Clutch? Masters? Synchro?

[Alphonse]

Hi all,

After the great advice I got last time, figured I'd ask some more questions before taking car to the shop. Driving my 88 MR2, non suppercharged, I have recently had sporadic problems changing gears. It first occured driving down the highway, when I went to get off for some gas. As I went to shift gears it stuck a bit, then grinded a bit going into the new gear. At first thought was maybe the clutch fluid was low, but it looked okay. After filling up drove away with no problems shifting gears. The next day while driving around town it happened again. Once again the car was fine when pulled away from the house, but a few minutes later I had problems shifting gears. I have problems both getting in and out of gear, doesn't seem to matter if upshifting or downshifting. Pumping the clutch seems to help sometimes, so not sure what is wrong. Any ideas?

Cheers,

Al.

[4DMR2t]

Sounds like your synchros are going.

[asifmbadar]

Yep, the synchros, it's a common problem too

[Alphonse]

Hey guys, thanks for the diagnosis. Any idea how long I can keep going before have to get them replaced? Also what sort of price should I expect pay to get it fixed?

Cheers,

Al.

[MR2Jedi]

i think it sounds like your clutch master and slave. probably worn seals and contaminated fluid.

[4DMR2t]

If it is indeed your synchros, there's really no way of telling how long they'll last. Sometimes you can delay the inevitable by replacing your tranny fluid with Redline MT-90 or synchromesh.

I've heard some people actually say it comletely solved the problem.

But once they go, the only way to fix it is to get a new tranny or rebuild yours, which can be pricey.

[jmill89]

Is it sometimes hard to put into gear when your not moving but the car's running? It's kind of hard to tell if it's the synchros or your clutch is not disengaging becuase of the slave/master cylinder/pressure plate/disk etc... Make sure your getting good movement on the slave cylinder when you push in the pedal (have someone look for you), even if that's working your clutch/pressure plate could just be bad.

I had a mkIII supra that I had to drive without being able to disengage the clutch for three months till I had the money for a clutch kit. Stop lights were horrible.

[toyotaspeed90]

try bleeding the clutch fluid through before you do anything else.... like $4 in brake fluid....

[Alphonse]

Hey gang, First off thanks for all your continued help. Well as expected, when took the car to the shop, my clutch master and slave were leaking and needed replaced. Oh well. After the repair everything worked fine for the first week. Then, just like last time, things started going bad on a trip. Was driving back from Baltimore, when pulled into gas station. After filling up, went to pull away, and immediately noticed the friction point on the clutch pedal had moved. I then went to shift gears, and it was stuck in gear. So I pulled over, quick checked the fluid levels. Everything looks fine. Drive away again and really have to yank the gearshift to pop it out of first and into second. As I get some speed can switch into third, fourth and fifth a little easier, but definitely still not right. So make it home. After day of not driving, try the car again, same problem. Well off to the shop again. Mechanic takes a quick look around. Thinking might be bad clutch, but needs to check it out. As I sit here ay home, I'm wondering if worth fixing. If going to cost $500-$1000, might be better off to start looking for new car. What you guys think? Am I correct in thinking I could probably still drive it for a bit, though real pain at stops, before won't work at all. Just for your info, it's an '88 NA with 170K on it, with some minor bodywork damage. Recently changed the plugs, wires, distributor and done regular oil change so enhine should be good. Ideally need left strut as well. Cheers,

[CompanyFlow]

Repairs are worth more than the car

[toyotaspeed90]

i'm guessing your stock CMC was fine.... in 88 they toyota got smart and used aluminum housings.... the older ones were cast iron, which pitted... and with time, the brake fluid would break down the walls of the CMC, causing the fluid to flow backwards into the cab (this happened to my mr2... and replaced a CMC on a mid 80's p/u that did the same thing). The aluminum ones are known for lasting a long time!

however, that i know of... the slave cylinders were still cast iron.... and those tend to leak... I'm assuming that if both were replaced for you... then potentially the shop didn't bench bleed the new clutch master cylinder and you have air in your lines. Only other thing you could try than bleeding (as i said above) is to play with the position the clutch master cylinder connects to the pedal at.

[thetailwind]

Dang