1998 Tacoma - Transmission jumps out of gear

Several month ago, my 1998 Tacoma (102,000 miles) began jumping out of gear
immediately upon shifting into 5th gear. The first few times, I thought I
simply had not pushed the shift lever fully forward as it would slip into
neutral even before I released the clutch pedal. It has never jumped out of
gear after the engine begins to pull, only in the split second after placing
into gear. Over the last couple of months it has gotten worse and now will
occasionally slip out of 3rd in the same manner. As long as make slow and
deliberate shifts, everthing seems fine. But if I forget, it will occur when
not expecting it. It's almost as if the linkage need adjusting or some
spring has gotten weaker through use. I am concerned that continuing to
drive the pickup like this, could eventually lead to a more costly repair.
Someone please tell me it's a common problem and inexpensive to repair. All
opinions are welcome.

As I just posted in a thread below, get the shifter seat and socket
replacements from Marlin Crawler.

[url]http://www.marlincrawler.com/htm/transmission/trans_parts.htm[/url]

Quick and easy replacement, and if that doesn't fix the problem you have to
be looking at a new tranny. Chances are very good that the seat/socket will
take care of it though, it's a very well known issue.

"Steve Murphree" <smurphr1@midsouth.rr.com> wrote in message
news:VyLeh.2494$SJ3.1944@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com...[color=blue]
> Several month ago, my 1998 Tacoma (102,000 miles) began jumping out of
> gear immediately upon shifting into 5th gear. The first few times, I
> thought I simply had not pushed the shift lever fully forward as it would
> slip into neutral even before I released the clutch pedal. It has never
> jumped out of gear after the engine begins to pull, only in the split
> second after placing into gear. Over the last couple of months it has
> gotten worse and now will occasionally slip out of 3rd in the same manner.
> As long as make slow and deliberate shifts, everthing seems fine. But if I
> forget, it will occur when not expecting it. It's almost as if the
> linkage need adjusting or some spring has gotten weaker through use. I am
> concerned that continuing to drive the pickup like this, could eventually
> lead to a more costly repair. Someone please tell me it's a common problem
> and inexpensive to repair. All opinions are welcome.
>[/color]

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 03:55:33 +0000, Steve Murphree wrote:
[color=blue]
> Several month ago, my 1998 Tacoma (102,000 miles) began jumping out of
> gear immediately upon shifting into 5th gear. The first few times, I
> thought I simply had not pushed the shift lever fully forward as it
> would slip into neutral even before I released the clutch pedal. It has
> never jumped out of gear after the engine begins to pull, only in the
> split second after placing into gear. Over the last couple of months it
> has gotten worse and now will occasionally slip out of 3rd in the same
> manner. As long as make slow and deliberate shifts, everthing seems
> fine. But if I forget, it will occur when not expecting it. It's almost
> as if the linkage need adjusting or some spring has gotten weaker
> through use. I am concerned that continuing to drive the pickup like
> this, could eventually lead to a more costly repair. Someone please tell
> me it's a common problem and inexpensive to repair. All opinions are
> welcome.[/color]

Steve,

You'll be happy to know that this is a cheap fix and you may be able to do
it yourself for about $20 and an hour of your time.

There's a rubber seating ring at the base of the shift lever that when it
wears causes the trans to pop out of gear. It may start out popping out
of just one gear but as the seat wears further it will start popping out
of more than one gear - but always gears where the lever has to point in
the same direction - for example, 1, 3 or 5 (shift lever towards the dash)
but not 2 and 4 (shift lever towards the seat.)

If you have the 2WD with the W59 transmission (look on the ID tag on the
drivers door frame) go down to your Toyota dealer and get part no
33505-35020, it'll cost you about ten bucks. While you're in there you
might want to splurge, spend another five bucks and get 33548-31010, a
white nylon cap that goes on the end of the shift lever. Other
transmissions suffer similar problems and can be fixed the same way, I
just don't have the part numbers for you.

It's been a while, but I believe you just pull up the rubber boot, pull up
a dust cap and twist a locking ring and lift the whole shift lever out. If
the dust cap is torn or a poor fit, replace that too (I don't know the
part number on that one). Clean everything up, put a little dab of white
grease on the new ring and reassemble and you'll be ready to go. If you
don't feel up to doing it yourself, take it to a dealer or buy the parts
and have an independent garage that you trust install them for you.

HTH,
--
Mike Harris
Austin TX

"Mike Harris" <root@austin.texas> wrote in message
news:pan.2006.12.15.01.59.38.86141@austin.texas...[color=blue]
> On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 03:55:33 +0000, Steve Murphree wrote:
>[color=green]
>> Several month ago, my 1998 Tacoma (102,000 miles) began jumping out of
>> gear immediately upon shifting into 5th gear. The first few times, I
>> thought I simply had not pushed the shift lever fully forward as it
>> would slip into neutral even before I released the clutch pedal. It has
>> never jumped out of gear after the engine begins to pull, only in the
>> split second after placing into gear. Over the last couple of months it
>> has gotten worse and now will occasionally slip out of 3rd in the same
>> manner. As long as make slow and deliberate shifts, everthing seems
>> fine. But if I forget, it will occur when not expecting it. It's almost
>> as if the linkage need adjusting or some spring has gotten weaker
>> through use. I am concerned that continuing to drive the pickup like
>> this, could eventually lead to a more costly repair. Someone please tell
>> me it's a common problem and inexpensive to repair. All opinions are
>> welcome.[/color]
>
> Steve,
>
> You'll be happy to know that this is a cheap fix and you may be able to do
> it yourself for about $20 and an hour of your time.
>
> There's a rubber seating ring at the base of the shift lever that when it
> wears causes the trans to pop out of gear. It may start out popping out
> of just one gear but as the seat wears further it will start popping out
> of more than one gear - but always gears where the lever has to point in
> the same direction - for example, 1, 3 or 5 (shift lever towards the dash)
> but not 2 and 4 (shift lever towards the seat.)
>
> If you have the 2WD with the W59 transmission (look on the ID tag on the
> drivers door frame) go down to your Toyota dealer and get part no
> 33505-35020, it'll cost you about ten bucks. While you're in there you
> might want to splurge, spend another five bucks and get 33548-31010, a
> white nylon cap that goes on the end of the shift lever. Other
> transmissions suffer similar problems and can be fixed the same way, I
> just don't have the part numbers for you.
>
> It's been a while, but I believe you just pull up the rubber boot, pull up
> a dust cap and twist a locking ring and lift the whole shift lever out. If
> the dust cap is torn or a poor fit, replace that too (I don't know the
> part number on that one). Clean everything up, put a little dab of white
> grease on the new ring and reassemble and you'll be ready to go. If you
> don't feel up to doing it yourself, take it to a dealer or buy the parts
> and have an independent garage that you trust install them for you.
>
> HTH,
> --
> Mike Harris
> Austin TX[/color]


Thanks Mike and others who responded to my post. I bought the machined
nylon seat and cap from Marlin Crawler and just finished replacing them. My
shifter seat was broken into at least a hundred pieces, the largest being no
larger than a pea. I ended up using a vacuum to suck up all the loose
pieces. What a difference!!!!! I realize now that the travel on my shifter
has been restricted for quite a long time. Each gear now has a definite
feel and the shifts are smooth as butter. I do believe the seat from Marlin
Crawler is far superior to the junk I extracted from my transmission.
Thanks again everyone!

Steve Murphree
Olive Branch, MS