I was driving home and my 02 celica gt started making some horrible noises. The next morning, I went to drive my car and when I put it in first gear it didn’t take off. I took it out of gear and tried to put it back in and it wouldn’t go into any of the gears or reverse. I eventually got it to go into second and got it back into my drive way. I didn’t smell the burnt clutch smell… I’m not sure what else it could be though. Please help! Thanks
If the engine is off, does it still refuse to go into any gears other than neutral? If so, that sounds like some kind of shift linkage problem. Maybe some part fell off or broke in the linkage. Not an uncommon thing.
If it goes into gears ok w/the engine off, but won’t if the engine is idling, first place to check is whether the slave cylinder is activating the clutch release mechanism. You may just have some relatively minor clutch hydraulic system problem.
Thanks so much!
The car does go into gear if the engine is off. If it is the problem you think it might be, is if a costly repair? Does it require a whole new clutch? Thanks again!
It could require the transmission be taken out and parts or all of the clutch be replaced. But don’t assume that to be the case. B/c like I say above, it could just be a minor clutch hydraulic problem. A shop should be able to tell you if the clutch release mechanism is working or not without much cost. If it isn’t, probably either the clutch master cylinder or slave cylinder needs to be replaced. If it only the master cylinder (which is a pretty common thing, I’ve replaced that part twice on my Corolla over the years) , that’s short money. If the slave is involved, it depends on whether the slave can be replaced without removing the transmission. No need to remove the transmission on my Corolla, so again for me anyway that’s a short money problem. Often the experts here recommend to replace the slave along with the master as a routine thing, if the slave is easy to replace. I’ve only replaced the master tho, slave never has caused a problem. If the transmission needs to be removed to replace clutch parts, that’s about a 7 hour job and maybe $250 in parts. Depends on what exactly needs to be replaced. If the flywheel needs replacement a little more. The clutch is a wearing gadget so is designed to be relatively easy to replace, the main cost is the labor to remove and install the transmission.
If the noises occurred while you were driving, but not in the act of shifting, it sounds like an internal transmission failure.
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There’s a semi-frequent poster here who owns a Celica as I recall. @BustedKnuckles , you listening? Any ideas for the OP?