Sticky Tranny Shifter 2006 Auto 6 cyl.

I was having this problem with my last 05 I had. It didn't seem to be temperature dependent at all. It would do it randomly when it was 10 below and sometimes when it was 100 degrees. But most of the time it was fine. I figured it was the linkage but it seemed odd it would do it about once a week but be completely fine the rest of the time. Well after about 6 months of this pulling out of a gas station one day the truck started shifting REALLY hard and the check engine light came on. The code was for a shift solenoid. I troubleshot it the best I could but everything was inconclusive to what I should have been seeing according to the FSM. So I brought it to a friends shop. Took them about 15 minutes to find the problem. The main wire harness connection to the transmission was severely corroded. They wound up replacing the wire harness inside the trans and replacing most of the pins in the plug that connects to it. And of course they cleaned the filter and topped off the fluid after it was done. I kept the truck for about 6 months after that and never had an issue with the shifter being stiff again. This reminds me I need to pack that same plug with dielectric grease on my current truck to hopefully avoid this issue in the future.

 

Holy sh-t man... that sounds like my problem.... Where is this wiring harness you are talking about..??

I'll get under the truck and try to clean/fix it.... I don't like the idea of replacing things INSIDE the trans, But maybe the electrical connection OUTSIDE can be cleaned.... (I hope)...

Di-electric grease sounds like a good bet also...

Over

 

OK, I found a really corroded electrical connection on the left side of my 4X4 auto tranny..... Looks like the bracket holding the connectors is about to fall off..... if that metal bracket relies on grounding the unit, then I'm in trouble...

Gonna get it up on a hoist for a real good look and maybe fabricate an Aluminum bracket and clean the connectors with brake cleaner and then use di-electric grease in the connector......

Will update uya'll...

 

The computer and shift solenoids can't effect the feel of the shifter. A failing brake switch can't be reset to work by disconnecting a battery. A corroded electrical connector can't do this either. It's more than likely something with the switch right on the transmission where the shift shaft is or the shaft or piston in the valve body. From the very first post, my thought is with the switch.

 

I wouldn't use brake clean on the connector, it can melt plastic and rubber. Use electronic contact cleaner.

 

OK.. I won't use brake cleaner... will use electric cleaner and try to get a new bracket made for that connector...GOD it's corroded... rest of the truck is good... This thing must attract rust..????

Thanx for you help and suggestions guys....!!

You guys are great.... Thumbs up for you guys that help us out...!!

Really appreciate the help. Will let you know if I fix it, OK.????

Over60

 

I am not a mechanic nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night, but here is what I did that seems to have corrected the problem. I believe the black roundish unit is the transmission range sensor located at the back of the transmission but I could be wrong.

There are three connectors on top of this unit and I carefully disconnected each one, sprayed with electrical contact cleaner and then liberally applied dielectric grease before reconnecting each one. Since I did this about two weeks ago the problem seems to have gone away.

 

I will check that out tomorrow, if I can find the unit you are talking about.... From what I see... it's on the rear of the tranny looking in from the left side....

Thanx for the suggestion man..... Will update ya'll...

 

I've had intermittent shifter stiffness problems in my '05. It is related to the shifter housing and friction and binding with the plastic slider parts. Remove the plastic parts around your shifter and see if the problem goes away. I have found that if I cycle the shifter through all gears back and fourth a bunch of times it usually clears right up - this is best done with the ignition turned on but the engine not running.
As for the cruise control not working, I've had that happen too and usually at the same time as the sticky shifter. Check the "D" light on the dash when you put it in drive. If the "D" light does not come on then the cruise doesn't work. Cycling the shifter clears that up too.
It would be nice if there was a real solution to this.

 

I did this too(disassembling and cleaning the shifter unit), so maybe that contributed to mine working better as well.

 

The plug I mentioned is on the driver's side of the transmission right above the pan level. The plug points straight up and is mounted to the transmission housing. So crap can build up in it and just sit there. Toyota actually had a TSB for this on the Tundra which uses the same transmission. Access to the plug was so bad lying on your back I couldn't see the inside of the plug clearly to tell how corroded it was. Once on a lift it was way easier to see it.

 

Did the greasing and cleaning of these electrical connections make the problem go away, this really sucks, who knows what the dealer might say the cause is!

 

I completely agree with Donzi - there's no way that an electrical connection can affect the feel of a mechanical shifter. Not the way our tranny is designed. Any improvement in shifter movement that was realized after cleaning an electrical connector was either coincidental or an unintended benefit of being in that area manipulating/lubing things accidentally (namely the shift linkage).

In my case, since lubing the shift linkage on the side of the tranny (driver side, IIRC), then manipulating and lubing it again, I haven't had a single 'sticky' moment.

YMMV.

 

That seems to make more sense, when I removed the plastic housing around the shift selector, I could even tell that the switches were working properly. Everything under there seems to be very well lubed, but as I was trying to move the shift lever it appeared that there was back pressure on the cable itself. My situation also involves the truck staling half the time when returned to park? Anybody having that problem? I cleaned the throttle body intake severale times, but that didn't seem to help or change the problem in anyway. I mention that because when this problem first started, the engin stalling when placed in park was more of a concern than moving the shift selector. Thanks for the advice, I guess I'll crawl under this beast and see what can be lubed. The snow and the salt and the snow and the salt are coming!

 

Yeah, the shift selector cable is protected all the way to the lever that goes into the side of the transmission, gave that area a shot of T9 Boshield, a waterproof lubricant, and wow! Shift selector working great now and no staling when placed in park! If I can get this beast up on a lift I might consider painting around that spot with some high temp anti seeze grease? Maybe that would keep the salt away from this area. Again works great now, thanks for everyone's help.

 

Good to hear that worked for you! When it comes down to it, we might be experiencing a few different problems - some with the interior plastic getting sticky with spills, others with a sticky linkage, some with both.

If needed, I'll hit the interior plastic with a shot of silicone spray. The Amsoil HD metal protectant worked for me outside - http://tinyurl.com/mdsk9rd. In my experience, this stuff does everything Fluid Film does, without the stink of FF.

Cheers,
Marc

 

I'm sorry, but I totally disagree..... The issue that I had came and went on it's own and was definetley NOT a lubrication issue...... It has to be computer or electric related...

I cannot tell you how .... But I KNOW it's electrical / computer.....

BTW.. since I removed and cleaned that connection at the rear of the tranny...and shot dielectric anti-corrosion stuff in there.....

I have not had the issue return....

 

With the engine running I can see the OP,s reference to an electrical issue .

Most of us would disconnect the shifter cable from the transmission lever and then verify the cable is free by hopping in the truck and moving the shifter from park to low . We should feel nothing because the shifter cable is no longer connected to the transmission . If the shifter is still tight to move , we know that the issue resides in the cable or the plastic shifter cover . A quick lube job is going to fix that up .

Next , with the shifter cable removed from the transmission lever , try and manually move that transmission lever by hand . You should feel click , click , click and it should be fairly easy to move with your hands . If you cant move it by hand , remove the PRNDL switch , then take a small screwdriver and pry the lever seal away from the shifter selector shaft enough to blast some lubricant between the seal until you get the lever to move by hand .Might have to work it back and forth a little but its going to free up . You should have the wheels blocked when you do this .

Next , place the transmission gear shifter in park and " REMOVE THE KEY "
Throw the key on the drivers seat until your done .
Go to rear of truck and manually push it by hand to verify the truck is actually in park . Go back under the truck and check to see if the shifter cable lines up perfectly with the hole in the transmission lever . If it doesnt line up , adjust the shifter cable until it fits perfectly into the transmission lever . The adjustment is under the shift counsole .
Once the cable is aligned with the transmission shift lever , verify the truck will only start in park and nuetral .

This covers any normal shifter cable and alignment issues .

Now you know the shifter is free with the truck in the off position .
Now , start the truck and verify you can smoothly shift through all the gears . Has the shifter freed up or is it still really tight ?

If its still tight with the engine running , remove all ground straps and clean them spotless . Add additional ground straps if you please .
I have seen vehicles catch on fire for this very reason .
When the ground wires on circuits get old and corroded , they no longer function properly and loose contact with ground . Guess what your shifter cable just became ? The ground wire from your transmission to the vehicle body .
I have replaced many melted shifter cables . The shifter cable becomes the vehicles ground and the plastic outer shield will actually melt to the inner cable . This is more noticeable on todays vehichles with all the fancy control motors and electronics as they draw much more amperage in comparison to older cars and trucks . With the non metal box on our trucks all we have is the frame and truck cab to rely on for our grounding needs .
A little sand paper used to clean those ground straps usually fixes the problem but you can always add a couple more straps to be safe . Some guys are too late and the cable is fried . Some guys replace the cable without replacing or cleaning the grounds only to have the same issue again .
Let me know if this helped

 

I just lubed my shifter when I was under the truck . It was full of salt and corrosion .

Here is a TSB for the PRNDL switch http://www.scribd.com/doc/18857706/TSB027709


Here is another post similar to this one where some fixes were found .
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...05-tacoma-stiff-automatic-gear-shifter-2.html

 

Just for the sake of argument over60, I did a little experiment while I was working on something else. I turned the key, put the stiff shifter into D and pulled the battery cable.

Shifted down into L and back - still stiff, ergo this is not electrical/computer related since the power was completely disconnected.

Lubed the linkage and switch at the transmission, battery still disconnected and it was freed up. Life is good again until I don't drive it for a few days. Then stiff again, but loosens up after a few trips from drive to low and back.

Looking forward to dry season, when I'll pull it apart and fix it once and for all.