Getting an 89... - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

aaron7 · 06-23-2005, 08:10 AM

I as well am going to be new to the MR2 world. I'm getting an 89 with the 4age (did they come with anything else, besides the 4agze?) and it has some mods. (lowered 1", all poly suspension, short throw shifter, alum 14" rims, Yokohoma tires, CAI, custom exhaust). Seems much better than my 89 SR5 with the 4af motor lol (though that has a 20v being swapped in!)

So, anything I should know about that year? The only problem it has is that 5th gear pops out... though I didn't think this year was prone to that. Could it be the new poly motor mounts, or that they weren't installed right?

JekylandHyde · 06-23-2005, 08:16 AM

Congrats on your new ride.

The later MK1 (88 and 89) have better trannies, but can still suffer the fateful 5th gear pop out. One of the BEST things people can do to avoid this from happening is STOP driving with their hand on their shifter!

Your hand should only ever touch the shifter to shift. Do it quickly and accurately and get your hand off of it. Cruising and using it as an arm/hand rest causes the cables to put strain on the syncros in the tranny and evetually they can't hold the gear any more and it pops out.

Sorry to hear you are dealing with that.

aaron7 · 06-23-2005, 09:25 AM

Ouch, I never thought of that! I think I'm guilty of doing that on all my cars

So that means the syncros are gone in 5th? Is it something fixable, or should I just hold it in gear on the highway?

JekylandHyde · 06-23-2005, 09:40 AM

You would need to remove the tranmission and replace the syncros ... i.e. tranny rebuild.

Otherwise, you are holding it in 5th on the highways.

Or, you could buy a used tranny and hope it doesn't have the same problem.