Hi I just bought an used TC not long ago and its my first manual car....after driving the TC for a while I still have some question that needs someone to answer..

1, My friend told me that when he is reaching a red light or stop sign he will shift to netural without pressing the clutch. I tried it today and when I'm on 3rd/4th gear it isn't smooth as expected. Pressing the clutch and shift to netural seems much smoother and no any lagging. Anyone know the reason and will this kind of shifting hurt the transmission??

2, My friend shift gears every 2,000 RPMS, he said it will increase the gas mileage. Is this true?

3, It is very stiff to shift, I guess the previous changed to aftermarket clutch kit or maybe TRD racing clutch? But if the clutch needs to be replace will it make the shifting very stiff?? I drained the oem gear oil and fill some Redline MT-90 manual transmission oil for smoother shifting and it's still the same, so I afraid it is time to replace the clutch.

4, How much around to replace a bad clutch synchro??? Is it a really tough job?

5, My car already installed TRD muffler and TRD cold air intake when I bought this car, I found out the cold air intake filters are extremely dirty. Will dirty filters make the car sounds wierd??


I'm a broke college student and don't have $$ to have mechanic inspection. Please help me out .
Thanks for reading the whole question. Any input would be greatly appreciated!







.

 

ALWAYS USE YOUR CLUTCH. if that were the case why would the clutch be there??

you can shift at whatever RPM every car is different. when im driving and driving normally I shift between 2-3k rpm.

dirty filters won't make the car sound weird but is good to clean out or change to new filter

 

1. Sure, you CAN shift to neutral without using the clutch, but there's not much of a point to it. You have to be at the right RPM to do it without screwing up your transmission though. That's what I've heard. I would use the clutch anyway, better safe than sorry.

2. Shifting lower will increase your mileage, but 2000 is pretty low. I think shifting that low puts stress on your engine, kind of like starting in 2nd or 3rd.

3. Not sure about this, but I don't think a dirty filter would make it sound weird.

i can't confirm these. Maybe someone with better knowledge can.

 

Clean your filter if you want to save gas mileage. Use your clutch pedal to get in AND out of gear. How many miles are on the car. With normal to aggressive driving you may not have to replace it still. There isn't really any power adders to make the clutch lose life unless the previous owner was horrible to the car.

 

62000 miles. I'm the third owner. The second owner drives 45k miles in 2 years so I dont know. But my clutch ( both hand and foot pedal ) are very heavy compare to my friend's 09 TC





.

 

Use the clutch to shift into any gear and even neutral. Its locked in gear when the clutch is not engaged. Your gonna mess things up if you dont engage the clutch when you shift evan into neutral. Shift from 2500-3000rpms for best mileage, 2000 is really low at. If your cruising at 2k rpms thats cool but downshift if you need to get on it.

 

1 always use the clutch not using it will cause damage to the tranny (pretty sure the synchro's)

2 shifting at a lower RPM should increase gas mileage however it depends on how hard to accelerate to that RPM also.

3 stiff to push the clutch or move the gear selector?

4 never had to change a synchro but I know it will be a pain in the ___ and prob not cheap. Why are you asking anyway?

5 no a dirty air filter will not cause it to sound weird. clean it and you will get a little better gas mileage. What do you mean by sound weird?

 

Its stiff to push both the clutch and move the gear selector. Also My friend has TRD muffler in his car the sound is different to mine. Maybe I got cai. When he drives my car he said it sounds like turbo car. I dont really like the sound and I think it is annoying. ( similar to the noise from broiling water )




/

 

The clutch should still be fine at 62K miles.

 

any more questions?

 

thanks for the input. I just replaced the gear fluid so it won't be problem. How much to fix misaligned cable or bad syncros.

 

however much a new tranny costs

 

While it is entirely possible to drive a manual tC without using the clutch I would NEVER EVER do this. Use the clutch. A stock clutch is incredibly light and feels like a toy compared to a lot of other cars.

Shift at 3k RPMs for best gas mileage on a straight road. You dont want to load the engine too much, as this will decrease gas mileage and engine life.

A dry intake filter probably wont make the car sound any different.

Synchros... should not cost anywhere near the cost of a new transmission... but its not an easy job. You probably should take it to a good mechanic or the dealership.

 

synchros are never changed when they go bad, new tranny is in order when that happens

 

$3869.10 to replace the transmission, clutch, and bearing set.

or

$2,200 if you just want the one single synchro replaced

 

its a lose lose at that point. i didnt know they actually replaced synchros, but guess most people that have synchro problems choose to get anew tranny

 

my transmission rebuild was about 1500 dollars in labor alone. parts is another story.

 

how much were the parts drax and what were they

 

thanks for the reply guys..i still have 2 month warranty left ( warranty from private company ) Should i go to scion dealership and have it check? It will run me $150 if nothing wrong. Or should i just go to dealership to do oil change and have a free quick inspection.




.

 

parts were roughly another 300. the problem was mainly having to do with 5th gear. rest of the transmission was fine so no other new parts were in the rebuild.