Difficult-Shifting Toyota Five-Speed

[Michael Oritt]

Shifting into any gear--up or down--has become increasingly difficult and notchy. I have replaced the bushing at the base of the shift stick to no avail. Is there another bushing that is accessed by removing the shift tower?
Any other suggestions welcome.

 

[RDKeysor]

Yes, there is a larger bushing there, and that is almost certainly the issue. I bought my '60 BN7 that was parked at the owner's summer place in southern Virginia and drove it home to Florida, the worst trip of my life. Yeah, I test drove the car and should have walked away, but I didn't. Typically, I would accelerate out onto the interstate highway on my drive home, go for fifth gear and got third, etc. I should have mentioned that the car has a Toyota five-speed. I first paid a mechanic more the $150 to fix the problem. He simply replaced the bushing you mention at the base of the stick. Eventually, I read up on Toyota gear boxes, a favorite with rock climbers, and visited a supply site. These folks offer what they say is a more durable bushing that installs in the tranny shift tower and supports the upper ball on the shifter. I popped off the top of the shifter tower and found my tranny's bushing was totally absent. A trip to the Toyota dealer and less than $15 for the part fixed the problem. What a great transmission. Before I found the answer, I was quite literally considering replacing the transmission.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

Yes, there is a larger bushing there, and that is almost certainly the issue. I bought my '60 BN7 that was parked at the owner's summer place in southern Virginia and drove it home to Florida, the worst trip of my life. Yeah, I test drove the car and should have walked away, but I didn't. Typically, I would accelerate out onto the interstate highway on my drive home, go for fifth gear and got third, etc. I should have mentioned that the car has a Toyota five-speed. I first paid a mechanic more the $150 to fix the problem. He simply replaced the bushing you mention at the base of the stick. Eventually, I read up on Toyota gear boxes, a favorite with rock climbers, and visited a supply site. These folks offer what they say is a more durable bushing that installs in the tranny shift tower and supports the upper ball on the shifter. I popped off the top of the shifter tower and found my tranny's bushing was totally absent. A trip to the Toyota dealer and less than $15 for the part fixed the problem. What a great transmission. Before I found the answer, I was quite literally considering replacing the transmission.

Which website did you use and tge bushing part number?
Thanks

 

[dougie]

Marlin Crawler is where you want to go.......

Heavy Duty Shifter Seat, Forward Shift | Marlin Crawler, Inc.

If you've used our Transmission shifter seat and socket upgrade components that greatly reduce the amount of slop as well as prolong the life of the shifter, then you'll definitely appreciate what ...

www.marlincrawler.com

 

[Michael Oritt]

Marlin Crawler is where you want to go.......

Heavy Duty Shifter Seat, Forward Shift | Marlin Crawler, Inc.

If you've used our Transmission shifter seat and socket upgrade components that greatly reduce the amount of slop as well as prolong the life of the shifter, then you'll definitely appreciate what ...

www.marlincrawler.com

Yes, I have since chased down their name and it looks like they are the source of the HD stuff. I bought this transmission from Smitty (supposedly having been freshly rebuilt) about 16 years, 60K miles and a lot of shifts ago, so I have no complaints with the longevity of the parts.

 

[CraigC]

This is the link I post in your previous thread on this concern
Marlin Crawler heavy duty shifter seat

When you installed the seat last year, did you inspect the cup that snaps onto the bottom of shifter and fits into the dogleg on the transmission shift rod?

Is the shifter loose and sloppy or is it firm, but just won't engage gears?

If it is firm, are you able to move through the gears easily with engine off?

 

[Michael Oritt]

This is the link I post in your previous thread on this concern
Marlin Crawler heavy duty shifter seat

When you installed the seat last year, did you inspect the cup that snaps onto the bottom of shifter and fits into the dogleg on the transmission shift rod?

Is the shifter loose and sloppy or is it firm, but just won't engage gears?

If it is firm, are you able to move through the gears easily with engine off?

Craig--

No to all three. At that time I replaced the upper small bushing that sits on the bottom end of the gear lever and it seemed to help somewhat, but that was only temporary as no doubt the big cup continued to deteriorate.

In any case I will contact Martin. Many thanks for the info,

 

[CraigC]

OK, I was under the impression that you replaced the upper seat (located in shift tower) on the last go round. That is the "normal" source of sloppy shifter issues. Buy the two-piece kit that contains the shifter seat and the lower cup and replace both. I have a W58 from a Supra, ready to install someday, that has had the Marlin Crawler shift seat installed in it and the shifter feel is much firmer than stock.

First pic is a worn-out shifter seat (located in shift tower under the large ball in middle of shift lever).

Second pic is what I beleive is a Marlin Crawler one-piece shift lever seat. It is made of a material much harder than the stock piece.

Third is the shifter "cup" that snaps onto the small ball at the bottom of shift lever. In pic two, you can see the receiver at top of "dogleg" that is attached to the internal shift selector rod.

 

[Michael Oritt]

Craig--

Yes, I did replace the smaller upper piece but I may as well get both from Martin and be "HD" everywhere.
I need to determine whether mine is a W55 or a W58 (It has the steel sandwich) before I order.

 

[John C..]

I have the Toyota 5-speed conversion. The clutch does not disengage until the pedal is almost touching the floor. I have the normal
7/8" master and 7/8" slave. The slave pushrod extends no more than 1/2" when the clutch is pressed. Is this enough or normal to
disengage the clutch?

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

I have the Toyota 5-speed conversion. The clutch does not disengage until the pedal is almost touching the floor. I have the normal
7/8" master and 7/8" slave. The slave pushrod extends no more than 1/2" when the clutch is pressed. Is this enough or normal to
disengage the clutch?

Did it just start doing that?

 

[John C..]

Did it just start doing that?

I just replaced the tranny, clutch and clutch slave with new ones. I would like the clutch to engage farther from the floor.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

I just replaced the tranny, clutch and clutch slave with new ones. I would like the clutch to engage farther from the floor.

If you are sure you bled the system and there’s no air in it I would check the throw out bearing pivot stud. Remove the rubber dust seal where the throw out bearing shaft comes through the opening and it should be pretty much in the center of the opening. Also look for gouge marks in the opening where the throw out bearing shaft could be hitting the bell-housing
Let us know what you find?

 

[John C..]

Bled the clutch again but no difference. The pivot stud is new and the throw out shaft is not hitting the bell-housing opening. I am thinking
of converting my clutch slave to 3/4" to get more movement(farther throw).

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

Bled the clutch again but no difference. The pivot stud is new and the throw out shaft is not hitting the bell-housing opening. I am thinking
of converting my clutch slave to 3/4" to get more movement(farther throw).

My pivot stud was new too, but I needed having to put 1/4” thick washer under it to get it to work properly. You should not have to change the slave cylinder to another size. Where is the throw out bearing shaft position coming out of the bellhousing hole?

 

[steveg]

I have an early Smitty setup. At the time I needed to extend the pivot bolt beyond what the OEM Toyota would do with shims. Took another Japanese metric bolt and turned the end down to a mushroom in my electric drill (no lathe). This has worked fine for 14 years.

The geometry changes depending on which clutch you have. It's relatively easy to mount the bell housing to the engine sans transmission. Then you can verify the operation before installing the trans. The BJ8 clutch (if that's what you have) is thinner than the earlier coil spring clutches. So a combination of longer stud and adjusted slave pushrod is necessary to get the correct geometry. I made a temporary adjustable pushrod out of a piece of tubing and some 10-24 all-thread. When the geometry was correct, used this for length to make a new pushrod out of a piece of steel rod. I may have used a 20d common nail.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

I have an early Smitty setup. At the time I needed to extend the pivot bolt beyond what the OEM Toyota would do with shims. Took another Japanese metric bolt and turned the end down to a mushroom in my electric drill (no lathe). This has worked fine for 14 years.

The geometry changes depending on which clutch you have. It's relatively easy to mount the bell housing to the engine sans transmission. Then you can verify the operation before installing the trans. The BJ8 clutch (if that's what you have) is thinner than the earlier coil spring clutches. So a combination of longer stud and adjusted slave pushrod is necessary to get the correct geometry. I made a temporary adjustable pushrod out of a piece of tubing and some 10-24 all-thread. When the geometry was correct, used this for length to make a new pushrod out of a piece of steel rod. I may have used a 20d common nail.

View attachment 73753

I had to do nearly the same thing to get mine to work properly.

 

[HealeyPassion]

Thank you gentlemen.... great info.