Gearbox Question: 1996 80 Series Manual 1HZ (1st to 2nd to 3rd good, 3rd-2nd bad)

[kunoman1]

Hi all! Work moved me down to Australia and I thought it was best to pick up a Land Cruiser - pic below for reference (I'm just a Canadian trying to fit in to y'all's life down under!).

• 1996 Land Cruiser Standard
• 1HZ NA, 5 speed gearbox
• Mileage - 350,000km

I've had some old and cheap cars in my life (including a 1976 westfalia which was my daily driver) so I'm used to some finicky gearboxes and the such but this one is particularly confusing to me.

Q1: I can shift very smoothly from first to second and to third, but am unable to drop it down into 2nd from 3rd unless I double clutch it and am going ~less than 10km/h. Because she's old, slow, and heavy - this has gotten me into some trouble going up steep inclines where she'll bog because there isn't enough power going down in 3rd but by the time its shiftable to 2nd I've practically stalled her. Any thoughts or tips on what is going on here?? Doesn't seem to be a synchro problem - there are no grinding noises, nothing slips out of gear, and shifting into 2nd is easy and strong.

Q2: Anyone have any tips or tricks in fixing up the rear barn doors on the poverty package land cruiser? They don't latch on strong at all - does anyone have any jerry rig tips before I go out and search scrap yards for some very illusive hinges?

Thanks for the input y'all!

Pic below for reference

 

[Gerry McGerry]

I had exactly this in mine, H150F box, but only happened ~20% of the time. No grinding at all, felt more like the 'gate' for the shift into 2nd was blocked off. Drain the fluid and top it up with Castrol VMX 80w, won't fix it but sure helps. I ended up just fitting a different box when I had the body off, problems solved. If you're in Sydney and get desperate for a new gearbox yell out, I've got the good one sitting in the chassis still I'll sell.

No one likes to slam their cars doors, but 80 barn doors need it sometimes, they can be a pain. For barn door parts you wanna give these guys a call, keep an eye on that dismantling page for any DX 80s becoming available, parts get snapped up pretty quick for the povo packs.

Vehicles in for Dismantling – All Four x 4 Dismantling

 

[DivByZero]

Nice 80. Your rig is pretty close to mine. I've also got a 96 model, 1HZ manual. Mine is a DX model, which is almost the same as the standard, but it has a tacho... and honestly I'm not sure what else is different. Not much I imagine.

So what you're describing sounds pretty common to me. It's honestly typical of Toyota manual gearboxes of the era. The LN106 hilux I learned to drive on was the same even when it/I was young. As mentioned above, there are things you can do around the transmission oil and additives that make it easier. Thread around here somewhere about that. There's also a technique involved. Not sure if I can describe it, just do it from muscle memory, but there's definitely something about the way I gear down into second that makes it work almost every time, while my wife really struggles. I'll try and pay attention when I'm behind the wheel later and see if I can put it into words.

And uhh, @Gerry McGerry, got a transfer case too, or just the gearbox? I'm interested in getting a working spare of both sometime for my garage. I'm a cheap bastard though, so you probably want more than I'll pay.

 

[Gerry McGerry]

And uhh, @Gerry McGerry, got a transfer case too, or just the gearbox? I'm interested in getting a working spare of both sometime for my garage. I'm a cheap bastard though, so you probably want more than I'll pay.

Too right about the muscle memory. In mine it was only moving the shifter left for 2nd as little as possible seemed to glide right in most shifts. The turbo on the 1HZ really helped laboring in 3rd if 2nd wasn't an option.

Yep, got a factory part time HF1A sitting in front of me I won't be using, message an offer if you want.

 

[nickolai]

I have read in several places that the Castrol oil mentioned above is the known 'fix'.

There's also a nulon product called shift eze or something like that, I'm running it in my Corrolla which as done 370,000 km and its changed both the upshift and downshift into 3rd from horrible grinding everytime to occasional and only when cold. Might need 2 tubes for a bigger box. Supercheap and Repco have it on the shelf.