[Flitred]

Anybody else having concerns about their transmissions? I have maybe 125miles on it, and everytime I shift from first to 2nd, i hear a 'clink'.....

Maybe i'm the world's worst driver or something, but the transmissions is rarely smoothe, my ride is herky-jerky, and it seems impossible to drive it smoothely no matter how much i concentrate and 'pamper' it...

I've driven my friends Honda civic 5-spd dozens fo times w/o any problems whatsoever.....I've drove stick shifts (many of them Pieces of sh*t) for years....so It's not like I don't know how to drive a stick....for some reason with my New Taco, it's like I have to learn it all over again....This isn't my first Manual tranny by any stretch, so honestly I dont' think it's my abilities to drive....

Is it the transmission? is it my poo poo skills? What am I missing?

 

[JBL13]

I'll be honest--I've been driving manual transmissions for 25 years, but I still can't consistently get a nice, smooth shift with my truck without putting extra wear on the clutch. The rear No-Slip (and resulting driveline slop) doesn't help, either.

 

[Eztrog88]

Kinda new at this (got my license last August, learned to drive the stick in my Taco the June before), but the only problem I consistantly have is a strange "clunking" noise when I up-shift into 2nd. The only way to avoid it is to be super easy and SLOW with the shift; something you can't always do when pulling into traffic. I know its a different Trans than u have, (5-speed vs. 6-speed) but they're both toyota and it seems like its the same thing happenin. And btw, its not me... my dad taught me to drive it, and he learned to drive a stick back in the 70's and has the same trouble as I do with this particular transmision.

 

[Major Woods]

It took me abot 1000 miles to learn to shift (get use to) the Toyota clutch/6-speed, now at 5k miles the shifting is smooth.
Never had any unusual noises from the tranny.

 

[Flitred]

It took me abot 1000 miles to learn to shift (get use to) the Toyota clutch/6-speed, now at 5k miles the shifting is smooth.
Never had any unusual noises from the tranny.

Although I"m glad to hear i'm not totally crazy....but I do have a question for Mr. Woods....

Even upshifting from 1st to 2nd? That's where I hear the noises. What do you have to do, let the transmission wind down to near idle before shifting? And what do you do in merging traffic situations? (as in: I need fast acceleration NOW)

 

[Gargoyle]

I have the 05 6-speed and have driven Toyota and other manuals for many years (won't buy an automatic unless they stop making manuals). I have to say that the new Tacoma's was a little finiky when I first started to drive it. I do not have any noticable sound when shifting, even from 1-2. I did tend to find that the clutch disengaged right at the start of the peddle, so I started to use a shorter clutching motion and that seems to have helped. It makes for a bit of a change when I jump back into my '95 4Runner with the 5-speed, but by the time I turn onto the main road, I am back in business. I would suggest that the edges of the synchronizers, the gears, etc. are very sharp with a new trany, plus the clutch and fly wheel, the springs, and everything else in the system are brand new, so everything needs a little bit of time to soften up. Mine is at ~1300 miles and it is just now starting to feel like I can either ease into trafic or burn rubber when I need to, with out have to guess which was going to happen.

 

[Major Woods]

Even upshifting from 1st to 2nd? That's where I hear the noises. What do you have to do, let the transmission wind down to near idle before shifting? And what do you do in merging traffic situations? (as in: I need fast acceleration NOW)

I dont really think about it, I just shift and go. When I need speed I stomp on the accelerator. It's not a good answer but it is all I have for you, sorry.

MW

 

[jbstrd]

I have a 98 5spd. and have owned it for about 2 years. It took me a long time to get used to a truck tranny vs. my old Nissan car 5spd. I could shift clean and fast in my car but when I tried it in my truck it was like watch out (jerky and rough).
It is 2 years later now and I still have some troubles but I am pretty used to it. If I were you I would not worry about it. 1st - 2nd in Toyotas seems to be "notchy" all of the time. I even put Redline MT-90 in the tranny and still have the notchyness from 1st to 2nd. It will just take some getting used to. As far as the Civic you drove, cars are easy. I can still get into my G/F's Sentra and shift through the gears really fast even though I never drive it.

My .02

Jason :xpimp:

 

[wvtaco]

I hear exactly what you do. Between first and second when shifting there is a clunking sound. I have about 2500 miles now and it seems to better, but sometimes I still hear it(I think I have just gotten used to it). The other thing that I noticed is that when depressing the clutch, the RPM's stay high and even go up a little then drop, instead of instantly dropping down . Love the truck though.

 

[BMWTACO]

Although I"m glad to hear i'm not totally crazy....but I do have a question for Mr. Woods....

Even upshifting from 1st to 2nd? That's where I hear the noises. What do you have to do, let the transmission wind down to near idle before shifting? And what do you do in merging traffic situations? (as in: I need fast acceleration NOW)

Every toyota truck i've owned hasn't liked being shifted from 1st to 2cnd quickly. Get either a crunch or click just about every time on the last 13 trucks i've had. My 05 4cyl is the same way. You just have to get used to not rushing the shifts. Strangely enough, my 79 landcruiser doesn't seem to mind a quick 1-2 shift. I wouldn't be concerned with it, like I said i've had 13 toyotas and they all did it, in my younger days I used to really abuse the crap out of my trucks and the only tranny problems I ever had was blowing reverse. Did that two or three times.

 

[DylanICON]

05 is the first year that they used "throttle by wire” with a manual trany
The weird RPM when you depress the clutch is from the computer deciding how much to open the throttle plate.

The difference in drivability is a programming issue….hopefully it knows better than we do and is controlling it properly! Playing “fluttering” with the throttle when engaging is only going to confuse the computer

 

[agroal]

Anybody else having concerns about their transmissions? I have maybe 125miles on it, and everytime I shift from first to 2nd, i hear a 'clink'.....

Maybe i'm the world's worst driver or something, but the transmissions is rarely smoothe, my ride is herky-jerky, and it seems impossible to drive it smoothely no matter how much i concentrate and 'pamper' it...

I've driven my friends Honda civic 5-spd dozens fo times w/o any problems whatsoever.....I've drove stick shifts (many of them Pieces of sh*t) for years....so It's not like I don't know how to drive a stick....for some reason with my New Taco, it's like I have to learn it all over again....This isn't my first Manual tranny by any stretch, so honestly I dont' think it's my abilities to drive....

Is it the transmission? is it my poo poo skills? What am I missing?

My 2000 also doesn't like being rushed 1st to 2nd, especially when it's cold. It really fights a downshift to 1st at anything more than a slow crawl. I put synthetic in the trans & transfer case- a little better. Like other people say, I guess it's common to Toyota trucks. One of the magazine reviews mentioned that the '05 trany was notchy. I've learned not to rush the 1st to 2nd upshift and to remember it's a truck, not a perfomance car. It's 5 yrs. old and I've had no mechanical problems at all so keep in mind you have a new truck that will be reliable for many years to come. My truck also rides better than the new Lexus LS430.....ok that last one was B.S. LOL

 

[CMB1998]

Anybody else having concerns about their transmissions? I have maybe 125miles on it, and everytime I shift from first to 2nd, i hear a 'clink'.....

Maybe i'm the world's worst driver or something, but the transmissions is rarely smoothe, my ride is herky-jerky, and it seems impossible to drive it smoothely no matter how much i concentrate and 'pamper' it...

I've driven my friends Honda civic 5-spd dozens fo times w/o any problems whatsoever.....I've drove stick shifts (many of them Pieces of sh*t) for years....so It's not like I don't know how to drive a stick....for some reason with my New Taco, it's like I have to learn it all over again....This isn't my first Manual tranny by any stretch, so honestly I dont' think it's my abilities to drive....

Is it the transmission? is it my poo poo skills? What am I missing?

CIVIC = CAR

TACOMA = TRUCK

FYI.

Chris

 

[Chief]

Well, on my 03, if I push the clutch all the way to the floor and try to shift quickly, it's never very smooth. I usually only push the clutch half way to the floor, and shift that way. Much smoother.

 

[TripleD]

It's a truck. It's going to shift rough. My Jeep did the same thing. You probably need to move the stick slower from gear to gear to give the synchros some more time. Colder temperatures will make it worse. Double clutching even on an up shift made my Jeep tranny shift smoothly when being fast. Gear oil also helps. Royal Purple looks like good oil. I never tried it but it actually increases your horsepower to the rear wheels. They proved it on the dyno on horsepower tv. If you change your oil becareful what you use though. Some gear oils can be corrosive to your tranny's synchros. I was misinformed when I had my Jeep I used GL-5 instead of GL-3, which is corrosive to synchromesh and I needed a new tranny a few months later. RedLine MTL and MT-90 are awsome manual tranny oils. I used MT-90 on my new tranny and it shifted great.

 

[dnstaco]

don't use the clutch...shift based on RPM's,works pretty smooth!!!

 

[TaCoLiKkEr]

Clutch-less, I have heard that but never tried it.

I pick up my truck on Saturday but in the two test drives I had on the 6 speed in about 40 miles, I would say that 1st is a "Lurch" gear. Meaning that it is a nice and short shift. I got more comfortable up-shifting it around 2,000 and down at 1,500 or so if it is a normal driving situation. I can think of quite a few trails where first/low will be beeeaauutiful thing.

It did feel rough and notchy but I am willing to bet that a few thousand miles of mixed driving would get the tranny and I more than well aquainted.

So........What gears do you think this guy was in?

http://www.customtacos.com/gallery/multimedia/movies/X-Runner_5-60.avi

 

[absolut taco]

So........What gears do you think this guy was in?

http://www.customtacos.com/gallery/multimedia/movies/X-Runner_5-60.avi

At 30 he shifts to 2nd and a little after 60 he shifts to 3rd. That is some fast acceleration, though... Not very smart to be filming, steering and shifting at the same time, IMO.

 

[TRD4WD]

So........What gears do you think this guy was in?

http://www.customtacos.com/gallery/multimedia/movies/X-Runner_5-60.avi

not a bad 0-60 time,roughly 7 seconds flat,but he did'nt launch it hard,I'm guessing a high 6 second range 0-60 with a good launch.

 

[TaCoLiKkEr]

Well,

Mine seems O.K. The tranny was a bit smoother than the one I test drove.

I picked it up Friday while on the way to a photo shoot 200 miles away. When I picked it up, it had 14 miles on it, a VIN in the high 58,000's.

WOW, what a truck!! I went over 3 mountain passes twice for a total of 408 miles and 64,338 vertical feet. The thing was amazing. Going up to Eisenhower Tunnel via I-70, my old 4-Runner would lag behind everyone at 45 MPH @ 3,800 RPM in 2nd gear....scary. The Taco did 70 MPH in 5th at about 2,600 RPM, didn't even flinch.

MIlage was another surprise. Even with about an hour of the drive in blinding snowstorms at 10,000 to 12,000 feet in 4WD, I still got 19.2 MPG!!!!

My very first passengers were two snowboarder's on the way to the top of Berthod Pass. They had rode down about 1,800 vertical and were looking for a ride back up so I pulled over in the snow, stuck in 4H and they jumped in the back. Good car / truck karma.

So with about 433 miles on the truck, I went this morning for bigger / better tires. A set of 31.6 inch BFG AT /KO's. Not cheap and only a so-so trade in with my stock rubber. Well see what happens to the milage.

All in all, a truck that is light years ahead of what I am used to.