I have had my 2005 xa for about 4 months now,8100k miles, and over the last few weeks the car seems to take a little more pressing of the gas to get it going. Then yesterday I started getting this odd clicking noise when I put it in second(sounds like it'coming from the pedals area) and there is about an inch of play in the gas pedal before it actually engages. I do alot of in town driving(about 90% of the total miles) but rarely drive that aggresively. Any idead's what the problem may be? I'm going to take it to the dealership today and see if they will look at it even though I think my dealer is horrible and will try to charge me for something that might not even be wrong so please give me any input as soon as possible.

Thanks.

 

All i can say is Warranty! Gotta love it (while it lasts)

 

That doesn't sound like a slipping clutch to me, but definately take it to the dealer for warranty work. Could be a throttle linkage problem, or something else, but your dealer should look at it free of charge. If they hassle you, contact Toyota ASAP. If your car is under warranty, they can't charge you for inspection (unless it's related to aftermarket parts, as in "Did I install my intake right?", etc)

Normally a slipping clutch will give off an odor which you'll notice first, followed by sluggishness and higher than normal rpms and lower than normal speeds. A great test for this is to cruise slowly (~20mph) and put it into 5th gear. Floor it. If the rpms go up and the speed doesn't, your clutch is slipping. If the car bogs down, then your clutch is still good.

Good luck, let us know the results

 

Seems unlikely to be your clutch. As the clutch wears down you should notice the engagement point move lower. If it hasn't been noticeable then it's unlikely. I tend to agree with DOHC, sounds more throttle related.

 

I took it down this morning and the service department was a totally different experience then the sales department was,they were very kind and actually seemed like they wanted to help me. They gave it about a 15 minute look-over and found nothing wrong. They blamed the sluggishness on the a/c being on but I rarely ever have the a/c on. At least if whatevers possibly wrong gets worse I have my word against theirs.

 

Just keep an eye on the clutch engagment point it seems to move then your clutch is wearing, possible at an accelerated pace, but it's hard to tell without being familiar with your driving style or your car.

The service dept can only do so much, they didn't know how your car behaved previously, so it's unlikely they'd be able to do much. When something really breaks then they can help out, but until then you're kinda on your own.

Just as a side note, perform a compression test and record the figures. Then if the power loss continues, go ahead and perform another compression test so you can see what's happening. It'll help you narrow down the problem. I'm betting it's not the engine, but the more data you have the better.