W59 transmission, to fix or replace?

Just bought a '96 4 cylinder 2.7 liter... Test drove fine but on the way home after buying I noticed it is not wanting to go into fourth... It goes into 1-3 and 5 fine, but it catches going into 4'th... Not sure how I missed this test driving it!

From what I understand the W59 is the transmission in the 2.7 liter 4X4 manual?

Is it worth having it rebuilt or just better to buy a secondhand one? Unless the issue with 4'th is something that will remain stable?

are there any other transmissions that will bolt into the 2.7 liters? Anyone had to replace a tranny; what did you use if so?

 

There's a good chance that your problem is just the shifter bushing and seat, which are really easy fixes. Try that before you go dropping a transmission.

https://www.marlincrawler.com/transmission/shifter-parts/heavy-duty-seats

If that doesn't work, then yes - you will have to rebuild or replace. Replacing with a used one is considerably cheaper. If you decide to go that route, I have a working W59 with ~150k miles that I'll give you a really nice deal on if you can get it from me here in NC.

What I did was buy a used one, put it in, and drive on that for about a year. I took my time rebuilding the original, then swapped that one back in. It's not too hard of a rebuild, but it's pricy even if you do it yourself. You can often find an entire used transmission for less than the cost of a good rebuild kit, and that doesn't include any labor.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1s...idle-goes-away-when-i-clutch.html#post9323268

 

Yes, full disclosure is that the one I have for sale has whiny counter shaft bearings. I gather that most of these W59s do - my freshly rebuilt one has also already gotten noticeably louder in the 10,000 miles I've driven it. My old truck was like that too. I guess I'm going to have to get used to the noise if I want to keep driving 2.7s.

The 4th gear problem on the spare tranny wound up being that the shifter seat was completely gone - must have disintegrated over time.

So it's a working transmission for a really low price.

I suspect a seat and bushing will fix the OPs problem as well.

 

I just saw your post here. Sounds like you have some real experience! I noticed today when I shift slowly it is doing well, so it may be a combination of worn clutch and synchros although the bushing sounds like a relatively painless thing to assess...

Did you in your research look into any other transmissions that would bolt in or fit with minimal effort into your 2.7 besides the W59? You are right regarding cost, btw, it looks like a used one is cheaper than a good rebuild.

 

Yes, but a good rebuild has a warranty and you know where you stand when it's installed.

 

I didn't find anything else that bolts right up. I recall that some of the other W series might have worked, but I decided they were probably not strong enough for the use my truck gets.

I've read that the R series transmissions from the '96-'04 V6 Tacos (and some other Toyotas) will work if you use the bell housing from a 2005-2009 4x2 with 4cylinder. You could probably google that and find some info. I'm not sure a good used R series would be any easier to find than a good used W series.

If I'd had the money, I would have bought the Marlin rebuilt one. I just didn't have the $1600+ to spend. I've been really happy with the rebuild I ended up with, though.

 

I'd guess syncros from 4th being a 'passing gear'. May just try to change the fluid out and see if it'll help.

 

Had the same issue and it was the shifter bushing. I replaced the bushing and it shifted like a new truck.

 

I agree with 68Dave .
I dunno why the bushing in the shifter gives so much grief but here is a bunch of info that may help . I just copied and pasted from another post for ya !
Here is the part number to replace the shifter bushing
Toyota Part no. 33548-60040 . You can also get this bushing from Marlin Crawler
https://www.marlincrawler.com/transm...y-duty-sockets


TRD quick shifter review http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd...questions.html

TRD short shifter questions http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd...-opinions.html

Hurst shifter review /questions http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd...w-shifter.html

URD short shifter and review http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/und...ifter-kit.html

Sloppy Shifter ? http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd...d-shifter.html

and More sloppy shifter info http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd...d-shifter.html The military should dispose of these things like they did in the past . Sell them to Arnold Swarzenegger

Broken URD shifter http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/tec...install-2.html

EDIT ! one more link for you to look at http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/te...ation-your-5-speed-transmission-write-up.html

 

Hmm. I'll be getting a set of those Marlin bushings soon.