YotaTech Forums - 5-speed popping out of 1st not seat/bushings

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5-speed popping out of 1st not seat/bushings

Hey Guys,

I just bought a '94 4Runner. I've wanted one since watching the Top Gear episode where they try to kill the Hilux, though the SUV bodystyle is more useful for me, hence the Runner.

Anyway, it pops out of 1st gear. I bought it after reading about the shifter seat and bushing, hoping that I would get a good deal and just get away with replacing them. No luck this time. :(

I also dumped the seemingly very thin gear oil that was in there and replaced it with fresh GL4 with no help.

In reading, I ran across an old thread on this Toyota-4Runner.org forum thread, where a guy said:

Quote:

I don't think it's the synchros/gearset. Mine has been dooing the same thing, if it's the synchros, it should pop out under load, mine will come out after coasting.
There is a detent ball/spring that holds the shift shaft in gear, mine were missing.
Look under the pass side of the gearbox, there is a steel plate that carries the rear bearings. There are 3 plugs with allen heads, remove the lowest one, if there is a spring behind the plug, replace the plug, & move on.

Replaced them to the tune of ~$3.00 & 90% of the problem is solved. Still happens rarely, & i think the Marlin products are the solution, what the hell, for $16.00 on a 15-20yo vehicle you can't go wrong. I'll post when they come in.

So I crawled under there and pulled the bottom plug. No spring was immediately evident. Just to see what things looked like, I pulled the middle plug and there is a spring present!

So I'm hopeful that replacing this spring may help my problem. Maybe the old one broke and fell in and was ground up or is stuck somewhere on the bottom of the trans.

Is there any chance I could pull the spring from the middle plug, stick it in the bottom, and see if the popping out of gear issue follows it to a different gear?

Where would I get a replacement spring from? Anyone have a part number?

Thanks! I've wrenched on many many Volkswagens of many flavors, but this is my first Toyota.

I did some more googling, and found a parts diagram that shows the same part number for all 3 springs, so I did try inserting the middle spring into the bottom plug, but it didn't bottom like it did in the middle plug. Perhaps the ball is gone too.

Are these parts I can order and just stick in? As in, order the ball and spring, shove them in the hole, and replace the plug? Or is there something internally that is missing that would have caused it to fall in?

:bump:so how did it go have you fig. it out superdave is it shifting any better i have the same problem i changed the seat and the bushing to and it still pops out let me know if yours is fixed and what i should do nexted thanks james

I haven't fixed it! Sorry!

I did go to a dealership and ask about the springs, and they printed out a sheet showing that the top hole wasn't supposed to have a ball/spring. So I don't know for sure who is right... The parts guy pulled a mechanic over who has supposedly worked on these things forever and he confirmed.

I just drive it as-is, though I don't drive the thing every day so it isn't a big deal to me.

does it by any chance have a body-lift? my pickup was doing the same thing and it was because the body lift was putting pressure on the shifter boot and put pressure on the shifter in first gear.

Sounds like the synchros, i would hope thats not your problem, but if your synchros are going bad is will kick you out of gear, it will start with one gear, in your case 1st, then 3rd and 5th as it gets worse. Also i have seen aftermarket shifter knobs if there to heavy will do the same thing.

Curious if you found out what the problem was? I'm having the same issue with my 88 Toy pickup.....