[RLEE371]

Hello all, hope you are doing well.

I just got my FJ40 delivered today!!

After the engine warms up, I am having a little trouble with 1st and 2nd gear. Shifting into 1st from neutral is fine, but after I left out the clutch all the way, the RPM's continue to climb as if Im flooring the pedal. It will stop after 2-3 seconds, but then happen again after shifting into 2nd gear. Shifting into 3rd and 4th are fine and dont have problems, but it's making quick shifts from 1st to 2nd (off a stop sign for instance pretty difficult).

Does anyone have any suggestions of things I could look at and tinker before taking it to a mechanic? I don't have tons of engine knowledge, but I'm pretty good at tinkering.

As some background:

This is a 1976 FJ40 with 47,000 original miles, orig. engine, no rebuild. This was sitting in a barn for 17 years, and was just recently cleaned up and had some things replaced, the engine runs strong, but is only having problems with some oil leaking, as well as the transmission issues.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thank you,
Robert Lee

[Stumpalama]

Is it difficult to get into gear, say, from neut to 1st then from neut to 2nd? Have you flushed the clutch? Could be it needs new master and slave causing it to slip.

[RLEE371]

Its easy to get into all gears, just sounds like I'm flooring it after the clutch comes out on first, and then out after going into second.

...Is there anything I could check out myself in my garage with limited tools by looking under the hood?

[Stumpalama]

It doesn't take any special tools to diagnose a clutch.
Nudge your truck up to a tree (the biggger the better) and let the truck out of gear fairly quick, not so much as to pop stall it but enough that either the clutch slips or the truck stalls. If it revs a bit and doesn't stall, your clutch is slipping. I would bleed the clutch 1st to make sure it is good fluid. If it sat for a long time it the brake fluid likely soaked up water, which can lead to rust, cylinder scoring, seal failure and pour hydraulic properties. Is there evidence of peeling paint/ rust from the bottom of your master cylinder on the engine or interior of the firewall? That would indicate master cylinder scoring/seal failure.
Another thing to check: You mentioned some oil leaks. your rear main seal could be leaking and spraying oil onto the clutch plate it could soak in enough given enough time to cause the friction disk to slip. You can pull the fly wheel inspection cover (behind the oilpan and infront of the transmission) and look at the clutch and fly wheel also check for a build up of oil and dirt on the bottom of the inspection plate, A sure sign of rear main seal leakage. Have some one engage the clutch while you look at the friction disk and spin it around to look at all aspects. It could show oil soking or be real thin and worn or be really shiny, which is a sign of glazing from riding the clutch or progressive slippage.
Let us know what you find.