Gearbox breaks at 110,000km on Yaris 2007

[sven337]

Hi,
my Yaris (NLP90L-CHMGXW), @110000km, recently started making noise that came from the gearbox, and within a few hundred kilometers the gearbox became unusable. Even in neutral, the gearbox makes a lot of noise and resists movement, 1st and 2nd kinda work but with a a lot of noise, rear does nothing at all, ...

First of all, I have a problem with a gearbox dying @110,000km. That sounds awfully short to me, and although I can attest that the car had been driven pretty aggressively (and the clutch was recently changed), I don't think that's quite normal. I've seen a few threads about this car that said that one of the ball bearings in the gearbox isn't well designed, and wears out after around 100000km. Thoughts on that? I don't expect Toyota to readily agree that they screwed up, but I'm curious.

My second issue is that my Toyota dealership is being uncooperative. They quoted about 4000 euros for a gearbox replacement, which is roughly equal to the market value of the car. When I said I wanted to replace it with a used gearbox I would provide, they refused to confirm which exact model would be compatible.
Most used car parts shops are telling me my car uses a C53 gearbox (one I was offered bore the following marking in addition to C53: Y61000315, another was Y80807426. That's probably a serial number though.). I'm aware that there are several variants of C53, I'm speaking here of a gearbox pulled from the same model of Yaris with the same engine.
According to http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/p_E_200...MGXW_3301.html, I believe this is correct (OEM reference 30300-52442) and that is the gearbox my car currently has. Most shops are adamant that this is the correct gearbox, and that Toyota is wrong, or lying to me.

Toyota quoted a C50h gearbox, with OEM reference 30300-52551. I haven't found anything on the web about a C50h gearbox, and the OEM reference appears to be unknown as well. The person I had on the phone refused to say whether a C53 would work or not, even when provided with both my VIN and the VIN of the car (the same model of Yaris!) the C53 came from.
Somebody else suggested to me, on the phone, that there are two different gearboxes for this car, that they are incompatible, and that one of them has an aluminium 5th gear carter while the other uses iron. I haven't been able to examine the gearbox yet, but I'm surprised about the incompatibility. Does anyone have more information about the C50h and its differences with C53 in a Yaris?

I'm having the current gearbox removed to check its markings, so I'll have my answers soon enough, but I'm curious to understand the inconsistency, and really annoyed with Toyota refusing to answer completely and truthfully. (No doubt because they prefer to sell me a new gearbox at the price of car, rather than install a used one at 92 euros per hour of work. I "retaliated" by having the car removed from their garage, to a place where they'll do the replacement at 50 euros per hour.)

Thanks!

[sven337]

Following private discussion with CTScott: this car apparently does use a C53 transmission. However, the mechanic told me that the marking on the gearbox was really "C50h". We don't know if this is normal.

[fnkngrv]

The C50 is widely known to be used in the manual version of the Yaris. As for it dying at 70k miles if it is driven aggressively that makes sense to me because the transmission was designed for a light usage/non aggressive driving style. Am I happen about it? Not really just commenting on my thoughts and experience.

[CTScott]

He has a European D4D diesel Yaris, which gets paired with the C53, which has different gear ratios than the C50 for the Yaris and Corolla diesels (but otherwise looks mighty similar).

The C50h Toyota part number that Toyota gave him does not show as being a valid Toyota part number for any region. Running his VIN through the EPC does confirm that his car was built with a C53, so I suspect that the C53 and C50 share some externals and that the C50 gets stamped with the "H" to denote that it is different than a normal C50.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by fnkngrv

the transmission was designed for a light usage/non aggressive driving style.

This makes sense. My gearbox is getting a little mushy...but I have over four times the number of miles/kilometers the OP does on my Yaris. I utilize a non aggressive driving style.

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by sven337

First of all, I have a problem with a gearbox dying @110,000km. That sounds awfully short to me, and although I can attest that the car had been driven pretty aggressively (and the clutch was recently changed), I don't think that's quite normal.

Well you admit frying the clutch so although I am also surprised the gearbox is also toast quick and dirty logic says the gearbox fiasco is on YOU.

It should be possible for a clutch to last the life (or nearly the life) of the car just as brakes can last 100,000+ miles.

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by sven337

My second issue is that my Toyota dealership is being uncooperative. They quoted about 4000 euros for a gearbox replacement, which is roughly equal to the market value of the car. When I said I wanted to replace it with a used gearbox I would provide, they refused to confirm which exact model would be compatible.

I suspect Putin owns your Toyota dealer.

Really imagine what the people who live in Ukraine and have their transmission crap out are going through!

[bronsin]

Well at least you are lucky enough to own a DIESEL Yaris. We have no such car available here.

[CrankyOldMan]

Originally Posted by sven337

Somebody else suggested to me, on the phone, that there are two different gearboxes for this car, that they are incompatible, and that one of them has an aluminium 5th gear carter while the other uses iron. I haven't been able to examine the gearbox yet, but I'm surprised about the incompatibility. Does anyone have more information about the C50h and its differences with C53 in a Yaris?

All four of the C5x gearboxes I have taken apart had the aluminum 5th gear cap. I've seen pictures of the stamped steel one, so I think I know what you're talking about. The marking on the gearbox is not helpful at all--all of mine had numbers on them that didn't match the actual gearbox model. I would check what they are, but I sold the casings for scrap this winter.

By "incompatible" I think you mean "not interchangeable", meaning that you can't use the one that wasn't installed at the factory. Probably something to do with mounting points/bolt holes/shift cable attachments/drive shaft splines, but that's just a vague guess.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by bronsin

I suspect Putin owns your Toyota dealer.

Really imagine what the people who live in Ukraine and have their transmission crap out are going through!

.....not to mention all the people who can't even think about owning a car...what is the figure --- 600,000,000 I think = the number of people in India who don't have any access to indoor plumbing.

[fnkngrv]

Originally Posted by bronsin

It should be possible for a clutch to last the life (or nearly the life) of the car just as brakes can last 100,000+ miles.

only if you baby the hell out of it.