Squeaky Transmission? 5MT

[JustFPV]

Everyone, please be very careful using lithium grease on the shifter linkages and bushings if your Yaris is older like mine. I have a 2006 2dr hatch with manual trans. I just had a linkage bushing failure on the highway and my car would only shift into 3rd gear. For the past year, I've been using lithium grease to keep the squeaking away as I was getting an annoying squeak shifting into 2nd gear after finding this thread. Last night while coming back into Toronto traffic from Ottawa, I downshifted and when I went to shift back into a higher gear, I could only get 3rd gear no matter what gear I tried to shift into. I limped the car home in 3rd gear (very annoying at stop/starts), thankfully have a new exedy clutch in the car cause I had to ride the clutch to get moving at red lights in 3rd gear. The lithium grease deteriorated the bushing to the point that it slipped off the lever and over the cotter pin that holds it on (I only used the lithium grease on this particular bushing as it was the one squeaking, the other bushings are fine and in tact). Lithium grease and really any oil based products will eat away at plastic/rubber materials, even higher end poly-eurethane bushings. Do not, I repeat, do not use this hack if you don't plan to replace the bushing anytime in the near future or if you plan to keep the car for longer than a year without replacing the bushing. If I didn't fix it myself this morning and/or have a trustworthy mechanic, this is something that could land you a hefty repair bill cause I thought my transmission died on me and sleezy mechanics will try to make you pay for unnecessary repairs. I almost scrapped my car over this so beware that using this hack will ultimately lead to worse problems in the future if you keep your car long enough afterwards.