I have a 87' Runner, I believe with the W56 5-speed.
About a year ago, I was driving down the hwy in 5th gear, accelerating to go up a slight grade, and bam! The shifter kick into neutral, I put it back into 5th and had to hold it up in 5th for it to stay in gear. If I let off the pressure on the shifter in 5th gear it will slide right into neutral. Does anyone know what this problem might be. Is is a broke fork? I. am not wanting to have to pull the tranny out and rebuilt it right now if so. Are these manual tranny's fairly easy to rebuild?

 

shifter seat bushing - available from marlin crawler.

very easy to fix...like $15.00

 

I did that alread, changed the bushing, and the ball on the end of the shifter. It is great with no slack, but still jumps out of 5th if I am not holding it up in gear.

 

Dont feel so bad mine does it in 1st & 3rd.

 

i think its the syncro for 5th gear maybe.

 

Oh man that stinks. The problem for me is 5th gear is what you normally leave it in the most amount of time while driving. I can't talk my cell phone while driving, because I have one hand on the shifter, and one on the steering wheel unless I do the drive with the knee act! LOL!

So I assume that changing the syncro's is a full pull and dive into the tranny thing?

Are these tranny's fairly easy to rebuild?

 

I've got a buddy that has that problem. He fixed it by cutting a stick with a notch at one end. When he gets to 5th gear he props it against his console with the notch on the shifter. Holds all the time. I know that its monkey rigged, but it works.

 

lmao at the new guy story


although, I guess that would work

lol



I'd assume just find a used trans to drop in before I did all that mess...

but then again, I've always stayed away from tranny work myself; a clutch is as much as I'll do, lol

but at the same rate, I've never really HAD to mess with one either... hmmmm...

 

LOL!! Great Idea!
Actually I have been using a small bungee chord! I hook it behind where the stereo is, then around the shifter! GHETO!

I think might just look for a good used tranny.

 

Do you have a body lift? Mine does that in 2nd with a 1" body lift.

 

if 5th gear sycro is goin out, chances are the rest are soon to follow. If you're comfortable with mechanical skills it may be worthwhile to pull yours and go through it. Otherwise the quickest easist way is to junk yard swap.

 

doesnt look like it has a body lift, but if it does, my 81 did the same thing.

 

You can usually find used W56's for $200 - $400. As far as my understanding goes these transmissions are very reliable so you have a good chance with a used one.

I did the swap once. My W56 had roughly 250k on it and I get the feeling that the PO never changed the fluid. Bearings would whine especially in 5th gear. Picked up a used one, did the seals on it and put it in. It's not too hard with another set of hands.

 

No body lift, just a 4 inch susp. lift. I really would like to tear into the tranny just to learn it, but i don't have the time right now. Time to get on craigslist and start searching!
Thanks for the input guys!