[maddscientist82]

Hi everyone,

1st time post and been on this forum for the past year or so since I bought my 2015 Corolla S Dec last year (12/31/22) and found a lot of helpful info so far so thanks to all.

Quick info:
Previously owned (Carmax)
Purchased with 86K Miles/Currently at 96K
2-3 previous owners
Very good shape/regularly maintained

So, I have been driving manual for years now. My last car was a Nissan Versa 6 Speed and am very familiar with driving stick overall.
However, once I got the car, I found that (obviously) it was a different machine to get used to driving but but I found that the throttle is VERY sensitive, making shifting into 1st to be very tricky and it took me quite a while to get a smooth consistent shift. Other gears were fine. I just want to know from other owners with the MT, if this is something to be considered normal across all of them and it's not just something weird happening with mine, regarding the clutch behavior described below.

Adding to the fact that the clutch does, what I believe, is something I never noticed other MT do.
The clutch when fully engaged and in 1st gear, when letting off the clutch about half an inch or so, the car pushes forward as it was hitting the bite point. The actual bite point is about a third of the way down and easy to find/get used to. I only downshift when necessary, rev matching every time. Again, I'm just wondering if this is considered 'normal' in these.

At the moment the car is having problems getting into 1st without, what feels like, transmission slip. Stuttering and bumping at the bite point, which just started happening very quickly. Started last week and got very noticeable very fast. I will be getting a transmission fluid change soon as it is around the time it's due anyway, but I would like to know if this is something anyone else has experienced at any point. And more importantly, how everyone else is driving the car. How long you are releasing the clutch for, slowly or semi quickly? Everything about the car from day one felt like, in order to shift smoothly, I HAVE to release the clutch so slow that I am afraid that I am doing it incorrectly and causing unnecessary wear. Any insight would be much appreciated.

TL;DR: How are you all driving, engaging the clutch and shifting? Any weirdness or drastic changes to your driving style you don't feel is normal?

Thanks in advance, all!

 

[maddscientist82]

Anyone have any insights/tips?

 

[new echo owner]

Don't drive one; but.........................

There are thread recently about M/T on Corolla S, do a search on the forum.

2016 Corolla S Manual Trans. Question

Hello, How is everyone? Great, I hope! I am recently having something weird going on with my car, and I'm not sure what the problem might be. I drive a 2016 Corolla S manual transmission. I am a seasoned manual driver, I've been driving manual for 19 years now. So, I am not new at this. So my...

www.toyotanation.com

Engine shudders in first gear

I have an 07 Toyota Corolla s (manual transmission) and it randomly started shaking/shuddering everytime I’m getting ready to shift out of 1st gear. It only does it then. Has anyone ever had this problem? I replaced my driver side axle, spark plugs, and changed my transmission fluid. Could it be...

www.toyotanation.com

 

[maddscientist82]

Don't drive one; but......................... There are thread recently about M/T on Corolla S, do a search on the forum.

2016 Corolla S Manual Trans. Question

Hello, How is everyone? Great, I hope! I am recently having something weird going on with my car, and I'm not sure what the problem might be. I drive a 2016 Corolla S manual transmission. I am a seasoned manual driver, I've been driving manual for 19 years now. So, I am not new at this. So my...

www.toyotanation.com

Engine shudders in first gear

I have an 07 Toyota Corolla s (manual transmission) and it randomly started shaking/shuddering everytime I’m getting ready to shift out of 1st gear. It only does it then. Has anyone ever had this problem? I replaced my driver side axle, spark plugs, and changed my transmission fluid. Could it be...

www.toyotanation.com

Thanks for the info but I looked and couldn't find anything specifically regarding the 2015 Corolla S and am looking for feedback from users who own it.

 

[new echo owner]

Sent the links so you can chime in and ask some of the other members questions, sometimes they might not look at your thread in particular.

 

[Mercron]

OP,

I have a throttle dead spot on my 2014 L 6MT ever since I got it from the original owner 3 years and 134k miles ago. It’s got 212k miles already and I’ve replaced the throttle body, accelerator pedal, fuel injectors, ignition coils, and spark plugs. That dead spot is still there. None of the parts I replaced were faulty- except the spark plugs which were just old.

The dead spot I mention is when I start off from a stop in 1st gear and the clutch disengaging. As soon as the RPM climbs up to 1,500 RPM, it dips to 800. If I release the clutch too fast as the RPM dips, the car will stall. I’ve been driving manuals for more than 30 years on more 7 vehicles and this is the first time I’ve encountered this issue. I attribute this problem to the design of the throttle body since it doesn’t have an idle valve and thus no idle adjustment. There’s only one butterfly valve that opens to adjust idle, which could loosen, or it doesn’t communicate with the ECU timely.

I just live with it by stepping on the gas a little more at the same time that I release the clutch from the bite point. I basically do not let the rev drop so I compensate with a little bit of gas. I’ve gotten used to it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SuperchargedMR2]

I haven't experienced any issues. The clutch engagement point is much higher than my 2009 Corolla 5MT so it took some getting used to but that was just me. Once I did it was fine. I do change my gear oil every 30k miles on all of my MT cars to keep it shifting great. I use Redline MV-LT synthetic.

 

[SuperchargedMR2]

OP,

I have a throttle dead spot on my 2014 L 6MT ever since I got it from the original owner 3 years and 134k miles ago. It’s got 212k miles already and I’ve replaced the throttle body, accelerator pedal, fuel injectors, ignition coils, and spark plugs. That dead spot is still there. None of the parts I replaced were faulty- except the spark plugs which were just old.

The dead spot I mention is when I start off from a stop in 1st gear and the clutch disengaging. As soon as the RPM climbs up to 1,500 RPM, it dips to 800. If I release the clutch too fast as the RPM dips, the car will stall. I’ve been driving manuals for more than 30 years on more 7 vehicles and this is the first time I’ve encountered this issue. I attribute this problem to the design of the throttle body since it doesn’t have an idle valve and thus no idle adjustment. There’s only one butterfly valve that opens to adjust idle, which could loosen, or it doesn’t communicate with the ECU timely.

I just live with it by stepping on the gas a little more at the same time that I release the clutch from the bite point. I basically do not let the rev drop so I compensate with a little bit of gas. I’ve gotten used to it.

That is strange. I've never noticed anything like that on my 2017 iM.

 

[maddscientist82]

OP,

I have a throttle dead spot on my 2014 L 6MT ever since I got it from the original owner 3 years and 134k miles ago. It’s got 212k miles already and I’ve replaced the throttle body, accelerator pedal, fuel injectors, ignition coils, and spark plugs. That dead spot is still there. None of the parts I replaced were faulty- except the spark plugs which were just old.

The dead spot I mention is when I start off from a stop in 1st gear and the clutch disengaging. As soon as the RPM climbs up to 1,500 RPM, it dips to 800. If I release the clutch too fast as the RPM dips, the car will stall. I’ve been driving manuals for more than 30 years on more 7 vehicles and this is the first time I’ve encountered this issue. I attribute this problem to the design of the throttle body since it doesn’t have an idle valve and thus no idle adjustment. There’s only one butterfly valve that opens to adjust idle, which could loosen, or it doesn’t communicate with the ECU timely.

I just live with it by stepping on the gas a little more at the same time that I release the clutch from the bite point. I basically do not let the rev drop so I compensate with a little bit of gas. I’ve gotten used to it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the responses, all.

Unfortunate that you weren't able to find a fix after all that work. You described it better than I could. I noticed, also, that there are times when shifting into 1st it feels like there isn't enough throttle being output and it staggers like it's going to stall. Almost like a Deadzone in the throttle as well.

If anything, you at least confirmed that I'm not crazy and that makes me feel a lot better lol.

 

[SuperchargedMR2]

I wonder if a throttle controller could help with your issue.