KayySchultz

Hello there, I bought my 07 manual tc in July. No crazy problems until the winter hit.
She just sat for 21 days and it snowed a foot or so. Everything was working fine, but over the past few days she has started to not shift into gear.
At first it felt sticky but not crazy hard to shift and today it got to the point of not being able to get the stick to get into any gear without me being scared I'm going to break it. Have not felt a difference in the clutch's resistance. When I stop its next to impossible to get it into first. When I slow down I have to slow to the point of getting her into second and work my way back up, initially getting her into second is a pain but its then slightly easier to work back up. Please help I have no clue what to do and don't want to pay a bunch of money to fix something that doesn't need to be fixed
If you have questions that might help diagnose I'll answer to the best of my ability. Thank you!

bbsciontc

I think first you need to rule out if its a clutch issue or not. If you can come to a stop while you're in gear with the clutch pedal down and the engine doesn't stall, then you're clutch is probably working.

The only other thing to try is changing the gear oil. It's possible that someone had put in the wrong oil (or maybe it even leaked out somewhere). You need a proper 75W90 GL-4 gear oil. These are not easy to find in stores, but can be found online. Generally, Redline's MT90 is the proper spec for this transmission; however, if you are in a colder climate, you may have better performance with their MT85 product which should stay a bit more fluid in the winter. Of course, you can always go with the OEM Toyota fluid as well.

In any case, make sure you don't have any leaks. There should be ~2.5-2.7 quarts in the trans, so that's how much should come out if you choose to drain and replace it.