2000 Toyota Celica Stalls in neutral and clutch timing is o

CNHILL

MEMBER
2000 TOYOTA CELICA

Engine Mechanical problem
2000 Toyota Celica 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Manual 140K miles

My Celica started stalling in neutral this morning. It sounds terrible with a lot of sqeeking and grinding and it sounds like something is rubbing against a fan. When I do shift, first and second gear are rough and the car lurches forward. If I keep revving the engine with the clutch in at a stop I can sometimes keep it from stalling but not always. It sounds like the gears are grinding and the clutch petal shakes when I engage it. It also seems to be engaging late in the higher gears. Once on the highway it runs great.

The check engine light has always been on since the previous owner installed the cold air intake.

I was wondering what might be going on as well as the normal price range for these parts. I get taken advantage of quite often at repair shops.

4 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi cnhill,

Thank you for the donation.

Just a few questions to understand the problem better to get us going.

Does the noise occurs when the clutch pedal is NOT depressed?

You mentioned gears engaging late in the higher gears. Do you mean the engine is revving and vehicle is not accelerating?

The CEL should not be related to this problem which I suspect to be a faulty clutch and worn clutch release bearing. Have you ever had the CEL trouble codes retrieved?

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Friday, November 27th, 2009 AT 11:17 AM

CNHILL

MEMBER
3 POSTS

The squeeking/ fan rubbing occurs all the time except over 60mph. (But I just might not hear it) The grinding occurs when I put the clutch in and let it out. I should mention the previous owner also had a new TRD racing clutch put in in 2004 so I know that has been replaced at one point. I always noticed second gear was rough and had a tendency to grind if the clutch was not all the way in in the "start the car" position.

By engaging late I mean that I let the clutch out and there is a delay before it seems to catch. Probably mere half seconds but definitely enough for me to notice. Normally my clutch engages about two inches off of the floor and even though I can tell it initiates then it no longer seems to catch without a the delay. The car does not rev during this time it seems to be coasting with terrible grinding noises. Once it catches it seems to accelerate ok but there is vibration in the clutch petal.

I have not gotten any codes but I plan on (hopefully) cruising by auto zone on my way home from work.

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Friday, November 27th, 2009 AT 11:44 AM

CNHILL

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3 POSTS

Sorry I misread your statement about the CEL codes. I did at one time have them taken and it stated that there was a cylinder misfiring. However upon taking these codes to several shops and finally the Toyota dealership they all seem to agree that the engine was functioning fine (at the time) and that the cold air intake seems to have caused problems with the O2 sensor.

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Friday, November 27th, 2009 AT 11:49 AM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

The cold air intake can cause the misfiring code and if you have the exact code, I might be able to see whether it is related. If it is misfiring, it would cause the rough running. It might be a bad plug or its related parts.

The symptoms of the grinding seem to indicate a bad throwout bearing and if late catching of the clutch seems to indicate a slipping clutch.

Racing clutches wears off very fast under normal usage and I would not rule that out as a possibility.

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Friday, November 27th, 2009 AT 12:09 PM