the other day i noticed that reverse and 5th were hard to get into (91 excab 3.0 5sp) i thought nothing of it because i have to shift left handed because of my broken hand, then i went wheeling and tried to put it in reverse and the shifter went all teh way over to the side and was almost horizontal , the shift seems to be in track 1st -4th i cant even get it into 5th or reverse, which is a slight problem, is this something to do with the shifter seat or something in the tranny?

 

It wouldn't hurt to pop the shifter out and take a look at the shifter seat but if it's only 5th and reverse that are sloppy (those are on a common fork in the trans), it sounds a bit more serious to me.

 

I would suggest the shift seat or possibly the shifter socket that connects to the shift lever. A snap ring holds the shifter down so it's possible that it came loose on ya. I would take the boot off and check it out. The seat may have became brittle and broke on you. Marlin crawler sells a much beefier replacement than stock and also cheaper. Good luck!

 

If it's the seat and not the tranny, x2 on the Marlin Crawler shift lever ball seat. Have them in both my 4Runners. They are awesome, makes tranny shift like new.

http://www.marlincrawler.com/transmi...ver-ball-seats

 

Just had the same problem in my truck a few weekes ago. Ball seat wore down, so when you go to push your shifter to the right for 5th and reverse, the two grooves in the shift ball fall under the two studs letting the whole shift assembly spin slightly. This makes your points not line up and puts you between gears. Tear down is simple too, you can take the whole assembly out by removing the 4 12mm bolts or if you have enough room ( I have a 3 in body lift) you can do the job while still on the truck. Take off the rubber boot at the base, compress the snap ring and turn counter clockwise, and pull everything up. Hope this helps.

 

ordered the new marlin shift seat mine was toast i should have torn into this before posting but its kinda a hassel with one hand in a cast haha, thanks for the help guys