st gear into neutral. Only when I am just barely getting moving out of the parking spot.

3. Unable to downshift to 1st unless speed is below 5mph. Difficult to shift to reverse until you shift to 3rd or 4th first.

4. Squeaking from the slave cylinder/clutch fork contact point.

5. While shifting between gears, sometimes a faint grinding noise is heard with the clutch depressed. As soon as the clutch is let off, it goes away, even if let off in neutral. Gear position does not affect the grinding, if the clutch is still in it continues, even if you move the gear shift from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.

I have tried:
New Toyota master and slave cylinder. Bled the clutch line. Greased the contact point between the slave and clutch fork. Set the pedal height to max extension. This improved symptom #4 and #5 somewhat, but neither went away entirely.

I also tried draining/refilling the transmission fluid. Replaced with Mobil1 75w 90 synthetic. This had no effect on my symptoms.

Where do I go from here?
I am leaning towards ordering a new clutch kit from Marlin Crawler, as well as a new shifter seat and bushing for the shifter arm. Alternately, I could get OEM parts. Which is the better way to go?

Am I on the right track to resolving my problem with replacing the clutch? The clutch has never slipped on me, but I think it may be time anyway to replace it. Especially if the grinding is caused by a bad clutch, and could be doing damage to my transmission. Is a new clutch fork likely to resolve my squeaking at the contact point between slave and clutch fork?

 

[1blink]

Host server, shape up!

 

[Kurtis]

1997 sr5, 5 speed manual transmission, 204,000 miles. Likely the original clutch.

Symptoms:
1. Clutch chatter, seems like a warped pressure plate. Comes and goes. This, I can live with. 2 Possibilities, warped or you have a contaminant on the pressure plate( (remain seal, leaking valve cover gasket) Warped pressure plate= improper clutch wear. When you replace the clutch, either get a new pressure plate or have the old one resurfaced.

2. Once or twice a month she slips out of 1st gear into neutral. Only when I am just barely getting moving out of the parking spot.

3. Unable to downshift to 1st unless speed is below 5mph. Difficult to shift to reverse until you shift to 3rd or 4th first. The 5MPH thing is normal for me. Reverse will not engage if it was in 5th before going into reverse. Make sure you are not going into 5th accidentally.

4. Squeaking from the slave cylinder/clutch fork contact point.

5. While shifting between gears, sometimes a faint grinding noise is heard with the clutch depressed. As soon as the clutch is let off, it goes away, even if let off in neutral. Gear position does not affect the grinding, if the clutch is still in it continues, even if you move the gear shift from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. Possibly the throw out bearing?

I have tried:
New Toyota master and slave cylinder. Bled the clutch line. Greased the contact point between the slave and clutch fork. Set the pedal height to max extension. This improved symptom #4 and #5 somewhat, but neither went away entirely.

I also tried draining/refilling the transmission fluid. Replaced with Mobil1 75w 90 synthetic. This had no effect on my symptoms.

Where do I go from here?
I am leaning towards ordering a new clutch kit from Marlin Crawler, as well as a new shifter seat and bushing for the shifter arm. Alternately, I could get OEM parts. Which is the better way to go?

Am I on the right track to resolving my problem with replacing the clutch? The clutch has never slipped on me, but I think it may be time anyway to replace it. Especially if the grinding is caused by a bad clutch, and could be doing damage to my transmission. Is a new clutch fork likely to resolve my squeaking at the contact point between slave and clutch fork?

See above for answers. Sounds like a mix of symptoms (some may be nothing). Not all point at one thing but to me it sounds like you are in need of a new clutch.

 

[Frey]

Update?

1blink, how did you make out? Did you wind up replacing your clutch? I'm about to replace mine and I'm curious, did you do the work yourself? If not, how much did it cost you? Get the Marlin clutch or stock?

 

[1blink]

1blink, how did you make out? Did you wind up replacing your clutch? I'm about to replace mine and I'm curious, did you do the work yourself? If not, how much did it cost you? Get the Marlin clutch or stock?

I did replace the clutch about a month ago. I discovered that the pivot bearing was thrashed...missing a few of the balls. The throwout bearing did not spin smoothly either. The clutch fork was worn at the point where it contacted the slave cylinder, so I replaced it too. Squeaking from the contact point had clued me in to that. The shifter seat bushing needed replacing (buy the nylon one from marlin crawler). Replacing the bushing really tightened up the sloppy shifter action. I did the work myself, with help from a friend. I bought the Marlin crawler kit, paid the standard price on their website.

I also discovered that I was leaking a bit of gear oil from the front main seal on the transmission. This could have thrown oil on the pressure plate, contributing to chatter. I replaced that seal, along with the rear main seal on the engine while i was down there. Bought the seals and FIPG (red for transmission, black for oil) from the local dealership.

 

[xdfhnvhu]

Once or twice a month she slips out of 1st gear into neutral.

 

[KSWAY]

Make sure to rent a Transmission jack. It makes the job 10x easier when reinstalling the transmission. I wasted a retarded amount of time trying to line up the trans without the Trans jack when I did mine. :redbrick:

 

[Frey]

I did replace the clutch about a month ago. I discovered that the pivot bearing was thrashed...missing a few of the balls. The throwout bearing did not spin smoothly either. The clutch fork was worn at the point where it contacted the slave cylinder, so I replaced it too. Squeaking from the contact point had clued me in to that. The shifter seat bushing needed replacing (buy the nylon one from marlin crawler). Replacing the bushing really tightened up the sloppy shifter action. I did the work myself, with help from a friend. I bought the Marlin crawler kit, paid the standard price on their website.

I also discovered that I was leaking a bit of gear oil from the front main seal on the transmission. This could have thrown oil on the pressure plate, contributing to chatter. I replaced that seal, along with the rear main seal on the engine while i was down there. Bought the seals and FIPG (red for transmission, black for oil) from the local dealership.

Thanks for the info! I wound up having a local shop swap my clutch. I just didn't have the time or the right tools to get it done. Got a heck of a deal from a guy that does good work, though... And most importantly, it's back in action! :thumb: