1995.5 Tacoma 2WD 5-speed, trouble going into reverse gear

Select any forward gear before selecting Reverse, this will eliminate any grinding that you experience. If you are in the habit of starting in N, then selecting R right away, then some of the gears inside the trans are moving while others are stationary. The grinding is the moving and stationary gears colliding with each other. If you select any forward gear first, the syncronizers will cause the moving gears to stop, and there won't be any noise as a result. Once the gears have stopped moving, then select R and let the clutch out and begin moving.

If your problem is that the shift lever won't go to R -- and the problem is not grinding when it does go -- then you are ready for a new cllutch. At

155k miles, odds are good that you are ready for a clutch, by the way. YOU -- that's you personally -- might not be hard on your clutch, but you don't know how the previous owner(s) treated it, and it could be worn out.

If it is worn out, then the next stage of its operation will be that you might notice the engine speeding up but the vehicle is not. Typically this will be noticed at about 25ish MPH and in 3rd gear. As you press the gas to gain more speed, the engine whirs faster, but the speed gains are not there. If you have a tachometer, you can actually see this happening.

If the grinding is your problem, this is more or less normal. You may get some relief by changing the oil in the transmission. But you will certainly get relief by selecting a forward gear from N before selecting R.

well, how about checking to see if you have a little plastic knob on the bottom on your shifter that moves the gears about.

Mine was worn about 200k. Replaced it very cheaply, and easily.

see:

j.