Difficult gear changes

[Anton 8]

Sorry if this one is a common one. After owning my 86 for a few weeks I drove my wife's car again for the first time in a while. It made me realise that changing gear in my car is quite difficult/notchy. Is this just a quirk of the 86 or should I get it looked at? I bought the car nearly new, its a 17 plate with only 3k on the clock. 

[Gary p 46]

Second gear is a bogger to get into when cold. I changed gear oil to motul 300 and had TRD short shifter and it helped a bit. 

[Church 209]

"only 3k" also may play a role, with synchros/gears not fully worked in ..

[Philip 14]

Changing into 1st or 2nd is the worst gear change of any car that I've owned - despite my local Toyota having had a couple of goes to improve it.

I'm willing to live with it because of all the other good things about the car, but given how satisfying a good gear change can be, it's a real shame that Toyota didn't spend a little bit more time on that aspect of the design.

[Church 209]

Weird to hear that about 1st (of course unless you are trying to switch in it at too high of a speed and without rev matching, as most modern manual transmissions to prevent downshift overrev/engine & transmission damage usually have special mechanisms to make it hard to put in 1st unless car is at slow speed). Cold 2nd is bad and very common .. but as soon when tranny heats up it "fixes itself", i stopped caring about that. Otherwise this seems normal gearbox. Some things better then in others, some other things worse. It's usable, and how you have mentioned, many other good things about these cars let one live with some of bad traits easier.

[Anton 8]

Yea, mine gets better after a few driving for a while. Sounds like mine is pretty standard based on what everyone has said. 

[nerdstrike 186]

Gearbox feel is often rather different with RWD gearboxes than FWD ones, as the shift linkage is much shorter. Additionally the GT86 is designed with the expectation of some abuse, not to mention weight and cost savings. This makes it feel much more of a naked gearshift than both regular cars, and the heavier sports saloons.

That said, I do wish it would shift into second on first try out of the house in winter. It's really satisfying once it's nice and hot, but seems clumsy in the cold.

[Lauren 2259]

7 hours ago, mr_db said:

Yea, mine gets better after a few driving for a while. Sounds like mine is pretty standard based on what everyone has said. 

If it gets better after driving for five minutes or so, they are all like that. This will not change either. Changing the oil won't make a difference either. It's just how they are. You'll notice it more the colder it gets. But it soon passes. 

[Mike@TD.co.uk 467]

Swapping over to Royal Purple MaxGear gearbox oil made a noticeable improvement to our manual box. We recommend it to all owners now coming through when a change is being done.

 

MTEC shifter springs and the Powerflex positive shift bush also make changes nicer and are a cheap modification.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

[Philip 14]

22 hours ago, Church said:

Weird to hear that about 1st (of course unless you are trying to switch in it at too high of a speed and without rev matching

Nope - I'm talking about selecting 1st from Neutral when the car is at rest (e.g. when stopped at traffic lights or roundabouts). I would rarely, if ever, change down into 1st from a higher gear.

While it does improve a bit when the car has warmed up (and is much more noticeable in cold weather), the gear change is a million miles away from (say) a 30 year old 944.

I'm a bit surprised that Toyota haven't sorted this out on the later cars, which suggests that it's a design defect rather than something that can be fully cured with a different lubricant/springs/bushing.

[Church 209]

It might be due tighter tolerances for more precise throws. Yes, design defect, but not that important to me if when heated up it goes away. I had a go in friend's 1st gen STI .. long mushy washed up throws .. i felt delight when getting back in mine with click-click-click.

[Lauren 2259]

8 hours ago, Philip said:

I'm a bit surprised that Toyota haven't sorted this out on the later cars, which suggests that it's a design defect rather than something that can be fully cured with a different lubricant/springs/bushing.

When developing the car, Toyota spent a lot of time on the gearchange feel, to make it feels as it does, so it's intentional. 1st shouldn't be difficult to select though. I've not experienced that in the GT's I've driven. 

[surrey86 352]

If I was you I'd take it in to be looked at, it doesn't sound right.

[Philip 14]

I've been concentrating on the gear change, and I'll accept that while changing into 1st is far from very smooth, it's not as bad as the change into 2nd (either 1 to 2 or 3 to 2).

I normally tend to double declutch, and that allows for a reasonable smooth gear change most of the time, but I'm in my local dealers for the 4 year service shortly, so I might ask them to look at it again.