Is this a clutch problem?

Rickety Rhino1 · Post by **Rickety Rhino1** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 11:41 am

Hello Folks,

When my '84 Tercel 4WD is cold, it's very hard to shift into 2nd gear,
and a bit hard into 3rd. It takes more force, and there's sometimes a
slight crunching noise. After driving 10 minutes or so, it shifts easily.
The colder it is outside, the harder it is to shift.
Before I start driving I wait until a tap on the accelerator brings the RPM's
down to normal (if I don't it really crunches hard). I did the procedure of
putting gear oil at the base of the stick shift, which was recommended in
another thread here, but it didn't help. I also checked the tranny fluid level.
The car has 143K miles, and had a new clutch assembly put in 11 years ago
at 112K miles.
One time recently I felt the clutch slipping when gunning up a steep, short
ramp in 1st gear, but I never noticed it again on other steep slopes.
Do you think this is a clutch problem? Aren't clutches supposed to last
longer than this? Is this a symptom of a faulty installation of the
replacement clutch?

Thanks for any info!

takza · Post by **takza** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 2:00 pm

When I bought my car the clutch acted like this...part of it was that it had sit over winter and probably also before that...seems the pilot bearing & spline was gummed up and/or the throwout bearing. Guess you are driving your car less than 3K mile a year?

Lot of it improved with regular driving...the gear oil in the shifter boot really shaped it up.

Might try adjusting the pedal height at the sector/pawl to have more clutch disengagement??????

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Sun May 01, 2005 4:59 pm

Just out of curiosity...how cold is cold? and what weight and type of gear lube is in the transmission?
Yes, a clutch should last longer than that if used correctly. I have 330,000 miles on one of my Tercels' clutch.

brianp · Post by **brianp** » Sun May 01, 2005 6:45 pm

This happens in my terc as well; when I first get going in the morning, it doesn't want to shift into second or 3rd at first, but once you get going, it's fine. I don't think it is a clutch problem, just part of driving an older car. I changed my transmission oil about a month ago, it has helped a little, but it still has trouble when it's cold. (my cold is about 40 degrees F)

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Sun May 01, 2005 10:19 pm

My cold is -25 sometimes. More often around 15 most of the time.
Go for a synthetic gear lube. I would suggest Amsoil. My trannies have done the same in the cold. I haven't made the switch yet, but let me suggest this- let your engine idle with the clutch out and the stick in neutral for about 2-5 minutes. It causes some heat and gets the parts lubed. Thats what it needs.
If you have some money to use, buy an adhesive oilpan heater and put it on your trans oil pan. Plug it in about 30 min before you go driving. Magnetic blocks are supposed to be just as good, but I question whether it would stay on during an offroad excursion.
A good helping of synthetic will help those synchros mesh better.

3A-C Power · Post by **3A-C Power** » Mon May 02, 2005 10:28 am

Our tranny has bad 2nd and 3rd synchros from the start. So bad in fact that Toyota actually made new synchros that could be installed to improve the shifting. Synthetic oil can make a big difference, depending on how far gone the synchros are. It will do the same thing if the clutch is sticking, but in most cases it's just the sychros.

Rickety Rhino1 · Post by **Rickety Rhino1** » Mon May 02, 2005 8:45 pm

Thanks for all the great info guys. I'll try out the synthetic gear oil
when I get some time to work on the frozen filler bolts. And the pedal
height if new gear oil doesn't help.
For those asking for more info:
The car used to mostly sit around with the previous owner (cause of
gummed up synchros?), but in the last year it's been driven regularly
several times a week, maybe 10K total.
"Cold" for me is below around 40 degrees F, "really cold" (and really hard
to shift) is below maybe 20.
I don't know what weight gear oil it has, because I bought the car used a few
years ago. The previous owner took it in regularly for servicing, but
his shop receipts only show "topping up" of fluids other than motor oil, never *replacement* of the gear oil! So the gear oil is probably 30K and 11 years
old, from the clutch replacement! Maybe this is the cause of the problem...

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Mon May 02, 2005 9:01 pm

Look on amsoil.com and their online store. They have an application guide on the right side of the screen. Amsoil has the best synth out there. Its wear tests are the best. It stays liquid at very low temps as well. Where mineral might gel up or get gummy, the synth will still flow pretty efficiently. It IS a little pricy, but in my opinion, completely worth it. I'd recommend you get AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE of the old fluid out of the tranny before putting in the synth. It should feel like a new tranny after that. There will still be problems at times, as the synchros are not the best in the world in these trannys. The synth should help a considerable deal though.

Can we still get these "improved" synchros?