Broken Shift Cable

I inadvertently drove over one end of a log that was hidden by dirt on the trail. The other end shot upwards between the transmission and exhaust manifold. It struck the shifter cable and jerked the transmission into Park HARD. It bent the shifter cable and also broke the leads on the downstream o2 sensor. I replaced the parts, but when the transmission is in Drive it will only go into 3rd and 4th gear. Automatic shifts up or down between those 2 gears while moving are abrupt.... Harsh, actually.
The fluid looks good... no filings or cloudiness. It was recently serviced.
Is this something out of adjustment, or is there a major problem that requires a rebuild? Any thoughts? Anyone had a similar issue?
2013 Tacoma Prerunner
137000 miles

 

Thoughts: UGH. $$$$$

There ain't no telling what all has been screwed up in that situation. It could have hit something else that you don't even know about yet. Good luck.

 

Can you manually shift the transmission into 1st or 2nd?

 

Yes.

 

I agree....UGH $$$$$

 

You are doing the best thing by asking around here. But it might take a long time to get this one figured out. Stayed tuned. Lots of smart 4x4'ers on here.

 

It could possibly be that some wiring/harness got damaged.

For example, if the transmission solenoid #1 wiring to the ECU got damaged, the ECU goes into fail-safe mode using solenoid #2 to make the transmission still useable with 3rd & 4th gear, with lower gears selectable manually by the shift lever.

http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/h16.pdf page 15

 

Wow..... outstanding! Thanks!

 

Maybe @gearcruncher will chime in with thoughts he is the transmission god!

 

Thanks for paging me Jimmy

Next thing I would be looking at is if the truck will start in park and Neutral . Can you remove the keys easy when in park ?
While you are in your driveway , If you go through all the gear ranges with the shifter , does the illuminated dash correspond with the gear you have selected ? Try going from park all the way down to the lowest gear range to see if the dash matches what you shift to on the floor shifter .
Sounds to me like it may now be out of adjustment becuase of hitting the log or something is bent
If the transmission computer doesnt know what gear you are in , the transmission will be in limp home mode . Limp home mode is a protective measure built into the computer in your truck to prevent further damage to the transmission . It will shift hard and you will not get overdrive until the shifter is re- aligned .

If you scan for codes , I will bet you get an error code for the Nuetral safety switch , not because the switch is bad but becuase the shift cable is bent .
Slide under the truck and have a good look at everything that controls the shifter cable .
Use the links provided below to figure out if something is bent .

https://www.customtacos.com/tech.ol...6toyrm/06toypdf/06rmsrc/rm2006ta/02700610.pdf

https://www.customtacos.com/tech.ol.../06toyrm/06toypdf/06rmsrc/rm2006ta/027010.pdf


https://www.customtacos.com/tech.ol...06toyrm/06toypdf/06rmsrc/rm2006ta/0280035.pdf

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...th-pics-for-second-gen-4-liter-trucks.289913/


As mentioned above , wires could have also been tweaked . A computer scan will tell you for sure