Hi I have a 94 toyota pickup ext cab V6 5sp, and I have noticed my gears have been harder to shift, and sometimes when i shift from 1st to 2nd it clanks into 2nd gear. and also for some reason 4th gear doesn't seem to go into gear as far as it should, it engages but only seems to go halfway in. I'm hoping its just the clutch or gear linkage and not the tranny. So if anyone has any idea i would appreciate it.

thanks, toy94ota

 

It could be the fluid. Have you changed the fluid lately? I know that when I changed my dad's SR5 5-speed OE fluid to synthetic, the shifts came MUCH smoother.

 

Probably just the shift lever seat. This may be helpful: CLICK ME!!!

 

As was mentioned before, Fluid type could cause some hard shifting issues on that model. Toyota specifies 75W90, and it is not uncommon for the "J-team" or someone else for that matter to substitute the most commonly used 80W90.

However with the age of your vehicle it is likely that is has a lot of miles 150K+, and there other things that could be responsible as well. Number one is the bushing that you shifter pivots on. These deterioate with age and create a good deal of play in the shifter. There could also be internal trans problems such as worn syncronizers, shift forks/ sleeves. Or end play in different parts inside the trans. This last item is usually accompanied by some noise.

Some clutch problems such as weak hydraulic cylinders, warped clutch disc, and bad pressure plates could also result in hard shifting.

A good technician should be able narrow the problem area and even pin point the malfuction pretty quickly possibly with just a test drive.

Targetnut