Just bought a 2008 Hatchback Manual Tranny and it shifts really strange

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Rigaud

Yes you can upgrade. Get a stage 1 preformance clutch, well worth it. I installed a stage 2, forgot what brand but I'll look it up and post later unless someone else who did the same chimes in.

Thanks in advance, that would be great.

[Rigaud]

Exedy Stage 1

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Rigaud

Exedy Stage 1

Wow, that was fast! Thanks again .

[way way norcal]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

Wow, that was fast! Thanks again .

Yes thanks for that! That will be my first mod on this little rig!

[MadMax]

I test drove a manual...and bought an automatic!

Despite the claims that an auto is less fun to drive, I have a great time driving mine. It has enough pick up and if I really want to get involved in shifting gears, I just do so with the auto; but the nice thing is when I'm stuck in traffic, I don't have to deal with that awful clutch!

[way way norcal]

are they any tech writeups on this forum on how to R and R a clutch on a 2008?
I did a search and couldn't find one

[miami]

The awful clutch, together with the laggy electronic throttle, cramped seating position and footwell, uncomfortable seats, and lack of tachometer makes the car the least fun/comfortable manual transmission cars I have ever driven.

[BLKHILLSGUY]

Originally Posted by miami

The awful clutch, together with the laggy electronic throttle, cramped seating position and footwell, uncomfortable seats, and lack of tachometer makes the car the least fun/comfortable manual transmission cars I have ever driven.

Looks like you should look at the 15 models. ALL of these areas have been greatly improved. The seats are incredibly comfortable. As comfortable as my Avalon Limited.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by MadMax

I test drove a manual...and bought an automatic!

Despite the claims that an auto is less fun to drive, I have a great time driving mine. It has enough pick up and if I really want to get involved in shifting gears, I just do so with the auto; but the nice thing is when I'm stuck in traffic, I don't have to deal with that awful clutch!

Just out of curiosity, does your Jeep have a manual transmission ?

[attrapereves]

Originally Posted by CoryM

Yep, the Yaris clutch is probably (IMO) the worst part of the car. The slow throttle-body doesn't help much either. Nor does the engine being so quiet, and easy to stall. My clutch is now broken from driving for 3yrs on R-comp tires: Imagine what you have, but the engagement point changes at random. Sometimes it engages close to the floor, sometimes near the top. I'll be doing the clutch soon......

Interestingly enough my clutch isn't damaged from launching hard, but from tire slippage then biting HARD in corners. I think the previous owner took some life out of it too. I'm curious to see what a Luk clutch will do for the feel of the clutch because I'm sure not going to try an OE one again.

Can you explain what you mean about killing the clutch from tire slippage?

The clutch is the worst part of the Yaris. My previous Chevy Sonic (which had an issue with grinding going into 2nd) was light years better than this Yaris clutch.

[CoryM]

Originally Posted by attrapereves

Can you explain what you mean about killing the clutch from tire slippage?

It's not the slipping that hurts it, it's the sudden traction afterwards. I daily-drive (and autoX) on DOT race tires. The raw grip of these tires is far beyond what "street" tires can do. So: going around a corner hard, gas pedal to the floor to pull the car out of the corner, the inside tire spins due to weight-transfer/body-roll, then bites very hard as the weight goes back onto the inside tire. This causes a shock to the clutch similar to if you were to let the clutch out very abruptly. This usually wears/breaks the torsional springs in the clutch disc, which are there to soak up shock loads and vibration.

It's going to be about a month before I get a chance to do my clutch, but I am curious to see what it's going to look like

Cheers.

[MadMax]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

Just out of curiosity, does your Jeep have a manual transmission ?

Yep, better offroad. Most competition rigs use automatics now...

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by MadMax

Yep, better offroad. Most competition rigs use automatics now...

The reason I asked is that it might be easier to...'accept' ()....an automatic Yaris if one had another vehicle that had a manual transmission.

[attrapereves]

Originally Posted by CoryM

It's not the slipping that hurts it, it's the sudden traction afterwards. I daily-drive (and autoX) on DOT race tires. The raw grip of these tires is far beyond what "street" tires can do. So: going around a corner hard, gas pedal to the floor to pull the car out of the corner, the inside tire spins due to weight-transfer/body-roll, then bites very hard as the weight goes back onto the inside tire. This causes a shock to the clutch similar to if you were to let the clutch out very abruptly. This usually wears/breaks the torsional springs in the clutch disc, which are there to soak up shock loads and vibration.

It's going to be about a month before I get a chance to do my clutch, but I am curious to see what it's going to look like

Cheers.

Question about that. I was teaching my wife how to drive a manual today and once or twice she accidentally revved it to 4000rpm, then launched the car screeching the tires. I'm assuming this wears the clutch significantly?

Also, sometimes when I shift into 2nd my car will jerk a little bit. Does this jerking cause clutch wear?

[CoryM]

Originally Posted by attrapereves

Question about that. I was teaching my wife how to drive a manual today and once or twice she accidentally revved it to 4000rpm, then launched the car screeching the tires. I'm assuming this wears the clutch significantly?

Also, sometimes when I shift into 2nd my car will jerk a little bit. Does this jerking cause clutch wear?

Heh. Teaching people to drive manual is fun huh?

It's definitely not great for the clutch but, so long as the clutch is in good shape to begin with, not going to kill it while she learns. If you weren't smelling burnt clutch (strong, acrid smell that lingers), you aren't wearing the clutch too badly. If she were to continue to drive like that you would see reduced clutch life but it should be fine while teaching her. It takes time to get smooth.

Jerking should not cause wear of the friction surface, but will cause minute wear of the parts of the clutch that are there to absorb the shock loads. Nothing to worry about as you will always get the occasional poor shift. The clutches are designed with this in mind, and have a mechanism to deal with small shock loads. That being said, the smoother you can drive the more life you will get out of nearly every part of the car.

End of the day, the Yaris is hard on clutches. You need to ride the clutch a fair bit to get going, and with the poor pedal feel it can be hard to be smooth on shifts. I wouldn't worry much as the clutches still last a long time in these cars even with that. Mine is only broken because I am subjecting it to abnormally high shock loads from the race-tires. I am a mechanic though so repairs are cheap/easy .

Cheers.

[attrapereves]

To replace the clutch in the Yaris, do you have to remove the engine? How much should the clutch replacement cost on average?

[miami]

Originally Posted by BLKHILLSGUY

Looks like you should look at the 15 models. ALL of these areas have been greatly improved. The seats are incredibly comfortable. As comfortable as my Avalon Limited.

Good to know! I heard they swapped out the clutch for '15, which is great. I am not in the market for a new car, but a '15 Yaris will be a great buy in the future, it sounds like.

[CoryM]

Originally Posted by attrapereves

To replace the clutch in the Yaris, do you have to remove the engine? How much should the clutch replacement cost on average?

You remove the transmission to replace the clutch. It's fairly involved on the Yaris. I think the book labour time is nearly 7hrs. You're probably looking at $700-1000 depending on where you take it and, if you need a new flywheel, it may cost another $300-400 on top. Not cheap, but rarely required and the reliability of the Yaris otherwise makes up for it.


I don't think anyone has actually touched on why the Yaris clutch sucks so bad. The reason is because there is absolutely no feel right? When wearing workboots I literally cannot feel the engagement point of the clutch because the pedal is so light. The main reason for this is the diaphragm spring on the pressure plate are very light. This is the essentially the part that your foot is pushing against (after a bit of hydraulics and leverage). So get a clutch with heavier diaphragm springs would make a big difference. As mentioned before, performance clutches feel better because they have heavy diaphragm springs to give better clamping force on the clutch disc. I have not tried one in a Yaris yet, but it should make a world of difference in pedal feel. A performance clutch is probably a very good idea for people who just want better clutch feel than OE.

That being said, I don't know that I want one in my car I've learned from past experiences that clutches are cheap compared to transmissions. From much higher horsepower cars than the Yaris, but I typically run weak clutches in my cars so that the clutch breaks before the transmission etc. Clutches are cheap compared to hard parts.

Cheers.

Also, this is an excellent video on how clutches work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqF-aBtTBnY