chaz97x4x4

Ok, so i am almost completed with my 81 yota project. The shifter bushing and seat for the shifter has went bad causing it to stay in a certain gear ( dont know which one ). It has 3-4" of play in the shifter. I have asked alot of people how to get the darn thing out and they tell me but i try it and it never works. This is the only thing that is holding me back on my build!!!!!! If you look at the shifter and housing, you will see were the shifter goes into. There is a restrictor pin on each side below the shifter on the housing about a 1/2" down. First problem, when i tryed taking the pins out, the one on the right side broke off. PROBLEM???? The one one the left side came out about a .25" and i cant seem to get it out. People has said that it needs to be in nutruel to get it out but i cant get in nutruel.... PROBLEM #2????? Then i said well ill see if i can pull the whole shifter and housing out at the same time. I took the 4 bolts holding the housing in and i tryed to pull it out. It is very loose but its conected to someting which i dont know what it is?????? I am new to the whole TAKING OUT THE SHIFTER THING and i need help very bad because im almost dont with the rig and am dieing to drive it!!!!!!You know what i mean!!!!! So if anyone knows anything about this situation please pm me, email me at chazzx11@yahoo.com or find me on www.nc4x4.com under chaz97x4x4 also, or heck even text me at 8285143598. Dont call because i got bad service, but i need this problem fixed ASAP if someone can help because i been working on this for almost a week and i know that it should not take a week just to get the shifter out lmfao. If this is posted in the wrong section i will apologize in advance, sorry.

chaz97x4x4

ok so i talked to a guy about the shifter and he said to turn it a 1/4 turn towards the driver side when pushing down on it. He said that will release the snap ring. He also said that i need to put the 4 bolts back in it and i tryed but then the shifter acted like it was locked in place and it wasnt like that before. I took the bolts back out and noticed the snap ring so im just going to try to get it out first. I dont have one of those tools to get it out so what would be a better solution? Anyone know? Do you think that im going in the right direction?????

83

Do you have a factory service manual? They really come in handy. My truck is a 5-speed and the shifter is different. Also, a photo is worth more than a post 10 times longer than yours...

83

OH, and welcome to Yotatech!! I'm having a hard time visualizing exactly what you're talking about, since your shifter is different than mine. Posting a photo will help all the lazy people who want to help you but don't want to take the time to read and understand your post. Believe me, I know from experience...the longer and more descriptive your post, the less response you'll get...

chaz97x4x4

sounds good i will post some pics up tomorrow.... you 83 should be the same as mine because 79-83 are the same i thought.....thx for the advice

83

Oh....you'll learn! I don't remember the exact year breakdown, but I think 79-81 was a 4-speed transmission, different models of it through those years, too. Then 82 was the L50 5-speed, and '83s have the L52 5-speed. The shifter on some (if not all) 4-speeds is off to the passenger side of the tranny, and has a different set up than the 5 speeds, which have the shifter right dead center on top of the tranny.

The body panels are about the only things that really stayed the same year to year on these trucks (I'm sure someone will argue this and be right..). Headlights, tailgate, engine, tranny, instrument cluster and more all changed, mostly between 81-82. My truck came with square headlights & a diffferent grill but I swapped over to round since I like the look better.

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/Te.../detail/186539

chaz97x4x4

Thx for all yall's help... got the shifter out and it was destroyed. 29 years of abuse lmfao......posting pics soon of the shifter.... replaced the shifter bushing seat and a good condition shifter and put it all together..... now the thing will not shift, i have never used this trans so what is yalls advice about this other problem??? Is it time to get a newer one. The one now is currently stuck in some gear and will not come out. I was told it was a 5 speed then someone said in the previous post that 1981 is a 4 speed. So any advice???? Thx in advance

83

Does the shifter go into the tranny directly on top, or off to the passenger side? From the Pirate 4x4 FAQ:

Pickup and 4Runner Transmissions with 1st gear ratios.
L43 4 speed 79 - 80 3.67
L45 4 speed 81 - 82 3.93
L50 5 speed 81 - 82 3.93
L52 5 speed 83 3.93

So it looks like you could have a 5-speed, so I was wrong there, sorry.

http://www.marlincrawler.com/transmi...built-complete

Check out this site and the forum. They know their Toyota trannies over there a lot better than most of us do over here.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

4 speed transmission will have the shifter mounted on the side like this:

5 speed shifter will be mounted on top like this, which from your description of the retaining ring is what I think you have:

chaz97x4x4

Well it doesnt look like the 4 speed so it would have to be the 5 speed.... its mounted on the very top.

INFINITY

not entirely true the L45 and L50 look identical but the L45 is missing the 5 gear inside.
DO NOT TRY TO TAKE OFF THE SHIFTER WITH THE HOUSING AFTER REMOVING THE 4 BOLTS THIS WILL BREAK THE ALUM HOUSING DUE TO THE SHIFTER FORK ROD.
in the second pict (L45 and L50) the piece just inside the bright silver circle around the shifter is the release cap. push down on this and rotate it counterclockwise then it will come up and you can take the shifter out with no problems.
if you have access to a welder take the "release cap" and weld 2 small nuts or bolts onto the flat surface where the straight cuts are on it (the straight edges you can see in the pict right next to the shifter and spring. these nuts or bolts give you a way to be able to push down and turn the cap to lock the shifter in place.
also if you have a bicycle tire tube laying around you can make a boot to keep dirt our and gear and oil in the tranny. cut the tube about 6 or so inches long. stretch it over the bright silver circle in the pict and take some bailing wire and use the groove to attach the tube to the tranny.
then fold over the tube on the shifter so that it is tight on the shifter and push it down a little bit on the shaft so that the tube is a little baggy (so the shifter can move without stretching the tube) and tie it up with some more wire. this works great and lasts a long time (mine is about 2+ years now)

another thing dont mess with or try to knock out the pins on either side of the shifter neck. the shifter uses these inside to be able to pivot from gear to gear. if they are compromised your shifter will always be sloppy.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

cool learned something new
found this on Marlin's website, according to the caption L45 (4 spd), L50 and L52 (both 5 spds) look the same externally--thanks for enlightening me

chaz97x4x4

I thought one of them supposed to be longer than the other.... Is there anyway that i could measure to from front to back to tell which one i have? I thought one was about 4"s longer, i could be mistaken though????

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

I recently replaced an L50 5 speed (top shift like above) with an L43 side shifting 4 speed. they were both the same length. I know that W56's are about 4" longer

Shminto

well i am really glad i came across this post because i came across the same thing... ha ha ha. now i know what i do to fix it. thanks for the tire tube idea. i do alot of bogging and thats a good way to keep the mud away. question though...can i put the w56 shifter into my 83 5 speed. i believe the L52...??? it looks rather similar but the bend in the shaft is different (its what i prefer)

hippie667

I know this is long shot since these post are old but I have similar problem I need help with. I have 82 Toy 4x4 5 speed top mount tranny. I received in mail today new bushing and seat from Marlin since my shifter was so sloppy. I took shifter out while in neutral and out with it came spring and rubber gasket ring? What order to I put this back together in? I put in new seat and then shifter rod with new bushing and feels real tight but what about spring and old round rubber seal? Photos of my truck which shows this is at
http://s910.photobucket.com/albums/a...667/?start=all
Thanks for any help,
Ronnie in Arkansas