GR86 Sticky and jerky first, second and reverse gear

Jathuthillai

Jathuthillai

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Hi All,

So I had this weird issue come on suddenly yesterday. I couldnt go into first or second gear unless the car was standstill. The car kept jerking when trying to move off and even when the clutch was engaged, it feels very notchy and feels like the clutch is not disengaging completely. But the issue is only for the 1st, 2nd and reverse gear. Everything else is smooth and okay.

Has anyone else had this issue? if so what was the reason?

I have booked it in for a diagnostic at Toyota on monday. But I am just worried and paranoid 😂

TIA
 
Haven't had it myself, but does sound like the clutch just isn't disengaging properly, and dragging.

Have you ever fiddled with your clutch pedal? A common mod for these cars it to adjust the clutch pedal so it sits lower, for easier shifting. But technically, if you do it too far, you won't have enough throw of the pedal to ensure the clutch gets full disengaged. Might be something like that. If not, perhaps there's air in the clutch hydraulics, but it should be fairly simple to bleed that system, much like doing the brakes.
 
Conscript said:
Haven't had it myself, but does sound like the clutch just isn't disengaging properly, and dragging.

Have you ever fiddled with your clutch pedal? A common mod for these cars it to adjust the clutch pedal so it sits lower, for easier shifting. But technically, if you do it too far, you won't have enough throw of the pedal to ensure the clutch gets full disengaged. Might be something like that. If not, perhaps there's air in the clutch hydraulics, but it should be fairly simple to bleed that system, much like doing the brakes.
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I thought so too. but it doesnt seem to be an issue with the other gears.

I did do a clutch pedal adjustment. Will reverse it today and see.

thanks for that.
 
Update: reversed the clutch pedal adjustment and no change. it feels like the clutch is slightly engage in neutral too.

Going to leave it as it is for now and let Toyota deal with it on monday.
 
jtoncars said:
I thought so too. but it doesnt seem to be an issue with the other gears.

I did do a clutch pedal adjustment. Will reverse it today and see.

thanks for that.
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I'm no mechanic, but could it be that the ratio between the higher gears is lower, so they are just more forgiving with engagement?

But yeah, maybe revisit your clutch pedal just in case you've gone too lower. If you look at the clutch pedal thread on this forum (can't remember where exactly it is but should be searchable), I think I shared a good video from the first gen which explained clutch pedal adjustment. It detailed how lowering the clutch pedal would reduce the throw on the slave cylinder, and advised how to adjust it to avoid reducing it so much that the clutch didn't disengage.

EDIT: didn't see your last post in time. Never mind then.
 
Took the car in for the actual repair and now they say its just clutch wear and its £1250 to replace. I am pretty sure its not worn clutch at 32000miles.
 
jtoncars said:
Took the car in for the actual repair and now they say its just clutch wear and its £1250 to replace. I am pretty sure its not worn clutch at 32000miles.
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Have you owned the car from new?
 
So not quite the same but I had posted mine had a suspected release bearing failure and generally is a bit of a mess in obstructive gear selection / clutch engagement and drivetrain whine. It took a long time but I had my complete clutch, release bearing and bearing holder changed last week (it was registered with Subaru as a warranty claim in May). As it turns out none of those components was obviously faulty. They brought them out and we looked at everything together. They still changed all those parts though under the warranty - there was no backing off half way through the job. The problem however has not been resolved, but that's a different story.

Two points from this... first are they / you sure this is 100% the issue - did they show you old and new parts for comparison? Then second, just because the clutch has wear does not mean it was 100% the driver, other things can cause slippage / drag (such as a dodgy release bearing or misadjusted pedal linkage! etc) so you could push on that point.

If it is the cause, there are other options for clutches. Racing Development sells a marginally upgraded Exedy clutch for around 400GBP (they produce the OEM clutch). If you can´t twist Toyotas arm into paying maybe think about getting someone like Abbey to have a look and replace instead.
 
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New update!!!

Toyota called me back. The new clutch did not resolve the issue (I told them so). Now they suspect a faulty gearbox. So they have requested HQ to authorise a new gearbox because they think it is better than stripping the current gearbox. All under warranty again.
 
CPH6R said:
So not quite the same but I had posted mine had a suspected release bearing failure and generally is a bit of a mess in obstructive gear selection / clutch engagement and drivetrain whine. It took a long time but I had my complete clutch, release bearing and bearing holder changed last week (it was registered with Subaru as a warranty claim in May). As it turns out none of those components was obviously faulty. They brought them out and we looked at everything together. They still changed all those parts though under the warranty - there was no backing off half way through the job. The problem however has not been resolved, but that's a different story.

Two points from this... first are they / you sure this is 100% the issue - did they show you old and new parts for comparison? Then second, just because the clutch has wear does not mean it was 100% the driver, other things can cause slippage / drag (such as a dodgy release bearing or misadjusted pedal linkage! etc) so you could push on that point.

If it is the cause, there are other options for clutches. Racing Development sells a marginally upgraded Exedy clutch for around 400GBP (they produce the OEM clutch). If you can´t twist Toyotas arm into paying maybe think about getting someone like Abbey to have a look and replace instead.
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I think you might want them to look into the gearbox. They have agreed clutch wear was caused due to some other issue in the box itself
 
Glad to hear they are honouring the warranty. Keep us posted on this, its not common but there have been a few gearbox failures on these cars.
 
After more than a month since I dropped off the car at Toyota, I finally have an update. They stripped the gearbox and some of the gears have damage. They still don't know what caused it but the car is getting a new gearbox which will take a couple of weeks more.
 
Do you have any more info as to what was damaged? & did you have any increase in gear whine prior?

I am a bit behind you but my car is driving obstructively in terms of gearshift but it's just about workable. Some videos I have taken are now going to Subaru to be assessed - hoping they will just swap out the box without stripping to assess.

Glad you are making progress to getting it sorted. But that's a long time you will have been waiting!
 
4 weeks to suss out the problem is a bit on the un dynamic effort side ☹️

Hey ho, at least they appear to have worked out the problem, and the cure. Have they given you a decent loaner?
 
CPH6R said:
Do you have any more info as to what was damaged? & did you have any increase in gear whine prior?

I am a bit behind you but my car is driving obstructively in terms of gearshift but it's just about workable. Some videos I have taken are now going to Subaru to be assessed - hoping they will just swap out the box without stripping to assess.

Glad you are making progress to getting it sorted. But that's a long time you will have been waiting!
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All I was told was that some of the teeth in the cogs were damaged and they didn’t know what caused it. I did have some gear whine before. Gear shifts were a bit sticky but it got worse when something inside actually broke.

As for swapping gearbox, as its a warranty job, I dont have control as to how they approach it and looks like mine was one of the first to have this issue in the UK so they did alot of learning and trying to sus the problem out. Hopefully this experience helps others get their issue sorted sooner.
 
Chris Mc said:
4 weeks to suss out the problem is a bit on the un dynamic effort side ☹️

Hey ho, at least they appear to have worked out the problem, and the cure. Have they given you a decent loaner?
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It was a bit longer than I would have liked but looks like its a “new” issue for Toyota GB atleast. Now there is atleast a 2 week wait for the gearbox to arrive 😭
 
Car is back home after 66 days at toyota. New gearbox arrived on monday and installed yesterday!!! feels way more smoother than I remember. I am thinking it could have been an issue from the start.
 
Jathuthillai said:
Car is back home after 66 days at toyota. New gearbox arrived on monday and installed yesterday!!! feels way more smoother than I remember. I am thinking it could have been an issue from the start.
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Glad you got it back.
 
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