1998 Tacoma - Transmission jumps out of gear

Several month ago, my 1998 Tacoma (102,000 miles) began jumping out of gear immediately upon shifting into 5th gear. The first few times, I thought I simply had not pushed the shift lever fully forward as it would slip into neutral even before I released the clutch pedal. It has never jumped out of gear after the engine begins to pull, only in the split second after placing into gear. Over the last couple of months it has gotten worse and now will occasionally slip out of 3rd in the same manner. As long as make slow and deliberate shifts, everthing seems fine. But if I forget, it will occur when not expecting it. It's almost as if the linkage need adjusting or some spring has gotten weaker through use. I am concerned that continuing to drive the pickup like this, could eventually lead to a more costly repair. Someone please tell me it's a common problem and inexpensive to repair. All opinions are welcome.

Reply to
Steve Murphree
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As I just posted in a thread below, get the shifter seat and socket replacements from Marlin Crawler.

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Quick and easy replacement, and if that doesn't fix the problem you have to be looking at a new tranny. Chances are very good that the seat/socket will take care of it though, it's a very well known issue.

Reply to
G Unit

Steve,

You'll be happy to know that this is a cheap fix and you may be able to do it yourself for about $20 and an hour of your time.

There's a rubber seating ring at the base of the shift lever that when it wears causes the trans to pop out of gear. It may start out popping out of just one gear but as the seat wears further it will start popping out of more than one gear - but always gears where the lever has to point in the same direction - for example, 1, 3 or 5 (shift lever towards the dash) but not 2 and 4 (shift lever towards the seat.)

If you have the 2WD with the W59 transmission (look on the ID tag on the drivers door frame) go down to your Toyota dealer and get part no

33505-35020, it'll cost you about ten bucks. While you're in there you might want to splurge, spend another five bucks and get 33548-31010, a white nylon cap that goes on the end of the shift lever. Other transmissions suffer similar problems and can be fixed the same way, I just don't have the part numbers for you.

It's been a while, but I believe you just pull up the rubber boot, pull up a dust cap and twist a locking ring and lift the whole shift lever out. If the dust cap is torn or a poor fit, replace that too (I don't know the part number on that one). Clean everything up, put a little dab of white grease on the new ring and reassemble and you'll be ready to go. If you don't feel up to doing it yourself, take it to a dealer or buy the parts and have an independent garage that you trust install them for you.

HTH,

Reply to
Mike Harris

Thanks Mike and others who responded to my post. I bought the machined nylon seat and cap from Marlin Crawler and just finished replacing them. My shifter seat was broken into at least a hundred pieces, the largest being no larger than a pea. I ended up using a vacuum to suck up all the loose pieces. What a difference!!!!! I realize now that the travel on my shifter has been restricted for quite a long time. Each gear now has a definite feel and the shifts are smooth as butter. I do believe the seat from Marlin Crawler is far superior to the junk I extracted from my transmission. Thanks again everyone!

Steve Murphree Olive Branch, MS

Reply to
Steve Murphree

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