TTORA Forum banner

'01 2.7 Manual Trans Shifter Bushing Cause Popping Out of Gear?

1K views 16 replies 3 participants last post by  partyman666 
#1 ·
I read something on another forum about the shifter bushing on manual trans Tacos getting worn out and causing it to pop out of gear. Over the past day or two I've noticed my truck seeming to shift differently into 3rd and 5th gear... almost like the gear pattern is slightly off. 3rd gear goes in but feels like it hits the blocker at a different spot than it used to and the same with 5th. It also popped out of 5th gear on me once and today I've had a really hard time getting it fully into 3rd gear at all. This happened pretty much all of a sudden.

The tranny pretty much shifts like butter aside from that.

Does this sound like the symptoms of a worn lower shift bushing?
 
#3 ·
Yeah... I just ordered the 2 parts from my local dealer today for about $15. Parts should be in by tomorrow, but I was curious if this is likely to fix the issue or if there is something else I should be considering.
 
#5 ·
I looked into that but I don't have time to wait for it to come in since my Taco is my DD right now and we have snow on the ground.. can't safely drive my other vehicles in these conditions due to them all having summer tires/RWD or only having 2 wheels ;). The Toyota parts will be available by 11 AM tomorrow at my local dealer which is 4 miles from home, so I can just limp my truck over there, pick up the parts and install it immediately, hopefully with a return to fully normal functionality shortly thereafter. I just don't want to risk damaging my tranny as a result of this, since it was grinding a bit this morning too when trying to hit 3rd.

Thanks for the helpful input as always!

On a side note, Marlin shipping costs are absurd. $14 to ship 2 small pieces that are the combined size of a dime and nickel? Most vendors at least give you the option to USPS that for like $1 or less.
 
#6 ·
Ugh... I have been trying to get the spring loaded cap that holds the shifter to the tranny off for hours. I can't get it to turn counterclockwise enough while pressing down. I'm in neutral while trying since that seems easiest.

Any tips? My hands are killing. I've been using a rag to help get traction but it's a no go.
 
#8 ·
Rag usually works the best. I've also used flat pliers to press and turn the cap. If it still fights, try spraying a little WD-40 or penetrating lube around the rim. That helps break loose the dirt that usually jams down in there. Don't use too much spray as it will drip into the transmission and you want to avoid that.
 
#11 ·
Thanks. I was considering trying that too but decided not to until I looked into whether or not this would mess anything up or if I would have to replace a gasket in the process.

I did a little research tonight and saw a guy with a similar type of shift lever cap on another Toyota who used a 19 mm open ended wrench to reach around the shift lever, push down and turn the cap. I think I'm going to try that the next time we get a day in the 40's or higher.
 
#12 ·
I got that shifter cap/ring off today. I ended up shining a bright LED flashlight down into the area where the spring is so that I could see the pins and determine why things weren't moving and allowing the cap to come off. There were big chunks of greenish plastic from the destroyed OEM bushing all jammed into everything in there. I was able to use tweezers and Q-tips to remove everything I could see and this helped a bit. I then tried pushing down on it while looking at the pins to see if it was going down all the way, and it wasn't. I took a big flathead screwdriver and pressed down as hard as I could on one side of the ring and then while doing that hit the but of the screwdriver pretty hard a few times with the hammer until it went down further. I did this on both sides and it freed up the ring so that I could push it down further and spin it off. The entire bushing was completely gone and ground up into chunks that were getting in the way and preventing me from pushing down on the cap/ring all the way.

I cleaned everything out and am now waiting for the new seat to arrive from Marlin Crawler.

I also have a new cap/ring that I bought from Toyota in case I needed it. My original one is a little banged up from removing it, but I'm not sure how exactly to get the neck of the shift lever off of the bottom piece of it so I can replace it. Any ideas? I tried twisting it and it didn't budge. I don't want to break it in the process of trying to replace that cap, since I technically don't really have to replace it but figured I would since I already have the part anyways.
 
#14 ·
It looks like there is a dab of dried glue coming out of where those two pieces connect. Hopefully the whole assembly isn't permanently glued together or threadlocked with some sort of non-removable adhesive. I'm hesitant to hit it with too much heat or wrench on it to hard and end up in a deeper predicament.
 
#16 ·
Aw christ.... It's ironic that the asshats at the dealer even sell those parts individually when you can't decouple them from the whole assembly without re-engineering the shaft.... yet they tell me that they don't sell the easily replaceable bushing seat which seems to inevitable fail on most trucks at some point.

Sell parts you can't use... don't sell parts you need and can use.
 
#17 ·
I got my new shifter bushing seat and socket from Marlin Crawler today and popped them in along with a coat of grease. The truck shifts fantastic now. No more slop, no odd feeling of stuff getting in the way and blocking my lever from going into gears, and no more grinding or popping out of gear.

It's amazing how easy it was to put that damn cap back in now that the debris from the old and chopped up bushing-seat is not blocking me from pushing the thing down all the way. My thumbs have been absolutely killing me for over the past week from pushing down so hard on the original one when trying to remove it. I think I literally bruised my thumb bones. The amount of effort it took to push it down and spin it back on was almost nothing when using just a bare hand.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top