Hmmm, I think the matrix should be a hydraulic clutch. -If I recall correctly, that was yet
another joint-venture with General Motors though (-you seem to like those!), so I don't know who made which parts... in general, Toyota makes transmissions which (coupled to that level of power) should require about as much maintenance as the average refrigerator.
If the car was bought used however, there's no easy way to tell how the previous owner drove it, or exactly what their habits were... By and large the US is a nation of automatic-owners, and the level of education of stick-shift drivers is really not so hot, from my observation...
In fact, only last week I was behind a stick-shift car (it was a post-1999 Mk3 VW Cabriolet as it happens...) stopped at an UPHILL traffic light at the end of an off-ramp, where the driver was 'rocking' the car forwards and backwards slightly, using the clutch (no brake lights... though I did see that they were functioning perfectly when we came to the next stop light). -You probably know the thing... instead of holding the car stopped on the slope by using the service brake (the foot brake in other words) she was using the clutch in first gear, and varying/modulating the clutch grip slightly so that the car crept forwards and backwards slightly, over a 2-3 second 'cycle'... it REALLY made me wince, and it was a 3 or 4 minute red light... -you have NO IDEA how it made me squirm to watch it... -right in front of me... I just kept fighting the irrepressible urge to get out and ask the driver if she was aware of how much she was accelerating the clutch wear...
...Mind you my mum does EXACTLY the same thing. She generally sells the cars at about 20,000 miles (3-4 years at her annual mileage) and people probably think they're getting a GREAT car:" -Little old lady owner, only 5k miles a year... what a find!!! -then the clutch fails at 25,000 miles.)
Anyhow... Used cars can come from ANY type of driver, so it's DEFINITELY worth an inspection: if a clutch does fail, you'd better have a "Triple'A" towing membership, because it won't go anywhere under its own power.
I don't know if that's a GM transmission or a Toyota transmission, but I'd expect it to have a hydraulic actuation mechanism anyway. -Just a word of advice, that fluid should be flushed every few years, because -like brake fluid- it's hygroscopic, and likes to absorb moisture from the atmosphere and over time that tends to eat seals.... that's not necessarily your problem here though, but at 5 years old, it's worth a flush if you don't have a record of it on the car's service log... I have Brake fluid flushed EVERY two years and clutch fluid every four years on the VW, the Porsche gets brake fluid one week before EVERY track day, so it never gets to be even one year old... but new clutch fluid every four years.
One question about seating position though: My seating position is ALWAYS determined by setting the seat so that -with the base of by spine neatly against the base of the seat's backrest- straightening the left leg
fully presses the clutch pedal FIRMLY against the end-stop... Some people have to 'stretch' the leg to push the pedal to the end-stop, and that makes the required effort more arduous... It can also accelerate clutch-wear, since the gears are then shifted with the friction faces incompletely disengaged...
You should be able to pop the gear selector on ANY manually-gearboxed car into neutral without having to press the clutch. -All you should do is
slightly relax the pressure on the GAS pedal (assuming that you're up-shifting, and -appling a GENTLE pressure on the gear knob, you should feel it 'release' into neutral as you ease off on the gas.
In fact once you've moved off in first gear, it's perfectly possible to go through EVERY other gear without using the clutch AT ALL. -Much easier to do upshifting than downshifting, but in a synchromesh gearbox (which yours undoubtedly is), all you shoudl do is rev-match, then 'ease' the shifter into the next gear. -You'll probably play "the star spangled banner" on it the first time you try, but it can be done... -I once had a clutch cable snap on an old rear-engined Aircooled car, and drove it about 50 miles home...
never stopping, but using all the gears, accelerating to full highway speed, and slowing to under 10MPH as needed...
Don't try this for the first time unless you're about to sell the car you're doing it to, by the way... or if it's a rental, it goes without saying!!!
Keith
