Question From Dutch Cts Owner

[xoom]

Hi Guys,

Any updates on this issue as i will be seeing toyota in 2 days and was wondering if any of u guys have had any success so i can point it out.

cheers

Bill

[eep2nw]

Nope, nothing from my end... I'm also waiting for canadian's response to see if he's had any success.....

[tunix]

Hi Guys,

Any updates on this issue as i will be seeing toyota in 2 days and was wondering if any of u guys have had any success so i can point it out.

cheers

Bill

Have the clutch pressure plate replaced. It will fix the noise problem, at least for some time. It helped in my case, unfortunatelly caused some other problems :)

tx

[Aphelion]

Hey Tunix

What other problems did you get?

Be happy if that was the fix for sure, did you dealer give you any info about the fault?

Cheers

Aph

[tunix]

Be happy if that was the fix for sure, did you dealer give you any info about the fault?

The pressure plate is equipped with springs (angular vibration dumpers - not sure if this is the right name). They (or their mounts - can't remember) tend to get weak and cause this strange sound when you decelerate.

I've read some post from a guy working for Toyota - he wrote that this is a common problem in TS. I had the clutch replaced for some other reason and this also solved the problem, so I believe the guy was right. I suspect that TS clutch is not suitable for that kind of car/engine/gearbox combo - there's a big number of posts related to TS clutch issues.

My current clutch problem is heavy vibration when the clutch engages. It appeared when the dealer replaced the clutch for the first time. They replaced a bunch of clutch related elements, but it didn't help. On Friday another dealer will disassemle the clutch once again. They suspect the flywheel...

tx

[Aphelion]

Crikey

I am sure it will all work out in the end mate, thanks for your help it gives me some ammo when i take my car in.

Aph

[thecanadian]

Sorry for the delay. Have been out of the country on business.

Have not had a chance to drive her yet. Will let you know more tomorrow.

ciao.

[thecanadian]

OK,

Have had a chance to drive the car. Toyota replaced the ECU, installed new gear cables (the ones with dampers), replaced the gear linkage arm, replaced the heat shield (necessary when working on the gear box - so I'm told) and I asked them to replace the gearbox oil.

The verdict:

Lights seem fine now. No sign of dimming...even when rolling both passenger and driver door windows up and down.

As for the gearbox noise in 2, 3 and 4th gears, well it seems better. The noise is no where near as pronounced as it was before...perhaps all the water on the roads is masking the noise? Seriously though, it does sound better. ie. Not completely gone, but it is less pronounced. Also, it shifts a lot better/smoother - perhaps it has to do with the uprated oil I asked them fill the gearbox with.

Almost everything was done under warranty. They charged me for the gearbox oil, but not the labour. A whopping 15 pounds.

Hope this helps.

[CTS03]

what is the heat shield?

[tunix]

Guys, tomorrow I will be leaving my car at another dealer. Hope they will solve the clutch problem for good. Keep your fingers crossed.

tx

[thecanadian]

The heat shield is a piece of tin that reflects heat away from critical components. Usually found around the exhaust and manifold areas. It is also a common cause of rattles in most cars, not just toyota.

[xoom]

Hi tunix,

plz do let us know how u go.....i have shown the people in toyota aus the issues with changing the clutch but yet they are ademant that this is wat they wanna do so will see how it goes......i am now waitin 4 them 2 confirm the appointment will let u guys knw how it goes once its done.

[tunix]

Hi tunix,

plz do let us know how u go.....i have shown the people in toyota aus the issues with changing the clutch but yet they are ademant that this is wat they wanna do so will see how it goes......i am now waitin 4 them 2 confirm the appointment will let u guys knw how it goes once its done.

Hi Xoom,

My car is at the dealer at the moment. They called me on Friday evening and said they had disassemled the clutch once again. They also told me all the elements looked good, without any visible damage, so they decided to replace everything (disks, bearing) once again. They will also replace the flywheel (haven't been changed yet). The car is supposed to be ready on Tuesday, then I will know if it solved the problem of the vibrations when engaging the clutch.

Best,

tx

[tunix]

Guys,

I'm happy to inform that the new dealer did a great job! They replaced the clutch, and the flywheel, and after almost 5 months of fighting the car has been finally repaired. No strange sounds when deccelerating, no vibrations when engaging the clutch, no bad symptoms at all. Driving the car is a pleasure again. Hope this state will last for good :)

tx

[xoom]

Hi tunix,

thanks for the update. Ive got my car going into toyota Monday next week to change the clutch, pressure plate & thrust bearing. Will let u know how it goes. I have already indicated to toyota here in australia that plenty of guys are getting TRD clutches and TOMS flywheels and this is solving their issues but as usual toyota wants to do it the slow hard way.

If i get no joy from this i might also do the upgrade of clutch & flywheel and try and get compensation back from toyota.

Anyway will keep you all posted.

cheers bill

[Henwen]

Guy’s

I started this whole mess, but I have still the same problems. Anyway after a few visits to the local dealer, I went to my dealer were I bought this car and they are going through this forum to see what you guy’s replied. That is a good thing and I hope they can solve the problems after reading your reactions. The new ECU is already in order and is placed the 2nd of the next month.

Thanks,

[xoom]

Ok i have finally got the clutch replaced and the fly wheel machined also. It was raining very very heavily all the way home from the dealer so i couldnt hear anything over the rain. I will keep an eye on the clutch and its noises over the coming days/weeks as the 1st clutch took a few km's for the problem to show up so my only guess is how long is this 1 going 2 last <_< <_< <_<

[eep2nw]

Hey xoom,

what's the outcome??? Did it solve all the scraping noise???

[xoom]

Hi eep2nw,

Ok ive done 1200 km's and originally yes it was fixed. No noises at all and i was happy BUT because toyota has taken like 10 times to fix other things i thought i'd keep an eye on it.

Anyway like i said 1200 km later and the noise is back. Its not as loud but its back. Also has another noise coming from the same area .... the new noise is really hard to explain.

I will be ringing toyota on Monday to complain again. I wish they could do something right for once instead of guessing ..... i swear u'd think they didnt build the car which is why they are guessing as to what the problem is.

For your info they changed the clutch, the pressure plate, the thrust baring & they machined the fly wheel. Im going to ask for a new fly wheel i think if they change that and its still there then i got no idea.

How has every1 else gone with this problem ??????

cheers xoom

[tunix]

Hi Xoom,

I finally gave up with the clutch. When they replaced a complete set (clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, bearing) for the last time the car worked great. After two days the vibrations appeared again. Seems the service has no idea how to fix TS clutch.

Best,

tx

[eep2nw]

Hey xoom,

I've read from the aussie posts that some members have had their clutches and flywheel replaced to the TRD ones. Are they still having that scraping sound??? Perhaps we should get Toyota to pay for those parts just to have this sorted out....

[SKG]

Guys, Quicksliver has posted this earlier in this forum:

"Symptom:

When decelerating under engine compression or accelerating , particularly in lower gears under lower rpm conditions, you hear a growl / rattle entering the cabin. All that you are hearing is transaxle activity and Toyota gearboxes are, unfortunately, notorius for this. A fieldfix has been developed for this on all Corolla models, but does not eliminate the problem completely. The transaxle cable is fitted with a damper to reduce the intrusion of this noise into the cabin. The growl, as mentioned before, is also evident under acceleration under low rpm conditions. The growl should become less noticeable as you go higher up the rev range as well as moving up to a higher gear. Its purely an NVH issue and should not concern you."

We all have this scrapping noise and I just wonder why do you bother dismantling your cars and changing gearboxes and clutches all the time just for a scrapping noise which is not even noticeable with the radio a bit up???? That's probably a cable or something else vibrating, so what's the big deal? No one has posted any real malfunction caused by this.

I just believe that a real headache may come if you often have your cars "fixed" by sometimes inexperienced mechanics....

[thecanadian]

Agree with SKG and Quicksilver here.

I have had my gear cables and linkage replaced. Helped a bit, but did not completely aleviate the noise problem. The noise is still there, although, less pronounced than before (not a major issue anymore). The new cables and linkages fixed one thing for sure, and that is the vibration that came through the gear stick at about 4000 rpm...kind of a high frequency rattle - gone!

The car has been running superbly in and out of lift for the past 7k miles!

Cheers -eh!

or is that beers - eh!

[CTS03]

After some rattles' isolation work under the dash, the gear-cables' ratlle in my cts was limited under strong acceleration with 2nd gear near 6000rpm. However, even this is very annoying: not hearing the engine noise at the most exciting moments!

Otherwise, I consider unusual the difficulty in gear sifting in my CTS (new clutch). It is particularly difficult to upshift gears up to medium engine rpm. So, I tend to adopt a driving style based on strong acceleration and high speeds but who is going to pay pay my tickets?

I did the following test. Engine rpm 3000-4000, 2nd gear, clutch fully pressed, I moved the gear to neutral, delayed 1-2 sec and then tried to engage 3rd. Significantly increased difficulty with the delay. Is it normal?

[CTS03]

After some rattles' isolation work under the dash, the gear-cables' ratlle in my cts was limited under strong acceleration with 2nd gear near 6000rpm. However, even this is very annoying: not hearing the engine noise at the most exciting moments!

Otherwise, I consider unusual the difficulty in gear sifting in my CTS (new clutch). It is particularly difficult to upshift gears up to medium engine rpm. So, I tend to adopt a driving style based on strong acceleration and high speeds but who is going to pay pay my tickets?

I did the following test. Engine rpm 3000-4000, 2nd gear, clutch fully pressed, I moved the gear to neutral, delayed 1-2 sec and then tried to engage 3rd. Significantly increased difficulty with the delay. Is it normal?