5 Speed Advice

Doesn't sound like you have a bad clutch at all. Of course they want to replace it though. Toyota in SoCal charged me $3k to do mine so I guess you're getting a deal there lol.

Seriously though, trouble going into 1st is notoriously common on these trucks, it isn't a bad clutch. At 90k miles I'd reckon you still have another 30k on that clutch, maybe more (unless it's been abused).

 

The shifter bushing is very easy to replace. Here are the instructions:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Toyota-Tacoma-manual-transmission-pop-out-of-gear/

 

Awesome link. Thank You!!

 

De nada.

 

A lot of people also suggest using this opportunity (when you have the shifter out and the top open) to overfill it with a 1/4 quart of tranny oil. The reason is that the tranny comes overfilled from the factory this way. Many, many people have reported that the first time they replace the factory fluid that 1/4 quart of tranny oil spills out the top filler hole when removing the bolt. I did this on mine.

 

So, just pour 1/4 quart of Amsoil GL4 (Oil I used a couple months ago when I changed) into the opening where the shift boot would be? I'm not the most mechanical guy, but is the shift boot the only thing keeping the tranny fluid in? Forgive me if that came off a bit newbieish.

 

All good. First make sure your tranny is filled up to the top of the filler hole as per standard tranny fluid replacement instructions. Close everything back up. Then remove the shifter, replace and grease the new bushing as per the instructions in that link and finish off by adding a 1/4 of fluid directly into the tranny via the open hole. I used a funnel to make sure it went directly into the tranny. Then close everything back up. Your tranny will now have 1/4 quart more fluid then is possible then trying to fill it via filler hole. Some people may have different opinions on doing this but I read lots posts from other members doing this.

 

You could always just fill it on level ground, then jack up the passenger side of the truck a little bit and add the extra 1/4 quart.

Also, rev matching is your friend.

 

Thats it. I did it in an hour or two and I am not a trained mechanic, just a do-it-yourselfer.
Better than paying the dealer $70/hour.

 

Fwiw, if the clutch was bad or going bad, the transmission would go in and out of gear regardless of you being on the clutch or not because the clutch disc is too thin for the pressure plate to pinch it against the flywheel.

To me, it sounds as though you clutch is not releasing all the way. I would start by making sure there is no air in the system by bleeding it, then see if you can adjust the clutch pedal master cylinder rod to be longer and therefore push farther and more fluid....

 

Just wanted to thank all that chimed in on this topic. I ended up ordering from Marlin Crawler and installed the new shifter seat and socket today. Definitely felt a big difference. Feels alot tighter and shifts smoother. There was literally nothing left of that OEM seat, just pieces. I only ran into one problem, but that is because I didn't read the instructions on Marlin's site. Please make a note to anyone replacing their shifter seat and socket. Remove and discard your old Toyota seat and rubber insulator. I was trying to reuse the rubber insulator AND the new seat. As you can guess, it did not want to fit. I tried for an hour to mash it in there, and then decided to read the site instructions again and there it was , plain as day. Needless to say, this job would have taken less than an hour, but all is good now. Thanks again to all that helped and pointed me in the direction of replacing the shifter seat (You know who you are).






That last picture is what was left of my shifter seat. I used the bionic wrench to get the old socket off because it was a bitch to remove.

 

I'm happy for you. A simple fix...

 

Nice! Good to hear. This is motivating me to finally order the new Marlin Crawler seat for mine, I've been putting it off...

 

Well done... your bushing was completely toast. Im surprised that it wasnt jumping out of gear.

 

Me too. I couldn't get in gear but never once jumped out of gear. The rubber insulator was the only thing left, but it was in good condition

 

This is just my experience but if a clutch isn't slipping, i call it good. Bad pressure plate: No tight holding. Bad disc: no grab no matter how tight it's held.
Everything thing else is adjustment/worn hydraulics/ worn parts either in or out of transmission.

I've had to do hydraulics on both mine and my BIL's Toyota, I don't think it's uncommon and that was the symptom each time.

 

The wear on my bushing was causing it to jump out of gear alot, scared me until I was able to narrow down the cause...