'87 FJ60 - Grinding/Not Shifting into 2nd - Whahh?

[BattleHall]

Hi y'all,

I have a 1987 FJ60, 183k, that I just bought a couple of months
ago. It had been driving fine; noisy, but fine. Suddenly, about a
week ago, it started failing to shift into second. If I go for a normal
1-2 shift, clutch all the way in, it grinds gears and will not go into
second. Similarly, on a 3-2 downshift, it won't grind, but it also
won't go into 2nd. My first though were the syncro's, but the more
I think about it, the less I think that that is the cause. For one thing,
it started really suddenly, not some notchy shifting over time. For
another, I've found a trick for successfully shifting the 1-2 about
half the time with no grinding. If I do a 1-N-1-2 shift (1st down to Neutral
between1st and 2nd, then immediately back up into 1st, then down into 2nd),
it works around 3 out of 5 times. When it does work, I can almost
feel something aligning as it goes back up into 1st. I searched the
archives and found some references to 2nd gear issues, but nothing
specific. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this,
and if so, how I would go about fixing it?


(Shifting 1-3-4 till further notice)
-BH

 

[Pluton]

Your first order of business should be to replace the Shifter Seat, a [I think]$10-$$20 synthetic rubber part that goes right below the ball that the gearshift lever pivots on. See FSM or even the Haynes Manual for info on replacement...it's an un-complicated job. Often shifting problems are caused by the old seat decaying and generally rotting away. Good Luck.

 

[dogboy2]

you also might try adjusting the play in the clutch pedal and at the slave. refer to the FSM for specs...

also check and verify that your tranny fluid level is topped off and where it should be. if you haven't drained and changed it yet, this might be a good time to do so

hth,
-dogboy- '87 FJ60

 

[BattleHall]

Thanks all, I will definitely check the shifter seat (I like cheap and easy).
Could a shifter seat cause it to grind gears like that? I hope it's something
small like that, or some sort of external linkage or alignment. One thing
I've also noticed is that it seems like the actual gear shift moves more
recently in response to engine input, i.e. when I get on or off the gas,
the shifter appears to "twitch" forward and backwards. I just catch it out
of the corner of my eye, and it may have always done that, but I just
noticed it when I started having tranny issues. As far as the tranny fluid
goes, I just drained and refilled both the tranny and TC about a month
ago (filled with 90wt GL5). The old lube was pretty nasty (chocolate milk)
and both drain plugs (magnetic) had a pretty good lump of metal shaving
goo on them, but I didn't find any substantial chunks on them, and all the
other gears shift fine. Would the clutch length have any effect if all the
other gears are shifting alright? Does anyone know if there is a bearing or bushing
that could have gone out that would cause the dog teeth for the second
gear to become misaligned? It still strikes me as odd that the 1-N-1-2
shift seems to work like it does.

Thanks y'all
-BH

 

[lovetoski]

The old lube was pretty nasty (chocolate milk)
and both drain plugs (magnetic) had a pretty good lump of metal shaving
goo on them, but I didn't find any substantial chunks on them,

-BH

This doesn't sound good. Somethings wearing out/worn out.

From how you shift to make it work (1N12) it could be the 2nd gear syncro. The "pause" in Neutral is giving time for the engine speed and tranny to get closer to the same speed.

Used trannys are pretty affordable...

 

[dorcom]

I've got the same FJ60 with 270k+ miles and the same problem. It is your syncro 2nd gear is in most cars the first to go becuase of two facts:
1. drivers shift down "to fast" into 2nd gear causing a very forced sync and thus wear.
2. the speed difference (engine/trans) is one of the highest

Solution:
Just like in the earely 1900 without sync DOUBLE CLUTCH! Manually "sync"
Your 1-N-2 has somewhat that effect. I do that too.

 

[BattleHall]

ARG!!!

Thanks for all the advice y'all.
I went out on a test run and ran through a series of double
clutches at multiple speeds: no luck. It doesn't grind when
I do a double clutch (clutch in, 1st to N, clutch out, clutch
back in, N to 2nd, right?)but it also wouldn't go into gear,
no matter how high or low I was rev'd when I did the double
clutch, or how far I let the rev's drop; it felt like I was just
pulling against a stop. Lame, I was more than willing to
funky-clutch around this issue if I could.

Thank God for torque below 1500 rpms



-BH