mikalcarbine

My girlfriend's 2007 tC's gears have been slowly getting harder and harder to get into gear. I realized I was a little behind on the fluid change so I just changed that out with Amsoil 75w90 manual trans fluid and it didn't seem to help.

I started to think it may be from slop in the shifter assembly and it "missing" getting into gear, I had her wiggle the shifter and I saw that the bushings on the transmission end had a huge amount of slop. I changed those out with some Torque Solution bushings.
It definitely tightened up the shifter "feel" but the gears are still feeling crunchy/resistant to get into, especially 4th. There might be a little slop left in the console shifter bushings but I don't think this is the problem

She said some days it feels fine and others it doesn't. I've tried double clutching while driving and that doesn't seem to help. With the engine off it goes between gears very smooth. I think this would indicate something with the synchros, clutch or master/slave cylinder
but I'm not sure where to start. If the master/clutch had to be bled or was losing pressure, could that be cause these symptoms? She has 150k miles and is pretty easy on the transmission

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62Fender

First thing I'd do is check for leaks on the ground where the car is parked. Then I would eyeball the brake & clutch master cylinder (all one unit) for leaks. I'd also inspect the clutch slave cylinder for leaks. If either is visibly leaking, it's likely the slave and probably needs to be replaced. If by chance the master cylinder is leaking, it probably needs to be replaced as well.

If you don't see any leaks, I'd consider bleeding the clutch slave line, particularly if a recent brake service included fluid change. It's easy to bleed air from brake lines but service techs might not think to bleed the clutch line.

If bleeding the slave cylinder line doesn't help, you can adjust the pedal linkage but that's likely not your original problem. Do you notice a burning smell when the clutch is at operating temperature? If so, your girlfriend may need a new clutch.

mikalcarbine

She called me today from work saying it wouldn't get into gear, when she limped it home I tried driving it but it wouldn't go into any of the 5 gears while running. I shut it off to get it into gear, started it while it was in first and with the clutch pedal down all the way and it was lurching as in gear. I did a quick visual on the slave, going to give it a better look once it cools down. I'm hoping it's the master/slave. If there aren't any visible leaks can they still fail internally?

No stinky clutch, no slipping

62Fender

I'm hoping it's an air bubble in your clutch line. Yes, master cylinders can leak internally but it's not common. Good luck with the fix.

mikalcarbine

Ugh, so I bled the clutch and ended up replacing the salve. Readjusted everything and took it for a spin and it worked great. Went out later to move the car into my driveway, started it up, depressed clutch and went through all gears no problem. I let go of the clutch and depressed it again and boom, can't get into any gear. I ended up replacing the MC as well. I bench bleed each cylinder and I've bled the entire system.

The fork throw at the slave push rod before and after replacing the cylinders is 1/2"-5/8" can someone please verify this is normal? I want to be entirely sure nothing is wrong with my hydraulic system or pedal adjustment before dropping the transmission! I can't find specs for this anywhere in the FSM

62Fender

Pedal adjustment might involve replacing springs and or bushings. Toyota recommends removing the clutch pedal assembly to adjust it.