So i just got back from the toyota dealer because my car grinds when shifting to 4th gear. It usually only happens while under WOT and it is definitely not driver error because when i hold the clutch down completely sometimes it still grinds. Also, i've been driving manual since i was 15 and i never had any problems with the car i learned with and i drove it alot.

I'm not sure what the problem is because the same grinding happened 1st with 2nd gear going into 3rd. With the clutch to the floor i would shift and it would grind. After a while it went away, but then it started happening when going from 1st to 2nd. (This all happening with the clutch to the floor mind you)

Now, its happening with 3rd to 4th and idk what to do, the tech was being a jerk and was giving me an attitude saying my short shifter shouldn't be there and he wrote that i had a short shifter and my tires were bald when he documented it. I don't understand where he got that my tires are bald, as i just got brand new kumho asx's about 1k ago? So i'm pretty sure now my warranty is shot so what do i do? I heard about synthetic transmission fluid but will that help me? any input is appreciated!

 

Mine was doing that as well, mainly 1st to 2nd and once in a while to 3rd. I took it to the dealer and the mechanic said he sees nothing wrong, I took it to another dealer and said the same thing. I see you are from NJ I took mine to Morristown and Hillside just FYI. I don't know if for me it was just during the break-in period but now the shifting has been as smooth as ever on a consistent basis and I did not do anything to it. I kept all their paperwork and if anything would happen in the longrun I have proof I wanted to get it looked at but dealerships told me everything was fine. I can't complain now though. How many miles do you have?

 

Yea i took mine to the dealer near rahway off of rt.1. And I'm at 15k now. I have the paperwork also but the jerk tech wrote that my brand new tires are "bald" and that i have a short shifter so idk if toyota will fix it

 

Yea it's expected out of a dealership to come up with excuses. It's been talked about all over the boards of other people having shifting issues. Some people have had their whole transmissions replaced while others said changing the tranny fluid did it for them. I just can't stand it how they say nothing is wrong and a new car has these issues.

 

I'm angry that i was given an attitude when it's MY effing car and MY money going to them. It's so unprofessional. Clearly they are in the wrong and now I'm stuck with a faulty transmission and i don't know what to do.

 

It sounds like your 4th gear syncro is on its way out. At WOT the syncros take a lot more abuse to make the gear shift. Add in a a short shift and it makes it worse. Short Shifters are known to be hard on syncros.

The way it does this is it is speeding up the shift reducing the time the syncro has to make everything line up to make the shift.

You can try swapping out the shifter to OEM and going to another dealer.

I am not sure what the tires have to do with it.

Also, this doesn't mean that you entire warranty is shot, it just means anything they can link to the short shifter causing damage will not be covered.

If you are grinding, try double clutching when you can. It should save you from grinding.

 

if it was my shifting that caused the problems why wouldn't 2nd gear or 3rd gear go first? They have the most torque and seem like they're under the heaviest strain compared to 4th gear which is pretty mellow, even under WOT. And it doesn't grind consistently, just when i shift somewhat aggressively but i've had it even when shifting slowly

 

Yeah I forgot to put that in my post. It is weird that 4th is going. It could have had a defect that your short shifter made show up faster. Or you are doing more 3rd to 4th shifts than others, but I find that hard to believe.

Either way, to me it sounds like a syncro. I would say change your fluid, but you are only at 15k so I doubt that would do anything. It helped on my old car, but she had 155k on her.

I have 13k on mine right now, all I get is a slight jump in the stick on 2nd gear and another slight jump in 3rd. Although 3rd seems worse. And I am still on the OEM shifter.

But WOT grinding sounds like a syncro. I don't know why it would happen in 4th, but it is a very typical sign of a syncro going bad.

 

On the oem shifter it happened going from 2nd to 3rd a lot but it eventually went away and first to 2nd also grinded on the oem shifter. Now with my short shifter i believe I've only had problems with my 4th gear. Any idea on how much it would cost in total to change the synchros?

 

The other thing I was thinking is since you said WOT with a short shifter, maybe you are shifting the gear leaver too quickly. Not giving enough time for the syncro to line up the gears. Try WOT but with a slower shift.

Umm I think it will cost few hundred for the syncros, but you also have the labor for the transmission pull and all too. I have never had it done before, and I know on old cars people just swap out the transmission because it is overall cheaper. It isn't cheap. I would got back to OEM and see if another dealer would fix it for you. There is no reason short shifter or not, (unless you are beating the ____ out of your tranny 24/7) that you should be having this problem this soon.

 

When under WOT, it doesn't grind consistently but it almost never does when i shift slower.

I reallly don't wanna deal with that but I'm due for my 15k maintenance which includes a tranny fluid change so i'll see what that does. I don't think going back to oem would help though because the dealer documented it so doesn't that mean it's on toyota's file? and no i don't beat the ____ out of my tranny lol although at times i drive "enthusiastically", I don't beat on my car

 

i'm surprised nobody has said to call scion corporate. take pictures of your cars tires, show them a receipt for the purchase and installation of your tires, and tell them at your dealership is making up stuff to deny warranty coverage. that should get them in some serious trouble if you do. then you get your transmission fixed or replaced hopefully.

 

yea i took pics lol ill try calling them now thanks! If they don't cover it what should i do?

 

i called corporate and mentioned getting a lawyer a while back and complained to them about the dealer i go to. the dealer was callin me 4 hours after and sending me apology letters to my email and fixed the problem i was having. also the shop floors manager was a dick so i got him in trouble also. the service department gets paid by commision so they would try anything to get your car off the warranty to get money out of you. and i know this because i nearly worked there

 

my synchro was doing the same thing going into 5th. so they replaced my tranny for me. now only 4 months later the reverse idler has gone bad. so on monday i go in for another new tranny. i recommend putting your oem shifter back in and heading to another dealership.

 

Well my sister is a lawyer so i think that's a good threat I just called scion corp and they said they're getting a case manager to investigate further and to work with the dealer to fix my car. when he contacts me ill mention that my sister is a lawyer, maybe that will catalyze the process...

 

I can't put my oem shifter back in because the dealer noted that i have one. The grinding happened before my short shifter regardless but idk how i would prove that.

 

Double clutch it. It slows down your shifts but it should stop grinding.
How to double clutch
1) Push clutch
2) Pull from gear into neutral
3) release clutch
4) Push clutch
5) shift into next gear
6) release clutch

I can't image with 15k they will deny your claim. And if corporate gets on their butt correctly, I am sure they will want to fix it to resolve the situation to make nice with corporate again.

 

Yea I used to double clutch my friend's car with bad synchros and it worked but i don't want it to get that far, if need be ill get my sister involved but i don't want to

 

Taking a car to SOME mechanics is just a pain.

1) they think that you know nothing about your car.
2) if you are under the age of 25, they think that you're some F&F wannabe
3) they'll come up with ridiculous ways to blame something on you so that they don't have to fix it for free. (um... your headlights are not working because your tires are bald.)

So.... to counter that...

1) talk to the manager/supervisor
2) make sure they know that you know about cars.
3) tell them you think the syncro is screwed.
4) don't let them push you around.


Besides for this... don't really know what to tell ya.

Best of luck.