Hi everyone! I have a 2008 Scion xD 5speed MT that I purchased in July 2008. I have just under 19,000 miles on her. So far no problems and she runs great!

Just a few days ago I noticed that shifting out of 1st from a stop and also from 1st to 2nd that my car will shudder as if I'm either popping the clutch or not giving enough gas. No problems shifting into any other gears and this is only a sporadic problem. Sometimes it doesn't do it and sometimes I have to really ride the clutch and rev up on the gas in order to avoid that shudder. Othertimes it seamlessly goes into 1st gear like normal.

Anyone have any experience with this? I've never had a slipped clutch so I don't know what to look for. The engine sounds normal and isn't revving any higher or lower than normal (normal RPM range on the Tachometer).

If it's the clutch it won't be covered under warranty (or so I'm told). I saw the TSB that was posted on here for clutch squeaking, but my clutch doesn't/hasn't ever squeaked. A mechanic can only diagnose the car if it's doing it when I bring it in, but it's a sporadic issue.

Any advice?

Thanks!

 

At 19k miles that's odd unless Your a complete noob and don't know how to drive stick LOL
When my old clutch went out I would be trying to speed up And my Rpms would Rev up and the car wouldn't speed up.
Go on the highway and do a pull from 3rd till redline see if u get that effect. Also does this problem happen when the trans is hot or cold?

 

I'm definitely not a noob! But I wonder if maybe I haven't been driving stick correctly all of these years...you know, got into bad habits that I wasn't aware of or if I'm just being lazy in my shifting (I don't think so but it's always a possibility).

I notice this issue mostly when the transmission is hot.

I've been on the freeway several times when my car was doing the weird shudder (btw 1st and 2nd, and stop and 1st) and there was no issue accelerating onto the freeway (I take it to 4.5-5.5 RPM in 3rd to get up to Speed when entering the freeway).

Thanks for your reply! Maybe something is just loose? IDK...I don't know enough about clutches. :-/

 

my tc has been doing this since the day i got it with 15 miles. i have been wondering the same thing for 2 years now...not a clutch slippage i dont think...ive done the 2nd to 3rd redline test a few dozen times to make sure. seems to happen after i have been driving the car all day, park it for a tiny bit, then drive again. very weird, so ill be interested in knowing what this could be!

 

Yes, that's what happens to mine now! When it's cold it doesn't do it, but when it's warm or after I've driven it and then stopped to park to run into the store and then I come back out to drive it, the weird shudder happens! I'm happy to know I'm not alone and that it doesn't seem to be a clutch issue!

I hope someone can shed some light on this. I plan to take it into the shop if it continues to do it or it starts happening more frequently.

 

it happens on all of them the more you drive the warmer everything gets and then it all becomes more loose fit and relaxed compared to when its cold mine does it to little more gas when taking off helps but theres nothing you can realy do its slowely starting to go away as i put more performance parts on and realy there just cheaper little cars so you cant realy ask for much from them other than nice gas mileage and looking pretty cool lol

 

Thanks mixD! So it's not a problem that needs to be fixed...just more of an annoyance? And it's normal for it to start to do this as you put more miles on it?

 

yeah i have just about 11000 on mine and i feel it here and there but from my years with working with cars its like that on most cars that have little power they tend to get tired of pulling all the weight around and its a way of the car saying im tired lol

 

Clutch slippage is usually worse in cold weather. Also, it will slip more at max torque. These engines put out next to no torque off the line. If your clutch slips, it will likely be at high RPMs under a good load (foot to the floor) and what happens is that the engine will rev up but the car will not speed up.

What you are experiencing is the crude clutch that these cars have. No problem on your end. My Golf had a goofy clutch and nothing fixed it until I replaced it with a Sachs clutch from a VR6 and a flywheel from a supercharged Corrado. My Golf was putting out over 200 pounds of torque at just 1,900 RPMs, so that's why I needed the upgrade.

 

i kinda have the same problem, i feel that sometimes when im on 1st gear, and i start pressing the gass and letting the clutch out, the 1st gear jumps or soemthing liketaht to get in the right position, i havent had any otehr problem with the trans,ition, my rpms are normal, and it happns rarely, thats why im didnt pay that much attention to it, but im always ontop of my car, everys single noise, i look into it...but i think its soemthing normal,m for now, i havent had any problem.

 

mine does that too. only when taking off from a stop, and rarely at that. it feels like something is grabbing and releasing very quickly, like the clutch is slipping but also catching. I just put the clutch in and keep going. Who knows.

 

I have the same problem starting off in 1st gear after driving awhile. Took it to the dealer this morning. They said the flywheel had "hot spots" and I should get a new clutch plate. I said okay. Hopefully this will take care of the problem. I love my car. 08.

 

flywheel had some hot spots, causing the clutch to slip.
replaced clutch, pressure plate and throw out bearing. machined fly wheel. topped off transmission fluid with 2qts of gear oil.

end result==feels like a new car again.