Topic: Should I put it back in?

[wyorally]

Advice needed on a transmission problem.  I have a 93’ Toyota pickup with a 3.0L v6 3vze and an r150f transmission.  Shifting into first seemed to be getting a little more difficult than usual for for a few days but got better when she was warmed up.  There was no grinding either.  I was pulling a trailer as well, which I didn’t normally do, so I thought the extra weight and old gear oil may have been the culprit.  I wasn’t too concerned.  Then all of the sudden I lost 1st and 2nd gear entirely. There was never any noise, and I could still shift into those positions, though the shifter had a lot of slack and would move way to far forward and past the 1st gear position.  Also, I would still have power in those gears but it felt like I was still in third gear.  I had no problems with 3rd, 4th, 5th, or reverse after that, but when I got into town I had to put it in 4 low to have enough power to start out.  I figured it was the shifter bushing, so I replaced the two plastic bushing on the shifter (which were toast) with Marlin Crawler components. This fixed all the slack in my shifting and made my positions correct, however I still didn’t have first or second gear, and it still felt like I was in third gear in those positions.  Begrudgingly, I pulled the transmission, but didn’t notice any extra metal floating around. Once out, I couldn’t get it to shift at all.  Then I cleaned it up good and it shifted fine.  However, I couldn’t find anything wrong with it, except for one tooth missing from the 1st gear synchronizer ring.  I took it to a transmission shop and they couldn’t seem to find anything wrong with it either.  All of the tolerances that I can measure without a complete teardown seem to be in spec, and all the gears look good, and bearings seem very acceptable.  I have to wonder if that one brass tooth had been jammed somewhere and if the cleaning dislodged it.  Without a bunch of extra money to throw at a phantom problem I am considering replacing the clutch and throwing it back in- though I am also hesitant to do all that work and find I am back at square one. Any advice will be appreciated.

[OOPS]

what does your shifter seat look like? If it is falling it can cause shifting problems. Marlin sell some heavy duty ones.

https://www.marlincrawler.com/transmission/shifter-parts/heavy-duty-seats

[OOPS]

Also check the socket on the bottom of the shifter. He has them also down at the bottom of the page I posted.

[jimbo74]

OOPS, it said he replaced those parts

[wyorally [OP]]

Thanks guys, but yes, I replaced the seat and socket- which is why I was concerned that after doing so I could still shift it into the 1st and 2nd positions but still not have those gears.  I was still in third gear.  I'm wondering if it is possible that I did not put the shifter back in the right position, or if that because the sleave/collar may have been jammed by that broken synchonizer tooth, if the shifter lever, being spring loaded, would just go around the 1st and second shift rod and allow my shifter to go into position without actually being in gear?

[emsvitil]

Put a drill on the input shaft.

Then try going through all the gears