This afternoon I planned on installing a Marlin shifter seat in my 1986 truck with a G52 transmission. When the shifter came out (easily) one of the pins was laying on what was left of the original seat. It broke in the middle. The head portion is still firmly in place.

Has anyone run into this before? Can the pin be replaced, or will I need a whole shifter retainer?

Funny how 15 minute jobs can turn into hours or days.

 

The pin is actually a rivet. It's about .233" in diameter (6mm) and the same long. That's the inside part you see. It necks down to .195" (~5mm) where it goes through the metal.

I should be able to get the old rivet out, but I'm not sure what to use as a replacement. I could get some 6mm rod and file down a step to 5mm, then thread the 5mm part and use a washer and nut on the outside. I don't know if that would hold up. I'm guessing these pins receive a fair amount of stress. The retaining cover is aluminum, so welding isn't an option.

Is this kind of rivet fairly common? If so, maybe the local machine shop has something that will work. I'll check around tomorrow.

 

The machine shop guy said there was nothing he could do. When I mentioned I might try to find a suitable size bolt to alter and stuff in there myself he said those pins are extremely hard and that I'd need a very high grade bolt. He didn't think fixing it would work or last.

In searching about this online I have not found any other reports of these pins breaking in Toyotas. This must be a relatively rare issue for us.

Replacing the whole retainer seemed to be the best option. The dealer charged $59 for the retainer, which included a stock shifter seat. They didn't have it in stock, but got it the day after I ordered.

The factory manual says the gasket below the retainer shouldn't be reused. It's an odd gasket. A metal piece spanning the entire underside of the retainer is sandwiched between "ordinary" gasket material around the edges. The metal part has a hole corresponding to the shifter hole. It looked expensive. My old one seemed good enough. I cleaned everything well and used a thin coat of Ultra Grey RTV on both sides just in case.

Shifting with the new retainer and Marlin seat is like driving a different vehicle. Night and day. Gears actually have solid positions. My usual crunch when shifting into reverse hasn't happened the half dozen times I've done it. At times, when the stars were aligned just right, I used to have a tough time getting into first. Now, it's smooth.

Next I'll change the transmission oil. I bought some dino GL-4 85w-90 from NAPA (Sta-lube). I'm hoping GL-4 will allow the synchros to work better than the GL-5 hypoid oils that are commonly available. Shifting sucked for quite some time after I put in fresh GL-5 oil years ago, and I don't want to go through that again.

 

Considering the amount of wear and use that part sees, you chose the best option.

RTV alone is more than enough.

 

I just had the same exact thing happen to my shifter. If you know a good machinist, it turns out you can fix this problem by drilling out the old rivets and popping new pins in. A family friend had it done in less than an hour, all for free. If you can find a good machinist, i don't think they would charge to much to repair this, it didn't seem like much work.

 

Im going thru this exact identical problem in my '87 with the G52 transmission.
Do you have a part number?
Where did you buy the new retainer?
Thanks

 

So this very thing happened to me a few years back. I went down to the local hardware store and bought a 6mm x 1/2” inch roll pin. It worked perfectly! Tapped it in to the right depth, with the slot up and it’s still on the job. Cost about a quarter. 👍