Carina Gearbox

January 21, 2006

The gearbox on my Carina E from 96 (70,000 miles covered) is generally very smooth with the exception of 3rd gear. Sometimes 3rd can be as good as the other gears, but quite often it will grind a little or feel slightly "mechanical" when finding its place no matter how careful I am. I wondered if the synchromesh might be weak on 3rd.

I have to say that since buying the car 3 months ago I have only been doing really short trips which can't be good for the car but I don't think that is specifically the problem here. It tends to improve a bit when the engine has warmed up but its definitely not consistently easy like all the other gears. Is this a common problem on Carina's or other Toyotas and does anybody have any suggestions on what may be causing this? Am I worrying about nothing?

When the car was last serviced I did mention to the mechanic that it might be a good idea to change the oil in the gearbox because it felt slightly rough at times, but he just laughed and said they never have to be changed nowadays and most gearboxes don't even include oil. He never reported finding any problems but in a car which feels so refined in every other respect it does make me wonder. Certainly the gearbox on my old Clio felt lighter and faster with no particular rough spots but I suppose its a different style of car. Any thoughts or advice are much appreciated.

Thanks

Ashley

January 21, 2006

When the car was last serviced I did mention to the mechanic that it might be a good idea to change the oil in the gearbox because it felt slightly rough at times, but he just laughed and said they never have to be changed nowadays and most gearboxes don't even include oil.
Thanks
Ashley

If you mechanic said this then rapidy change your mechanic.

Change the gearbox oil to Redline MTL - it solved similar problems in my gearbox

January 21, 2006

Thanks ae111sr, I've had my doubts about the mechanic for some time but only went there because my father has used him for years. Recently though he never seems to have time to check anything I ask about but the price is always significantly higher than he originally estimated.

I'll look into this Redline MTL and I am glad to hear that did the trick on your car rather than being a mechanical problem. I just looked at the old bills and I can see that it had some Duckhams gearbox oil added at the 36,000 mile service.

January 21, 2006

Thanks ae111sr, I've had my doubts about the mechanic for some time but only went there because my father has used him for years. Recently though he never seems to have time to check anything I ask about but the price is always significantly higher than he originally estimated.
I'll look into this Redline MTL and I am glad to hear that did the trick on your car rather than being a mechanical problem. I just looked at the old bills and I can see that it had some Duckhams gearbox oil added at the 36,000 mile service.

i think id change my mechanic if he said that to me. i agree with ae111sr about changing the oil it should cure the problem :yes:

January 21, 2006

I've just been researching this on the web and the redline oils seems to draw praise and criticism in equal measure but I gather I should opt for the MT-90 rather than MTL version for the Carina. The MT-90 is a slightly thicker oil (less slippery) but offers better gear protection from what I am reading. According to my Haynes manual I should opt for an oil with 75W/90 with API to GL-3 whatever that means.