New transmission needed???

[penfolderoldo]

Hi all,

Bought a 2000 mr2 vvti smt softop couple months ago. seemed in great nick and came with brand new 12 month MOT, price was £2700 which I was happy with. Put it into local Toyota dealer soon as i got it for a 2 yr major service, and they said nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Lately its been very occasionally vibrating with corresponding loss of power, but when you stop and pull away again its been fine. Happens only when engine running at normal temp (not at all when cold), and couple of times a week. Friend reckoned it might be either the plugs or leads when they get hot causing it to sometimes miss a cylinder. Also yesterday it stuck in gear with no drive (engine mgmt light and red warning light came on, turned off engine, turned it on again and it worked fine, with only orange mgmt light stayed on), so thought better to be safe, so put it in to dealer today who says they can't find anything wrong with the engine, however apparently the smt needs replaced (the whole control unit, transmission and spindle? which apparently can't be replaced independently) and will cost over £3000!!!There's also a hole in the rear subframe that will cost about £500 for them to fix! - great!

kicking myself now for not listening to you guys warnings about the smt now! Does this sound right to you guys? i've no experience of Toyota before so any thoughts appreciated!

Thanks

DAve

[MR2Jedi]

Definitely sounds like theres a problem with the SMT. As for what needs repair or replacing, no way to tell over the net. I've heard many stories of the problems with this transmission. I would suggest going to the salvage yard, and buying a used 5 speed manual transmission for your 1zzfe engine and swap it in.

[penfolderoldo]

Thanks jedi, thats what i've thought about doing, but don't know if its possible, is it not a massive job fitting clutch pedal etc, and don't even know if the engines compatable with a normal clutch / gearbox - did they ever make these in a traditional manual box?

Obviously it'd be a job for a mechanic (I can just about change a plug, lol!), any idea of how much i'd be looking at?

Cheers mate.

Dave

[MR2Jedi]

I have no idea how much it would cost there. But I would think it would be at least alittle less than what they're asking, plus the 5 speed will be way more dependable and give you better performance.
All the braces/holes are in place for the clutch pedal, clutch master, gear shifter, cables and transmission. The Spyder comes standard with a 5 speed transmission. The SMT is an option.
I used to own a 2001 Spyder.