Ok, mechanic guys, here's the latest truck problem: when I picked it up from the airport parking lot on Monday all of a sudden I can't get it to go in 4th gear. It is like I can't push the gearshift far enough to get it there. Then, it starting doing it in 3rd gear; then 3rd is fine and it won't do 4th again. 1st, 2nd, and 5th are fine. The clutch is fine. No grinding noises, just like it doesn't get there, stays in neutral.
Someone told me this is probably a linkage problem...so how complicated is it to fix a linkage? Do you have to drop the engine? Pull the transmission? I just spent $400 on it last month for a new radiator and stuff. When the expense of having it starts to equal car payments....time to get a new one. Maybe 141k miles really is enough. The engine is still great, though; no oil use, passes emissions with flying colors.
??
MA
Fixing a linkage
Forum rules
Be kind. No government, state, or local politics allowed. Admin has final decision for any/all removed posts.
Be kind. No government, state, or local politics allowed. Admin has final decision for any/all removed posts.
-
MaryAnn
- Occasionally Visiting Pipsqueak
- Posts: 3217
- Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 9:58 am
-
jlbreyer
- bugler
- Posts: 184
- Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 10:29 pm
- Location: Massachusetts
- Contact:
Aha! 
If it is a synchronizer problem, you might be able to double clutch the gear. Next question: Do you know how to double clutch?
Speaking of transmissions that won't shift: Does anyone else here know how many needle bearings there are in the transmission of a 1954 MG-TF?
My recollection makes it 437 -- aaalllll over the floor
If it is a synchronizer problem, you might be able to double clutch the gear. Next question: Do you know how to double clutch?
Speaking of transmissions that won't shift: Does anyone else here know how many needle bearings there are in the transmission of a 1954 MG-TF?
My recollection makes it 437 -- aaalllll over the floor
10J and lovin' it.
-
Tubaryan12
- 6 valves
- Posts: 2100
- Joined: Sat Nov 13, 2004 7:49 am
-
MaryAnn
- Occasionally Visiting Pipsqueak
- Posts: 3217
- Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 9:58 am
Thanks all. I am currently driving w/o 4th gear, and it's no biggie really. My only problem with this truck is that it is starting to do something to me every month or two....and it is REALLY difficult to get it to a mechanic because of my schedule and not having a 2nd car. I drove around for 2 mo with a gallon bottle of water when the radiator decided it wanted to leak, because I couldn't find the stoopid TIME to go to a mechanic. It has been a good decade since I had any urge whatsovever to crawl underneath my vehicle and fiddle with it. Often I find I can diagnose the problem just fine but lack the physical strength to do anything about it. Perhaps circular breathing would help?
Yes I know how to double clutch. The gear oil is not low; I had it checked about a month ago, and there is no oil stain on my driveway.
I don't think it is the clutch; it does not creep in 1st when the clutch is in; 1st, 2nd, 5th, and reverse are behaving normally. Once in the past I had a synchro gear go out (different vehicle) and this is not acting like that did. It goes into 3rd "sooner" wrt the position of the gearshift than it used to, and I feel like I could get it into 4th if I had more throw room on the gearshift, which still makes me think it is a linkage problem, along with the fact that the problem seems to "shift" back and forth between 3rd and 4th but is now seemingly stuck on 4th. However, it could be a "sudden" 4th gear problem, and when I find out I'll let you know.
MA
Yes I know how to double clutch. The gear oil is not low; I had it checked about a month ago, and there is no oil stain on my driveway.
I don't think it is the clutch; it does not creep in 1st when the clutch is in; 1st, 2nd, 5th, and reverse are behaving normally. Once in the past I had a synchro gear go out (different vehicle) and this is not acting like that did. It goes into 3rd "sooner" wrt the position of the gearshift than it used to, and I feel like I could get it into 4th if I had more throw room on the gearshift, which still makes me think it is a linkage problem, along with the fact that the problem seems to "shift" back and forth between 3rd and 4th but is now seemingly stuck on 4th. However, it could be a "sudden" 4th gear problem, and when I find out I'll let you know.
MA
-
MaryAnn
- Occasionally Visiting Pipsqueak
- Posts: 3217
- Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 9:58 am
Thanks, Henry. There is carpet pretty tight on top of the rubber thingy that covers the gearshift...already tried to peel it back for a look-see. Mebbe I can do the "helpless female act" on a local virile male and see if he wants to strut his mechanical stuff. (heh...about the only advantage I've ever found to being female.)
Bloke...I'm with you on cars. Even the cheapest insurance here in AZ (I wont' go the minimum on liability or uninsured; half the people here don't have insurance, and they are the ones running red lights and driving drunk...) so it still would cost me $600 per year per car no matter what.
The poor old pick-me-up is minus a paint job (I have to park downwind of the cooling towers from the steam generating plant, and there is some kind of gook in the precip that just eats paint....if you don't wash your vehicle daily the paint is gone in a couple years.) It also needs tires, shocks, and the front end found a big cement column a couple years ago when I left it in neutral at a high school for a rehearsal. (Did it move itself? Methinks not...there was almost zero slope and it hit pretty hard.)
Thanks again, all.
MA, who has been driving Jezebel for 7 years now. She needed not $3000 at first but $500 for a clutch. Later a starter but that's typical of Toyotas and it wasn't in the first year.
Bloke...I'm with you on cars. Even the cheapest insurance here in AZ (I wont' go the minimum on liability or uninsured; half the people here don't have insurance, and they are the ones running red lights and driving drunk...) so it still would cost me $600 per year per car no matter what.
The poor old pick-me-up is minus a paint job (I have to park downwind of the cooling towers from the steam generating plant, and there is some kind of gook in the precip that just eats paint....if you don't wash your vehicle daily the paint is gone in a couple years.) It also needs tires, shocks, and the front end found a big cement column a couple years ago when I left it in neutral at a high school for a rehearsal. (Did it move itself? Methinks not...there was almost zero slope and it hit pretty hard.)
Thanks again, all.
MA, who has been driving Jezebel for 7 years now. She needed not $3000 at first but $500 for a clutch. Later a starter but that's typical of Toyotas and it wasn't in the first year.
-
Ed Jones
- pro musician
- Posts: 280
- Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 1:14 pm
- Location: Arlington, TX
I have a '94 Toyota 4X4 V6 that has had three unrelated shifting problems.
Before you go to a mechanic (if you haven't already) and spend a ton of money on repairs, lift the hood and check the clutch hydraulic fluid. When standing in front of the truck, it will be to the right of the brake fluid reservoir (this is the location on my truck. It might be different on yours). There will be a rubber cap that you will take off. If the fluid is almost at the top, you are OK. If not, then fill it with the type of fluid listed on the top of the cap. Low fluid could prevent poorly adjusted or worn shifter from shifting properly. This might do the trick but remember, if it is low on fluid, then you have a leak in a hydraulic line and it will run low again. $0 for the fluid that I had in the garage, $100 to replace the hydraulic line.
A couple of years ago, my truck was popping out of third gear. It don't remember what the problem was but it was a simple and inexpensive fix that had to do with the shifter. Your problem might be similar. Less than $100
The other problem was the clutch but it doesn't sound like this is your problem. If it were the clutch you would have a lot of play in the pedal (a long distance between the floor and where the clutch engages) and it would be slipping like crazy. $600 for a new clutch - maybe less for your truck. If your truck has 150,000 + miles and you you haven't put in a clutch, you probably will need to soon. It's just a fact of life.
Keep in mind that I have my repairs done by an independent Toyota mechanic that works out of his home garage. Low overhead keeps his shop rates at half that of a Toyota shop.
Before you go to a mechanic (if you haven't already) and spend a ton of money on repairs, lift the hood and check the clutch hydraulic fluid. When standing in front of the truck, it will be to the right of the brake fluid reservoir (this is the location on my truck. It might be different on yours). There will be a rubber cap that you will take off. If the fluid is almost at the top, you are OK. If not, then fill it with the type of fluid listed on the top of the cap. Low fluid could prevent poorly adjusted or worn shifter from shifting properly. This might do the trick but remember, if it is low on fluid, then you have a leak in a hydraulic line and it will run low again. $0 for the fluid that I had in the garage, $100 to replace the hydraulic line.
A couple of years ago, my truck was popping out of third gear. It don't remember what the problem was but it was a simple and inexpensive fix that had to do with the shifter. Your problem might be similar. Less than $100
The other problem was the clutch but it doesn't sound like this is your problem. If it were the clutch you would have a lot of play in the pedal (a long distance between the floor and where the clutch engages) and it would be slipping like crazy. $600 for a new clutch - maybe less for your truck. If your truck has 150,000 + miles and you you haven't put in a clutch, you probably will need to soon. It's just a fact of life.
Keep in mind that I have my repairs done by an independent Toyota mechanic that works out of his home garage. Low overhead keeps his shop rates at half that of a Toyota shop.
-
Ricko
- bugler
- Posts: 121
- Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 8:42 am
- Location: Nashville, TN
I had a '94 4Cyl - great little truck - painfully easy to work on. Sold it because I could no longer fit the kids in it - It had 125k on it and still ran like new. These are great little trucks and require very little maintenance.
I've still got the Chilton's manual for it - send me a private message of where to send it and I'll drop it in the mail - if you can take apart and re-assemble a rotary valve (and it work properly when you are done) you can work on these trucks.
Rick
I've still got the Chilton's manual for it - send me a private message of where to send it and I'll drop it in the mail - if you can take apart and re-assemble a rotary valve (and it work properly when you are done) you can work on these trucks.
Rick