Hard to shift 5 speed

My old girl has 288k, sometimes just getting into 1st gear is a chore. Have to drop into 2nd and get a little movement sometimes before I can get it into 1st.

Any thoughts on what I’m dealing with here?

 

Has it always been like this or just started?

It might be that G59 Transmission I never had one of them.

It just might be getting tired a combination of worn parts.

At 250,000 I shift my R150F into first now and then.

 

Past several years I’d say.

 

It kinda comes down to live with it.

Or a very expensive rebuild a bearing kit might help might need even more parts .

You can try those gear oils people say improves things.

Good Luck no matter what course you follow.

 

So you only have issues with 1st gear? I would start with checking free play at the clutch pedal first. Then check the clutch pedal return spring, if you have the torsion type it may be the culprit. If you have the linear type that's probably OK. Then move onto the clutch master/slave cylinders, before you dive into $$$ clutch/trans work....

 

I'd look here, less expensive and clutch not fully disengaging could be the culprit. In a stupid lapse of reason my clutch fluid had gotten low (with no visible leaks) and it started acting up like this.

 

Being only first Gear To me says Transmission .

After a few years a minor hydraulic issue most likely might have gotten slightly worse.

The fact you can pull it back into second then get first to me rules out clutch hydraulics to me.

Any problems into reverse when your stopped?

 

Mines the same way. Sometimes have to drop it into 2nd then back to first. I’ve never had a manual transmission that just always slid right into first at a dead stop. Either needed to release clutch a bit to give things a spin, or do the 2nd gear thing. Imo it’s normal.

 

I would check the plastic shifter bushing under the shifter. They are known for disintegrating.

Peter in SA

 

Since new, my first gear has always said FU if the ambient temperature has been below ~70°.

 

This. I can almost guarantee that's the problem, and it's like a $10 fix.

 

Yep. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/shifter-bushing-replacement.528502/

 

This may not be your problem, but I had a similar issue. Really had to muscle it in to get into first, other gears were fine, eventually all the gears I ended up needing to muscle in. When the truck was off I could row through all the gears just fine. Eventually decided to replace the clutch (what a hassle), now it shifts through the gears like butter. When we took off the old clutch we noticed that two of the fingers were bent forward just a little which I think was causing it.

 

Yeah I’d start with the easiest thing first like replacing the shifter bushing, then moving towards something you’d have to do anyway even if you were replacing the transmission like looking at the clutch. I actually had a similar situation but it turned out to be the previous owner improperly installed a short shifter and the end of the shifter was ever so slightly rubbing metal on metal on the surface below it in the transmission. I didn’t find that out until I removed the transmission and swapped another one in. With what I know now I would have taken a slower approach to diagnosing this issue haha.

 

make sure you are using gl-4 MTF. had this issue using GL-5 fluid.

 

Fluid changes are often waaay neglected

Does it also grind?

 

Pretty opionated statement

 

Mine does the same. I’ve done The shifter bushing change , the fluid change, running the redline M/T. I saw no real change in the issue. Almost always have to dip into second and blip the throttle to slide it into first, otherwise it’s a hard no. I was under the impression that this was normal for these transmissions .

 

You are going to have to determine if the clutch disk is dragging and turning the input shaft slightly. A stethoscope on the case where the bell housing meets the case is where the input shaft bearing resides and thats shat you are listening for… difficult due to all of the other noises. I have had a few 5 speeds out and apart and everything looks OK, the synchros are sharp, the gears look good, in other words, no problems found. Re install and it is still difficult to get into gear. Take it back out and replace the entire 1-2 gear set assembly, synchros etc and problem solved. It isnt a single component failure it is the assembly as a unit was sloppy. I know this isn't the answer you were looking for but as suggested above, you. Just might have to live with it.

How many times a day does this happen… you are rolling up to the red light and just as you get there it changes… crap, I cant get it into first and second is just too tall to pull away… crap crap crap.