Popping Out Of Top Gear

February 15, 2015

Running down M6 yesterday, pulling a very small lightly loaded trailer, with not excessive weight (200kg tops) in car......... plus me & wife, our 54 plate D4D tourer began jumping out of top gear whilst under acceleration. It would stay in top under deceleration/overun (or if I kept pressure on the stick), & no other gears were affected.

No advanced warning, no difficulty changing gears, no funny noises or vibrations.........

except...........

I had been noticing a fair bit of banging about underneath on start-up. A bit of exhaust banging about type noise & vibration but also gearstick movement, which could also be felt going through the gears. I figured it was prob a rear engine mount needed attention. I'll get it looked at soon I thought.

Not surprising considering it has 180k on the clock but........ also......... its had 2 clutch replacements in the space of 700 miles. The first one, complete LUK kit with DMF, fell apart after not quite 700 miles & had to have another fitted. The sorry affair is another story, but I used to rate Eurocarparts.

Anyway, all that rough handling by uncaring grease-monkeys has bound to have played it's part on the fitness or otherwise of the engine mounts.

So......... I'm wondering.......... is there a connection between it jumping out of top (this is a 5 speed box with top in top rh corner of gate) & the sorry state of my engine mounts.......... or could there be some other cause? Worn selector or synchromesh is always a possibility but I've not experienced any gradual degradation & anyway, I don't believe in coincidences.

I'm currently in London for a week & it HAS to get fixed cos I can't stand the prospect of the long journey home to Cumbria via Leeds all in fourth gear........... any independent Toyota reccommends?

Topless in Gaza.

February 16, 2015

This jumping out of 5th gear is quite common,

It can be repaired whilst in situ. I have one which I am going to do up in summer. I have read that sometimes the linkages cause the popping out but I can hear a grinding noise in the box when starting the car

I rang a few gearbox specialist and its not a cheap job as the new fifth gear and components can only be obtained from Toyota. labour to do the job was £100.

or your cheaper option but a little bit more riskier is a 2nd hand box from a breakers.

what problem did you have from euro you can pm me if you do not wish to discuss on here.

February 16, 2015

I'm thinking it's the excess movement........ in particular the foreward & back rotation of the transverse engine as it accelerates & decelerates......... that's putting undue pressure or tension on the selector & linkages. It hold perfectly well in top on deceleration........... but pops out on acceleration unless the stick is held pushed foreward. I don't know if they're cable or rods or a mixture & I don't know the layout, so I can't work out the cause & exact effect process that's occuring.

The noise on startups is NOT gearbox & IS heavy duty banging of exhaust mountings & engine mounts. These start-up noises have slowly been developing for the last 500 miles/couple of months & in all that time I've never experienced loss of top gear or heard any synchromesh or similar gearbox noise. All I have been noticing is increased forward & back movement of the gearstick under acceleration & deceleration.......... signs of engine mount wear, especially the rear one/ones.

As I said previously, I don't believe in coincidences so don't think I have a fifth gear synchromesh problem AND an engine mount/selector problem......... both suddenly occuring.

I would concede though that constant pressure on the selector linkages due to worn engine mounts could have been preventing clean or full engagement of top gear & in the process wearing the synchromesh.

I used to do most of my own repairs but modern cars are too complex for me & crammed full of........ stuff. I do have a logical mind & problem solving approach though & learned at an early age to listen to & "feel" my cars every time I drive them. The above is what my eyes, ears, backside & brain have been telling me.

Re that problem with Eurocarparts............ I bought a full LUK clutch & DMF kit from them & had the lot installed by a specialist clutch garage. Within 700 miles, with no prior signs or indications, while doing a few parking stops & starts on a narrow country lane, the friction plate just rapidly broke up. My local garage replaced the full clutch (not the DMF) & I took the LUK clutch & destroyed friction plate back to Eurocarpart. Everyone, my mechanic, me & the Europarts manager felt it must have been a faulty plate & that installation damage so unlikely as to be out of the question. After a year of wrangling with them & posting them up on Twitter, I eventually got worn down & accepted £100 from them........ a fraction of what it had cost me for the repair. I'll never buy anything from them again.