Manual gearbox Issues. So over it. Desperate for help

[Barrington]

I know this car is not suited to this forum but i cant get help anywhere else and im desperate.
I recently bought a Turbo diesel 95 series prado, manual (R150h?) without knowing the problem.
Before I bought it, it had a reco'd 5sp and new clutch put in, which is 15k old now.
Issue: When the car is stationary with engine running, it is extremely difficult to put it in any gear. Although, with the engine not running and car still stationary, its goes into any gear easy as.
When driving, it does go into any gear fine I guess, 3rd is sometimes hard, but when i stop at the lights, i have to leave it in 1st with my foot on the clutch, as going from neutral to first is almost impossible.
I rang up the place that put the new clutch and gearbox in and explained the problem and they said it sounds like a hydraulic issue with the clutch, maybe the clutch doesnt disengage properly when pedal is pressed to the floor. I then took it to another clutch specialist and they said the same thing. Turns out the slave cylinder was stuffed so the slave and clutch master cylinder was replaced. (which should have been done when new gearbox was installed). But the problem still occurs, and is no different since the new slave and master.
Also, when shifting from 1st to 2nd and vice versa (moving or not), or trying to put it into first gear when stationary, the gearbox makes a big clunk noise and the whole gearbox shudders. The car even creeps forward for a slight instant if stationary, as though the clutch is not fully disengaged.
When the car is cold, i dont really have any problem of putting it in gear, the problem starts to occur 10 mins into driving. The clutch specialest that replaced the slave and master suggested that if replacing the slave and master doesnt solve the problem, bring it back and they will check the detent springs, and maybe put softer ones in, because apparently when a gearbox is rebuilt, they tend to put stiffer detent springs in.
Does anyone have any clue what the problem could be??? Ive been trying to search for an answer for over a month.

[RA35GT]

mate, if its able to move with the clutch in, it sounds like its not disengaging the clutch enough.

I'd be checking hydraulics, clutch fork, pivot, pressure plate.

[Barrington]

mate, if its able to move with the clutch in, it sounds like its not disengaging the clutch enough.

I'd be checking hydraulics, clutch fork, pivot, pressure plate.

But i dont really get any gear crunching or anything. And hydraulics should be fine because it now has new slave and master and obviously new fluid. The clutch pedal feels so much better now but still has done nothing to fix the problem. Il mention the clutch fork, pivot and press plate to the mechanic tomorrow.

[Dan_k36]

Has the clutch been adjusted proplely?

[Barrington]

Has the clutch been adjusted proplely?

yea twice now

[RA35GT]

But i dont really get any gear crunching or anything. And hydraulics should be fine because it now has new slave and master and obviously new fluid. The clutch pedal feels so much better now but still has done nothing to fix the problem. Il mention the clutch fork, pivot and press plate to the mechanic tomorrow.

If the clutch isn't disengaging enough it may not grind/crunch on gear changes, it may just be a bit harder to get gears because the engine is still driving the box and thus the synchro has to work against the engine as well.

Where is the clutch take up point on the pedal?

[Ken_T]

Put a longer rod on the slave and see if it fixes it. but hope the throwout bearing carrier doesn't fall off the guide.

My car has same problem, my 'solution' is to double clutch every shift and down shift to first on the run before coming to stop. If I ever do anything about it, I'm gonna try a longer rod on the slave.

[allencr]

Stay away from that 'detent springs' place, complete BS.
Clutches that don't disengage either have a lot of pedal free play or bad hydraulics that aren't pushing far enough, both very easy to tell with your foot, a broken fork that's flexing instead of pushing, hub splines that aren't sliding on the input shaft but unlikely, or a bent clutch disk that is dragging because the trans was hung on it during re-assembly.
A longer rod will do nothing except waste time unless the piston is popping out of the slave cylinder.

[sbfoot]

totally agree with above post,you need to take the box out again to inspect fork and clutch,you've done everything you can with the box in the car.

[Shifty]

there is a warranty issue with the clutch setup on these boxes, not sure if this is your issue...

[lexsmaz]

I agree with a couple of the above posts, but i would personally be looking at possibly the clutch splines being the issue, i suspect they have not been cleaned / or incorrectly greased ( have heard cases of people using anti seize on the splines & doing a similar fault as you have ) basically as the car starts to warm up & gear oil becomes less draggy the fault rears its head .. I suspect the clutch plate is not being allowed to freely come back off the flywheel when the clutch is depressed causing it to have a slight drag & keep rotating & hence be hard to select gears .. As has been said that clutch specialist sounds like he is playing with you, basically if the Box selects gears & feels perfectly with the engine off, but shit with the motor running & the clutch depressed its a clutch problem Only & thats all, it could be a number of issues with the clutch but its nothing to do with the box, crunching gears when you are driving can be a box issue, but you said it seemed ok there ..

Start up the car & whilst the car is stationery slowly depress the clutch pedal & at the same time try & select a gear, when can you select a gear ? is your foot resting on the floor or still a way off the floor, try it a few times to make sure ..Also do it on take up as has been mentioned depress your foot to the floor & select a gear & very slowly lift the clutch pedal off the floor noting when the revs change ever so slightly, thats when its starting to take up .. get back to us with that info ..

Rob ..

[Barrington]

thanks for all the help so far guys, well the car is back at the mechanic. The clutch and gearbox is still in warranty but only problem is, the mechanic that installed it is 6 hours away, down in albury, so the mechanic that has my car now is trying to sort something out with them so that the warranty can still cover the repair costs, whether they organise for a tow to albury, or whether they just reinburse the mechanic up here that has my car. So im just waiting to see what they say for now.

[rolleraction]

Dont forget to inspect the pilot/spiggot bearing. If its buggered, depressing the clutch wont prevent the crankshaft 'dragging' the gearbox input shaft. So the gearbox input shaft will always be under load making selecting gears difficult when staionary, until you turn the motor off. I went through this years ago with a reco gearbox.. Drove me nuts until I found the pilot bearing vurtually seized up. Replaced it and $10 later I was away....
PS a clutch plate that isnt runnig true with shudder also...

[4th surf]

Drop the gearbox oil out of it and replace that with Castrol VMX80. You will need a 4 litre pack and the tip is to remove the gear lever and slowly pour it in through the hole. If this makes no difference then there is a problem with pre-load inside the box as if it were a clutch issue you'd never get the sucker into gear unless you have a 1UZ in front of said box and Dellows bellhousing where you end up with a "Sometimes clutch". The only other issue that may turn up other than that is if it is an early KZJ95 which has a dual mass flywheel and some idiot has tried to machine it.

[Johnny stav]

Did they put an exedy clutch in it ? Ive had exactly the same problems your having with multiple cars that have come throught the workshop all fited with exedy clutches ! The clutch plates have come out not worn at all but the springs have lost tension and fallen apart on some on others the pressure plate has collapsed . The clutches were fitted by other workshops but it was not the fault of the mechanic but the clutch itself . They are rubbish !!