Quick help with 3rd gen 4Runner shifter handle please (automatic).
 

I started to take my shifter handle apart yesterday and got as far as taking the two bolts out, then decided I didn't feel like taking the console apart to disconnect the cable, so I just figured I'd put the two bolts back in and move on. Well, not quite. After I put the bolts back in it wouldn't shift anymore. I took them out and I could shift through the gears if I fiddled with the housing on the handle and held it in just the right position, but every time I put the bolts back in, it wouldn't shift anymore.

After messing around with it a bit the heads on the bolts were starting to strip, so I bought some allen head bolts so that I wouldn't have to worry about bitching the heads up. I put those in and easily got them in with more tension than I did the old phillips head bolts, and found that I could shift through all the gears and the shifter felt like it was working perfectly, but then when I put the car in park I couldn't take the key out. I took the bolts out again and fiddled with the shifter housing and it would let me take the key out. The same thing happens no matter how many times I fiddle with those bolts - it either doesn't shift at all, or if it does, it seems to work fine except it won't let me take the key out.

Can anyone give me any advice? Am I putting too much torque on the bolts? Too little? I've tried experimenting with everything from just enough to keep the bolts in the threads to tightening them to the point I'm afraid I'm going to strip the threads and this is all I've come up with. Any help would really be appreciated.

Alright, I figured it out, but I'll leave this up for anyone else who has the same problem. I had to take the console apart to look at the assembly. There is a plastic head inside the shifter housing that is depressed when you press the button on top of the shifter. The head is angled and it turns out it can flip over easily if the shifter housing is lifted. I just had to flip that plastic head over and put everything back together.

Hopefully that'll help someone else as frustrated as I was an hour ago. Thanks for having these forums.