From: kevin@nuchat.sccsi.com (Kevin Brown)
Subject: Re: Transmission prob. & Redline MTL
Organization: I can't see any in the immediate vicinity...
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 22:35:03 GMT

In article <1992Jul29.143007.4324@bb1t.monsanto.com> axle@bb1t.monsanto.com writes:
>
>	2 all netters,
>
>	I've got an 88 MR2 non-turbo.  About a month ago, the transmission
>became hard to upshift, especially going from 2nd to 1st.  No grinding or
>clunking, just resistance coming out of first and into second.  
>
>	I took it to a Toyota dealer, and after test driving it, he said
>that I have a weak pressure plate causing the cluth not to disengage properly.
>So I took my car to an independent mechanic I know.  He just laughed and 
>told me that I just need to change the transmission oil and keep the revs
>down a little when I upshift. (I normally shift at about 3.5-4k.  That's
>not much for a 7.5k redline.)
>
>	Taking his advice I ordered Redline MTL 75W90 and changed the 
>trans fluid.  Yuk, my old fluids were dirty and full of synchronizers. 

This is your problem, in all likelihood.  The 1st gear synchro is obviously
not what it used to be, and isn't doing its job as well as it should.  I
would say offhand that you need to get the 1st gear synchro replaced. 
Unfortunately, this involves removing the gearbox which, on your car, is
probably painful (you'd have to examine your setup and look at a shop manual
to know what's involved in getting the gearbox out of there.  You may have
to go so far as to remove the engine/transaxle combination).

>The
>Redline help the upshift a litte bit, but did not eliminate the problem.
>Upshifting was still hard and a little bit crunchy.

I've heard that Redline is wonderful stuff, but it isn't magic.  It can't
replace a worn synchro.

>	Anyway, today I took my car to another dealer.  This time they say
>they couldn't find anyting wrong with the transmission.

Figures.  Bozo dealer mechanics who haven't a clue about the principles upon
which cars are built and operate...

>	I'm STUMPED.  I know that my transmission is not what it used to
>be.  The car has 56k on it.  That means the warranty will run out soon.
>What can I do now?  Any advice or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
>I can't drive this car having to shift at 2.5k.  It feels like a Yugo.

See above.  Chances are real good that your 1st gear synchro is worn
significantly (it's not completely gone else you would have a *really* hard
time shifting into first gear without a "crunch", even from a standstill).

>P.S.   Incidentally, the first dealer I took it to, I did not tell them
>       I got the extended warranty.

Good plan.  If they tell you that your car doesn't have a problem under these
conditions, it's a good bet that there's no problem (though again, most of
the mechanics that work at such places haven't a clue about cars).

If you tell a dealer that your car does have the extended warranty, and they
come back and say that there's a problem that the warranty covers, I would
think the chances are reasonable that there is a problem, but it depends a
lot on how, or if, the dealer is compensated for extended warranty work.


Your best bet would be to take it to an *independent* mechanic that is
knowledgeable about cars in general and, hopefully, your specific car.  You
can find out who's good and who isn't by talking to people in your area who
autocross or otherwise race their cars.  MR2's are good autocrossers, I would
think (small, mid-engined, handle well, good acceleration, etc.), so you
should be able to find a few people in your area who are into this.  There's
probably an SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) chapter in your area.  Get in
touch with them.


-- 
				Kevin Brown

			    kevin@nuchat.sccsi.com
			    kevin@taronga.taronga.com