Topic: W56 wont go into reverse

[Northerntoy]

W56 in my 85 runner wont shift into reverse when shut off in neutral , with the clutch in or at all. Was working fine no grinding or anything odd. I have tried different shifters,  seat and cup seam fine. Temperature here has dropped to -20 c since it was last driven not sure if that is a factor? Seems to be locked right out. Just wondering if there is anything I can do or check before pulling it and tearing it down and what to look at once I pull it ? Tried searching couldn't find this exact issue. Any help is appreciated. Really need to get this thing on the trail   

[jmac80]

pull the top plate and see what the fork shaft looks like......make sure the bottom of the shifter is getting all the over to the left (you push the top to the right)....basically see if you can shift it into reverse with a screwdriver or something instead of the shifter itself.....does the shifter bushing (plastic cup on bottom of shifter look OK, if worn it may not be allowing enough motion in the that direction).

that's where I would start....even with a synchro sticking I would think you could get it into gear.

......these other dudes will know better than me, but that's where I would start.

[Northerntoy [OP]]

Thanks for the reply. I pulled the shifter and seat looked fine. Tried a couple others i had laying around and same thing. With shifter removed I can shift it into all gears except reverse with a half inch extension. Feels like something stopping the rail when going into reverse. Anyone know if these have a reverse lockout pin that could freeze up or fall out of place? 

[jmac80]

I pulled the shifter and seat looked fine. 

I'm not taking about the seat (shown left), I'm talking about the other thing (shown right).  Regardless it sounds like you've tested what I was getting at with your extension.  You may want to pull out the reverse switch and just make sure it hasn't done something weird but I doubt it.....

Sounds like you've done what you can with it in the truck and you're going to have to pull it and remove the case at least to see what's going on.  Here's a thread....it's a sh*tty job, sorry:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116/w56-rebuild-thread-219038/

[Northerntoy [OP]]

Thanks again for the reply. I will order one of those seats they look like a quality product and my shifter sure has a lot of slop but not my current issue. I dropped my oil and low and behold it was a milkshake  Must have got water in at some point. No unusual metal or anything in the oil. I hope its just froze with the- 25c temps. Any tips on getting the water/milkshake sludge out are appreciated. Gonna refill, take it for a good rip and get it in a heated shop and see if it helps. Also found this old thread on pirate talkinf about transmissions getting stuck in reverse and being able to bend a tab through the backup light hole. Wondering if reverse could be true and what exactly that tab is.



"
Ok update everyone: I called and spoke to Marlin on Friday *(Was lucky to get ahold of him)* and this apparently is very common with these toy tranny's when you either invert them or are coasting and run into something.

Anyways here's the break down, the 5th gear is heavy enough to "fall" and knock the tranny into reverse, with that the shifter is still in the (N) position therefor your not able to shift out of (R). So what you have to do is remove the (R) light plug on the side of the tranny *(Passenger side)* and in there with some small needle nose pliers you will see a metal tab, grab onto it and move it "back" *(towards the rear of the tranny)* till it can't move any further. In my case I had to move it approx an inch or two, and bam your done you should be shifting, and I was able to shift my tranny at that point. I am going to do a write up on this issue and put it up on my website sometime soon so to try and help out others as Marlin helped me out. "
www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyota-truck-4runner/104627-5-speed-stuck-reverse.html#/topics/104627?page=2