I think my transmission is about to go, or atleast have some problems, or maybe its the clutch i really dont know. it is hard to get it into gear sometimes, i have to be real gentle when shifting gears or it makes a nasty sound like im forcing it. sometimes it wont even go in gear or it gets stuck in gear. reverse also grinds when i try to put it in reverse. this is a manual transmission on my 88 4runner. any ideas?

 

how does the clutch petal feel?

I had a similar problem awhile back with my 83. I did not have the clutch adjusted right and i had alot of air in the lines.

It could alos be either the master or the slave going out.

If you while you are shifting let the engine drop rpm slightly can you slip it into gear ok, i.e shifting with out the clutch.

 

you can always take a quick look at the shift bushing, sometimes when they break or wear out, it causes poor shifting. dissassemble the shifter boot, console etc to get at the bushing. it is not a very expensive part and shouldnt take you long to check & replace if necessary.

lee

 

I had a very similar problem in my '95 truck until a coworker suggested i check the fluid level in the transmission. I just went down and bought a quart and started sqeezing, and sqeezing, until it finally took the whole quart. I drove it for a few weeks and all of the problems started dissappearing except for the new whine it picked up when the fluid level was low. I got another quart and put almost all of it in and ran it for another year before it finally tanked.

I can tell you to take care of what you have there. As with everything else these transmissions are very expensive because they just don't break that often. I got quotes from $900-1500 to rebuild the one I have, or $800 for one from the junkyard and another $300 to put it in, which is what I finally did.

Before you do anything else, get a bottle of gear oil and sqeeze in as much as it will take. If memory serves, it took 75w90 but have someone reference that for you at the store.

 

Does your clutch engage only at the top of its travel?

 

I've been searching here for a while and what cacattack describes is almost identical to my problem. I got off the interstate and the truck (83 pickup, 189k) would not go into any gear. I was able to pull it hard into 2nd and limp home. I went out a little later and cranked it up and it worked fine.

Not wanting to chance it, I've replaced the shifter seat, tranny and transfer case with redline mt-90 and the slave and master cylinders. I had a heck of a time bleeding the master cylinder. After two cheapies from Advanced I rebuilt the original and it bled fine. The cheapies would just stop pumping fluid altogether. They'd work great for a 10 - 12 pumps and then nothing. The clutch pedal now feels fine and has been adjusted according to the FSM and I can see the slave moving the fork although I don't know how far it's supposed to move.

After all that it's still fairly hard to get into gear, I can feel the synchros pretty good unless I pump the clutch quite a bit. That would lead me to believe I still have air in the lines. I've only driven it around the block, though. I wonder if I need to drive it further to get the redline worked into the gears well. I did check for a cracked clutch pedal bracket after reading that here but no crack.

What should I be looking at next? I should add that it's never kicked out of gear but has quite a bit slop in the shifter that the new seat didn't fix and I can't adjust the clutch out any more as I'm already at the end of the threads.

 

i took mine to a transmission shop and the owner test drove it, he said my master cylinder has a leak in it and will need replaced. there was barely any hydraulic fluid left in it.

 

Another common place for leaks is the short piece of flaxible hose in the clutch line. It's on the passenger side at the rear of the head. Make sure the mechanic checks that while he's there. If it's leaking then replacing the master won't help.
Also you might want to consider putting in a new slave cylinder at the same time. They're not that expensive and it's less work to do both together.

 

^^good info. thanks alot! ill be sure to have him check that

 

I'd suggest replacing the MC and the slave at the same time.

 

Also make sure that the clutch pedal bracket isnt cracked.

 

Of all the suggestions the only one I haven't tried is replacing the short flexible line connecting just above the slave. I've replace the slave and master and am losing no fluid. I don't have a crack in the bracket (I wish I did, it would be nice to know the problem!) either. I don't see any fluid leaks but I guess the line could have a hairline crack and just let in a little air but not leak fluid, right? What's the best way to find a hairline crack in the lines? Just replace it?

The strange thing is that mine is intermittent.

 

My 95 didnt like syn fluid, at all. After about 5K it would almost stop shifting, syn was too slippery... are you running syn?

But my 92 loves syn, so its weird...

 

I don't know what was in it before. It came out a greenish color. I figured it was just old since the guy I bought it from had it for 7 years and never touched the clutch or hydraulics. The new stuff I put in is synthetic. The symptoms are the same, though. That's a cheap thing to replace, though.

 

I found no leaks in the lines. The clutch feels good and moves the fork in/out the same amount with each pump of the pedal. I guess I'm going to drop the transmission and take a look at the clutch. If I can find a cheap used transmission I must might swap it out.

 

A little of topic, sorry I can't be any help about the tranny problem. But I was told and it does work. I always do it. Before trying to go into reverse shift into 3rd, release just a little bit of clutch and it sort of puts the tranny into sinc. Then it will drop right into reverse. If I don't do this my reverse would grind about 3 out of 5 times

 

Yep, since toyota doesnt sync the reverse gear this helps stop the tranny. I use 1st, but the effecs is the same..

 

I thought I'd follow up with what my problem was. The clutch plate had rubber bushings instead of springs and one had disintegrated. I'd guess the pieces were binding the clutch plate. The clutch plate, cover and flywheel were all in great condition with lots of life left. I replaced everything and it's working great now.