[Jeff/Cleveland]

I have a 91 na manual transmission. I can downshift from 5th to4th easily, from 4th to 3rd easily; but going to 3rd to 2nd causes serious grinding until I slow down to 5 or 10 mph. Same with going to 2nd to 1st. When I bought the car in July 05 the seller said the engine was recently replaced with a Camry 2.2 with 5k miles on it.What is causing this and can anyone give me a ballpark $ amount for the repair. I live in the Cleveland OH area. Thanks for any info.

 

[JekylandHyde]

** moved to the MKII NA forum

 

[erioshi]

I would guess that you have a couple of syncros going bad. I'm not sure what a shop would charge to replace them. If you were to have that done, I would recomend replacing all the syncos - if should only be a bit more than just replacing two of them.

 

[aklasis]

most likely synchros
My 2nd gear syncro retired also.
1st and 2nd gear synchros are the same (official Toyota dealer) - it cost me 126 LTL (or ~44 USD). 3rd gear syncro ~40 USD.
I got recommendation to replace 1-2-3 gears' syncros - thats what I'm going to do soon.

 

[bowlofrice]

you could try double clutching in 2nd. its what i do sometimes when i can't get into first or second.

 

[Jigglypuff]

I would guess that you have a couple of syncros going bad. I'm not sure what a shop would charge to replace them. If you were to have that done, I would recomend replacing all the syncos - if should only be a bit more than just replacing two of them.

That's easier said than done. Replacing the synchros would cost _a lot_ in labor (think dropping the tranny, rebuilding it, and reinstalling it).

A bandage for the problem would be to try changing the transmission fluid to a quality synthetic fluid. If you do a search, you'll find a lot of threads discussing what you should and shouldn't use. I personally run 100% Pennzoil Synchromesh and shifting is great, but there are people who will say that you should only use it as an additive since it's apprently corrosive on Toyota synchros. For that they recommend 2 qts RedLine MT-90 and 1 qt Synchromesh, I think. For the fluids you're looking at around $30 for 3 quarts and possibly $50 for labor.

 

[irmr2]

$50 labor to pour liquid in your tranny? Even if you're right, thats outrageous

 

[Jeff/Cleveland]

To all: thanks for all the great info!

 

[Dijital357]

try rev-matching when you go 2-3 and 3-2... that helps ALOT

 

[TomsMR2]

if you havent already, drain and refill your tranny before doing ANYTHING else. you may be surprised at how many problems a drain and refill cures..

 

[yonmyster69]

my local toyota dealer tried to charge me $75 to change the tranny fluid. I would have done it myself but i stripped the fill plug so bad it hurt my eyes to look at it. I ended up taking it to my favorite garage and they did everything for free (with a new fill plug too!). i used Mt-90 btw.

 

[erioshi]

if you havent already, drain and refill your tranny before doing ANYTHING else. you may be surprised at how many problems a drain and refill cures..

I can't stress this enough! On my Evo I change the tranny fluid every second oil change. It may sound extreme, but tranny syncros are a known issue for high HP, hard running Evos as well. Thus far the tranny has survived 40K and more track days than I can remember without problems.

 

[rdyzz]

try redline mt-90 it works wonders if your grind is not to bad. im actually going to change my tranny fluid every oil change after i rebuild it.