gularti

Hi Everyone,

New to the forum. Hoping for some advice from experienced members.

2013 Scion tC with TWM short shifter and upgrade bushings. Had a TRD short shifter before and it wasn't the greatest so I went to the full replacement as I've had TWM in all my other cars.

Noticed a couple concerns with my transmission:

1 - When car is cold, 2nd gear is hard to get into, almost "rough" regardless of short shifter or stock shifter

2 - My transmission wines in gear. It's quite noticeable and I had a shop take it for a drive and they immediately said "that isn't good". If you're in gear, you hear it and when you engage the clutch or in neutral - it's dead quiet.

3 - On days around 0 degrees, I can literally here once I come off the clutch into gear, a noise under the car. Best way I can describe it is you can "hear" the car going into gear. It's one of those things though that some times it's obvious, and others its not. Dealer has looked at it 3x and they state "we aren't willing to tear apart a tranny to find something that isn't there".

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With these 3 issues, I'm really concerned about my tranny. Car only has 65,000km and i have the extended warranty package. I'm afraid that going into the dealer again with an obvious problem that they can hear will just lead to "oh, you have a short shifter, we won't touch it since you did a mod" and then they'll find any way not to help with my warranty.

Any suggestions or advice? Thanks everyone.

J450NN4ME

I hear noises when I have the car in 1st gear and the clutch fully depressed (like when I'm looping around in parking lots looking for a space). I took it to the dealer and asked them if this was an issue. They told me that the first gear and reverse are running on their own independent synchronizer. There is a second synchronizer that is engaged when you go past 1st gear. When you are in 2nd gear or higher, both synchronizers spin but when you are in 1st or reverse then only one of them is spinning (makes sense right, first gear and reverse are right there on top of each other).
He told me that someone else had mentioned this noise to him and he ran a check for bulletins for me. He pulled up some document or schematic that discussed this dual synchronizer system and he communicated it to me. I don't know a ton about transmissions but I was happy enough at least with him telling me there is a known reason for the noise and it is not a mechanical issue that indicates damages or malfunction.
I don't know how many (if any) of those issues that intel might speak to, but I hope it helps. I'm sure as you were installing the quick shifter(s) you could hear the car moving in and out of the gears as you move that upward facing pin around. That would have given you the ability to hear what it is doing as it goes through gears in the absence of your clutch, your engine, belts, pulleys, fans, imaginary voices...etc. If you heard hard knocking or strange noises you would have noticed something awry at that time.
take it to the dealer, get them to document your concern, have them check it out. If you do that and they don't seem bothered then you can probably relax, either way- get them to document the complaint while it is still under warranty.

HOODedDutchman

Your throw bearing is gone. Common issue I think there's a tsb for it. If ur still under warrantee go to dealer. They will replace ur transmission. Take ur short shift parts off first tho.

Basebllstar

1. Sometimes the gears get temperamental. Every once in a while if I'm stopped it's hard to find first, but if I drop it in 2nd I find I can go to first flawlessly.

2. I hear a very feint whine sometimes. Usually in low gears at high rpms. This may be a problem depending on the magnitude of the whine.

3. I can hear my gears engaging. Seems to be normal.

J450NN4ME

In your honest opinion, does any presence of a whining noise mean the throw bearing is bad? Like, should I take mine in while it's still under warranty just because I have a first gear whine? And, is the throw bearing also called a "throw out bearing"?

Basebllstar

Yes, throw bearing and throw-out-bearing are interchangeable.

IMO, the whine I hear is the synchro. When a TOB goes, you hear the whine/chirp in neutral and it'll go away with the clutch in.

But hey, if you're under warranty, there's really no good reason not to take it in and have it looked at.