Need Help - Jammed Shifter - 1979 FJ40 (1 Viewer)

[Sacirema]

The transmission shifter stick on my 1979 FJ40 keeps getting jammed in neutral. It won’t move around. I recently purchased the vehicle and the stick seemed fine. I park it on a slope and have been working on it. The stick was fine, I drove it forward a bit, then rolled back a bit and it got stuck. Won’t budge out of neutral, even with car off. Rocking didn’t work, so I had to pull the stick to get it working again. There’s plenty of fluid in the transmission. It looked like the stick just fell out of its groove, so I put it back and it seemed fine. Then, when I tried driving forward, rolling back again, it got jammed.

I haven’t driven it around much because it needs brake work, but I want to get this solved before I take it out. I’ve read the threads on getting stuck in gear, but nothing about the stick getting jammed. The end of the stick looked fine when I inspected it.

Any ideas on where I should start investigating or what might be going on?

Edit to address questions:

- All stock OEM driveline
- Clutch seems to work fine
- I’ve tried it with transfer case in neutral and H2, no luck

 

[Shark56]

What drive train do you have? Stock all OEM?
I'm guessing you are talking about the transmission shift stick. Is the clutch disengaging when pushed in?
Have you tried putting the transfer case in neutral and trying to move the shifter.

 

[Sacirema]

What drive train do you have? Stock all OEM?
I'm guessing you are talking about the transmission shift stick. Is the clutch disengaging when pushed in?
Have you tried putting the transfer case in neutral and trying to move the shifter.

Yes, it’s the transmission and it’s all OEM stock. I tried with the transfer case in neutral and H2 with no luck.

I updated my post with this info.

 

[peesalot]

Sounds to me like the output bearing has failed letting the main shaft slide back toward tcase. OR the shift lever pins are worn out.

 

[Godwin]

Try the cheap and easy fix first and replace the shift lever bushing

 

[Sacirema]

Try the cheap and easy fix first and replace the shift lever bushing

View attachment 3724723

Well, that might be the issue. I didn’t see any bushing on there.

 

[Godwin]

Well, that might be the issue. I didn’t see any bushing on there.

It may be there but old, discolored, and oil covered. Worth replacing just to rule it out as the problem, and if it fixes the shifting then great.

 

[Sacirema]

It may be there but old, discolored, and oil covered. Worth replacing just to rule it out as the problem, and if it fixes the shifting then great.

I was looking at the SOR diagram and don’t see a bushing on the 79 4-speed shift tower. Is it supposed to go on the bottom of the shift lever?

 

[Godwin]

I was looking at the SOR diagram and don’t see a bushing on the 79 4-speed shift tower. Is it supposed to go on the bottom of the shift lever?

It fits down in the shift tower, but yours is an older H42 and based on the SOR diagrams your transmission would not have the bushing.

 

[John McVicker]

Georg @ Valley Hybrid carries this part.

 

[Sacirema]

Georg @ Valley Hybrid carries this part.

Looks like this part doesn’t go on a stock ‘79 4-speed.

 

[Malleus]

I don't see it either:

 

[peesalot]

How do the side pins & cap look ?

 

[Sacirema]

How do the side pins & cap look ?

Pins look good. Here are photos from when I opened it up. As before, I move the central gear and then it works fine.

 

[pb4ugo]

I think you need to line to the slots in the hole. You're probably in a gear. I've never run across the rubber thing in any shift tower . That doesn't mean its not been used b4.

 

[Sacirema]

I think you need to line to the slots in the hole. You're probably in a gear. I've never run across the rubber thing in any shift tower . That doesn't mean its not been used b4.

Agreed, when I line them up it fixes the issue. What I can't figure out is why it's jamming. I think the stick slips into the reverse gear slot and that middle gear is blocking it's return despite not being entirely in gear (as it is out of alignment), so it can't get into reverse and it can't get back to neutral - it's just jammed there.

 

[pb4ugo]

Can you move the center gate to line them up or is it stuck? There's not much you can do without pulling the cover. I guess you could check the nut under the cone on the back of the tcase. I've had that loosen up, but it never effected shifting. It had driveline slop going back and forth.

 

[Sacirema]

Can you move the center gate to line them up or is it stuck? There's not much you can do without pulling the cover. I guess you could check the nut under the cone on the back of the tcase. I've had that loosen up, but it never effected shifting. It had driveline slop going back and forth.

Yeah, I can line them up without issue and that frees the stick up.

 

[Paul_A]

What does the nose of the shift lever look like? If it's worn too narrow it might not be able to reach side to side to move the rails. Otherwise, how about the detents? Might need to pop the top.

 

[Toyoland66]

Pretty sure that shifter seat bushing is only used in 60 series with the aluminum top plate.