Corolla XRS transmission problem

15662 Views 23 Replies 15 Participants Last post by CircuitJerk, Apr 15, 2009

kniterider09

Discussion Starter · Apr 1, 2009

Alrite, so after reading a few posts on here on both the corolla and matrix forums about trasnmission problems i've decided to get my experience up here. i drive a 5 spd manual xrs. i acutally test drove the automatic which had a big problem while slowing down, it kind of jerked and then stopped or just shaked voilently. that's why i avoided the auto's and after reading other posts its obvious there's a problem with the auto trans.

Now on to the 5 speed. when i started driving it i kind of noticed the gears were a bit stiff or notchy. i mean, when i shifted into gear it was notchy, it would not just "sink in" sometimes.... i thought i have to get used to the car. anyway, just recently about two months back ( after 6 months of driving) my transmission snapped. out of nowhere one morning on the drive to work, pushed in third and it broke! the shifter was totally free. got it towed to toyota and they fixed it under warranty work, said the transmission cable somehow broke from the inside

. good news is that after they fixed it, it worked really really well. i mean all the gears just sunk in and shifting was smooth and crisp! :thumbsup: it was wayyyy better than how it was when i got the car.

however, sometimes when i want to shift in reverse, i find it still resists it. i have to clutch in and out again to make a complete shift. dont know if there's still a problem or is that just natural. anyone else having such issues ?

1 - 20 of 24 Posts

Techenstein

· #2 · Apr 1, 2009

Yea that sux. I've never been a total fan of how manual shift knobs and front wheel drives link together, but there's not a lot of options there. There has to be a cable or linkage. Never as simple as having the shifter right on top of a rear wheel drive tranny. Sounds like maybe your cable was kinked before it was installed, and finally wore through and broke.
Reverse can be tougher to drop in due to lack of syncros. Mine also does this, as does my 89 truck.

FirstXrs

· #3 · Apr 1, 2009

kniterider09 said:
sometimes when i want to shift in reverse, i find it still resists it. i have to clutch in and out again to make a complete shift. dont know if there's still a problem or is that just natural. anyone else having such issues ?

Natural. I've seen it in a lot of other cars.

andys09xrs

· #4 · Apr 1, 2009

my transmission busted also at 7890miles and u know what my car felt so much better afther i install and new exedy clutch and fidanza light weight flywheel. toyota dint repaire mines because they sed i abused it.

sinnaever

· #5 · Apr 1, 2009

andys09xrs said:
my transmission busted also at 7890miles. toyota dint repaire mines because they sed i abused it.

LOL you were racing. I wouldn't replace it either. Tranny's don't blow like that under regular driving conditions. LOL BUt i'm glad to hear it is working and you got your XRS back

RC1

· #6 · Apr 1, 2009

andys09xrs said:
my transmission busted also at 7890miles and u know what my car felt so much better afther i install and new exedy clutch and fidanza light weight flywheel. toyota dint repaire mines because they sed i abused it.

Did your spell check break before or after the transmission?:lol:

joeylgarcia

· #7 · Apr 1, 2009

andys09xrs said:
my transmission busted also at 7890miles and u know what my car felt so much better afther i install and new exedy clutch and fidanza light weight flywheel. toyota dint repaire mines because they sed i abused it.

what led them to the conclusion that you abused your car? did you confess to them that you were racing the car or something?

got-rice

· #8 · Apr 1, 2009

joeylgarcia said:
what led them to the conclusion that you abused your car? did you confess to them that you were racing the car or something?

Rims? Headers? Exhaust? CF hood? How old is the driver? The dealer did their math

sinnaever

· #9 · Apr 1, 2009

joeylgarcia said:
what led them to the conclusion that you abused your car? did you confess to them that you were racing the car or something?

Dealers can plug into your car's system and pull out data that will tell them EVERYTHING that happened. Police use this sometimes to determine the speed a driver was going at the time of a crash. Its like a Black Box for cars... They can even tell if you were wearing your seatbelt. So don't try and bull-shit a bull-shitter. Dealers know all about bull-shitting and they will call you on it everytime.

jdhog

· #10 · Apr 1, 2009

Sounds like somewhere along the delivery process someone had some fun in the car that didn't know how to drive a stick.

Reverse gears are all the same, just take your foot of the brake and let the car roll ever so slightly and try again, it'll pop in.

rolla-XRS

· #11 · Apr 2, 2009 (Edited)

Most small cars with manual transmissions will sometimes have difficulty getting into Reverse. I've had this on several Corolla's Celica's and Civic's over the past 14 years.
Apparantly if the "synchros" are not synchronized at the time you try to shift, it prevents you from shifting. This is a safety mechanism and is completely normal (ask any mechanic).

Solution is to simply release and re-press the clutch and you should be good to go.

As for Automatics, there is no problem when the vehicle downshift from 3 to 2. This is a safety mechanism to protect the fuel injectors when vehicle is hot and you're slowing down under 'relatively' harder braking. The fuel cuts down a bit more than usual and the ECU compensates by giving a very short burst of fuel to keep the injectors from overheating. I would hardly call it shaking violently. :lol: I had a nice Dodge Omni that better suited that descriptiion. To be honest, I noticed this about a handful of times when the car was brand new (when the ECU was learning my driving habits). Now I never see it - 24000km into it's life...

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rolla-XRS

· #12 · Apr 2, 2009

sinnaever said:
Dealers can plug into your car's system and pull out data that will tell them EVERYTHING that happened. Police use this sometimes to determine the speed a driver was going at the time of a crash. Its like a Black Box for cars... They can even tell if you were wearing your seatbelt. So don't try and bull-shit a bull-shitter. Dealers know all about bull-shitting and they will call you on it everytime.

True - there's a very limited black box in each car that will tell things like RPM, speedo, transmission gear, etc.) but the memory is very limited. Typically all you'd get is when the vehicle was last running when an "incident" occured. I understand the length of time is also limited...can't recall the exact timeframe - but it's short (perhaps less than 30 min??) But if you've restarted the car several times, this data is likely gone.

As for po po getting this data, they need a court order to do that and there'd have to be a fatality involved before they'd go to that length.... Judges don't write these things unless there's a serious reason and likelihood that it will produce the expected result for the po po.

andys09xrs

· #13 · Apr 2, 2009

got-rice said:
Rims? Headers? Exhaust? CF hood? How old is the driver? The dealer did their math

Hahaha no! My car was back to stock. They just sed it was gonna be like 700.00 for a tear down to make sure it was a toyota defect if not I was gonna loose my money. I spend 600 on the trans..and 400 on my clutch and flywheel combo. I did the labor my self I wasn't gonna give them my money for nothing.

REN69

· #14 · Apr 2, 2009 (Edited)

Wait... I thought the new XRS came with a 6spd?

ZenithTheTV

· #15 · Apr 2, 2009

2009s come with 5 speeds. The 9th gen comes with 6

qwertytheasdf

· #16 · Apr 2, 2009

rolla-XRS said:
True - there's a very limited black box in each car that will tell things like RPM, speedo, transmission gear, etc.) but the memory is very limited. Typically all you'd get is when the vehicle was last running when an "incident" occured. I understand the length of time is also limited...can't recall the exact timeframe - but it's short (perhaps less than 30 min??) But if you've restarted the car several times, this data is likely gone.

As for po po getting this data, they need a court order to do that and there'd have to be a fatality involved before they'd go to that length.... Judges don't write these things unless there's a serious reason and likelihood that it will produce the expected result for the po po.

really? so if i abuse it by revving to redline and nothing happens, and then i drive it normally for like 2-3 days or so, then the data that i redlined my car would be gone?

FirstXrs

· #17 · Apr 2, 2009

REN69 said:
Wait... I thought the new XRS came with a 6spd?

Nah, we get the giant middle finger from Toyota this gen. At least, that's how I felt when I discovered that the 9th gen had a better engine and a 6 speed. :sosad:

qwertytheasdf said:
really? so if i abuse it by revving to redline and nothing happens, and then i drive it normally for like 2-3 days or so, then the data that i redlined my car would be gone?

+1. Moar info on the black box please.

rolla-XRS

· #18 · Apr 3, 2009

qwertytheasdf said:
really? so if i abuse it by revving to redline and nothing happens, and then i drive it normally for like 2-3 days or so, then the data that i redlined my car would be gone?

That's a good question...I have to wonder if they've set min/max thresholds that are monitored. Will have to inquire and see what they say...

got-rice

· #19 · Apr 3, 2009

FirstXrs said:
the 9th gen had a better engine and a 6 speed. :sosad:

It probably was a more fun ride than the XRS now, but honestly, the 2ZZGE was disappointing, especially after the RSX with its K20 came out. Probably the reason why the Celica didn't fare very well.

FirstXrs

· #20 · Apr 3, 2009

You're right, and the 2AZ-FE has some potential too. At least I hope it does.

got-rice said:
It probably was a more fun ride than the XRS now, but honestly, the 2ZZGE was disappointing, especially after the RSX with its K20 came out. Probably the reason why the Celica didn't fare very well.

Even so, I want a six speed... Transmission swap anyone?

1 - 20 of 24 Posts

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