lomtonholligan

Hello all, new member and new to the Scion life. Army dude stationed in the Quad Cities, bought a Scion as I was sick of being a one car family and wanted the simplicity and reliability of the engine and figured the manual tranny would be even more reliable.

Bought from used dealer last weekend, some issues with body here and there that I'll be dealing with (will make a post hopefully), but have some more pressing questions about the behavior of it's transmission that I was hoping some more experienced Scion drivers may be willing to help a brother out. Have some questions on the transmission that I asked on Reddit but figured this would be a better place. Hello all, recently purchased a used 2006 Scion Xa with a manual transmission and have some questions on the transmission as I haven't driven one consistently in years and am the type to worry about issues. This week I will replace trans oil (pre-purchase inspection mechanic assumed that it had original oil and should be changed ASAP (110k miles). Now for my observations and issues:

• The clutch pedal is rather heavy, I understand there is no way to adjust the weight. Would swapping out master or slave cylinders lighten things up for my left leg?
• Best way I can describe the transmission is "notchy."
• Slight grind into 3rd gear the other day (once), though my technique may have been the issue as I still feel rusty and haven't gotten my rhythm back yet. I did start double clutching (had only been granny shifting in the past) since I heard it is easier on the tranny and have not had an issue with 3rd while moving since.
• I've been having some weird issues with shifting out of 1st gear. It is sometimes very difficult to get out of first gear and it really pops back when I do get it back to neutral (when I am experiencing the reluctance to move out of first, otherwise it moves out of first smoothly). Though I have some suspicion that this may be due to my rustiness with manuals and me trying to pull it into neutral before the clutch is all the way in. This happens maybe once in every 10-20 times in first gear. Not really any pattern as to when it's cold or warm, biggest commonality may be my attention not being as on shifting as it should be.
• Question: While in neutral with the engine off I can press the clutch and cycle through the gears, not the smoothest of transmissions but it does move through all the gears. However, after coming to a stop at a light with the engine running, if I go to cycle through all the gears just for ____s and giggles while waiting for the light like I used to with my old BMW 318is I had in college there is behavior that I am not used to. First will slip right in, then I can easily slide into second - but if I try to continue the pattern through all the gears (clutch depressed the entire time) it's as though there is a wall preventing me from sliding into 3rd or 4th gear (didn't try to continue and slide into 5th or reverse). Once the light turns and I accelerate I have zero issues shifting into 3rd, 4th, or 5th gears. Is this a normal thing that I just have never noticed before? I know sometimes the car needs to roll to get the gears aligned for shifting, I just don't recall this being a thing in past vehicles, though my experience is limited to an old BMW, a diesel van while deployed in Central America, and an old Saturn vue.

Through my research, I am hoping that swapping the oil with the recommended redline will smooth everything out. I had suspicion that the clutch is not fully disengaging, but I tried the old see if it'll move in neutral when hitting the gas and I did not get any forward movement.

Hoping that some folks with more extensive and recent standard transmission experience may be able to help me out given these symptoms.

Thanks in advance! - Mike

LULU

The heaviness of disengaging the clutch could be either you have to get used to it again, or the former owner could have used an aftermarket stage 1 clutch or higher performance. The TRD clutch was a 10% more pressure but with minor increase in clutch resistance. Change the transmission fluid to synthetic 75W90 depending on the climate. From your description, I would also look to replace and bleed the brake fluid DOT 3 or 4 synthetic. Seems there is some air in there. The shifting issues from 1st to 2nd is indicative of wear and tear on the transmission. Usually a syncro issue. Hope this helps out.

MileHightC

Answers below...

lomtonholligan

LULU & MileHightC, appreciate the insight, thank you for taking the time to respond to a new member's question!

I'm going to be changing the gear oil tomorrow and have an appointment for Wed with the best transmission shop in the area who are going to check it out and let me know if they notice anything when they drive it. I'll report back what they said.

Mike

lomtonholligan

Follow - up:

I changed out transmission oil for redline. Shifting improved. Also took it to the best transmission shop around, they didn't feel or see any issues with it.

I believe the issue was a combination of old oil and me. Was moving the shifter very gently and I don't think the shift cable responded well to that. Thanks for the help, as I will probably need some more as I go on.