Sourcing transmission parts for LJ78

[Eurasiaoverland]

I have a feeling all the used parts here are exported. Japanese people tend to like new cars.
It's been easier to find a transmission on US ebay than locally in Japan.

Yes, I thought that might be the case, but if BF have a used transmission it will likely be in better condition than whatever you get from eBay in the US.

 

[jemdiggity]

Yes, I thought that might be the case, but if BF have a used transmission it will likely be in better condition than whatever you get from eBay in the US.

You're probably right but they have zero manual Toyota transmission available.

 

[jemdiggity]

Just while I'm waiting for the transmission to get here.... does anyone want to weigh in on what transmission it actually is?
The seller wasn't quite sure what vehicle it came from... the engine looks like my 2L-TE.
The shift lever housing has both levers on the top whereas as my R151F doesn't (pictured below).
Thanks in advance.

 

[Chuck78]

How did this pan out for you? That's probably an R151F (maybe R150F) out of a Hilux, as it's got a centered rear output, not passenger drop both front and rear.

If both gearboxes are from the same generation, then virtually everything in the front main case will be swappable. If they're from different generations, then it gets a bit more tricky. In March of 1994, the helix angle of the input gears changed very slightly. One of the shafts was a different length, 5th gear retention method on one of two gears changed, tail housing internals changed both slightly with the generations, but also with the application - Cruiser splitcase vs HZJ80 cruiser vs 3VZE 3.0L V6 Hilux vs 5VZFE 3.4L V6 Hilux/Tacoma vs R155F Tacoma etc.


The input cluster itself I believe is still available, but the input shafts up to March 1994 are no longer available OEM...
I believe I have seen Chinese versions, and I believe Yota1 sells an aftermarket version from what I gather. It actually says genuine, but then later says "This is a direct replacement for 33301-35050." It says 2 in stock...

The website has some misinformation, however... The 3/94-11/95 short input shaft version 3VZE R150F is not compatible with the earlier versions, they look virtually identical, but the Helix angle on the input gear teeth are slightly different and won't mesh properly, to the best of my knowledge. The 3/94-11/95 (-ish) version also fits 2005-2017 Tacoma R155F, the earlier version does not.

R150 Input Shaft Short Genuine 8/85-3/94 - Yota1 Performance, Inc.

This is a direct replacement for 33301-35050

209yota1.com

Your whole gearbox needs a full inspection and rebuild, however. New bearings most definitely. It was run low on oil.

 

[AirheadNut]

Interesting about the different helix angle, I've got a 1997 5VZ input shaft and counter shaft, 1991 LJ78 main shaft, and R452 5th gears in mine and it all seems to work together just fine. Was it just the input shaft gear and its mating gear (4th) on the counter shaft that changed?

 

[Chuck78]

Interesting about the different helix angle, I've got a 1997 5VZ input shaft and counter shaft, 1991 LJ78 main shaft, and R452 5th gears in mine and it all seems to work together just fine. Was it just the input shaft gear and its mating gear (4th) on the counter shaft that changed?

Yes, from what I understand it was only the Helix angle on the input shaft gear and the mating gear to it, none of the rest of the gears had the helix angle change.
I believe I had read this from Marlin himself on the Marlin Crawler message board? I had read this from two different sources previously. The shafts are the exact same length, but the tail end of the short input shaft / short bellhousing 3VZE R150F input shafts carries the same part number as a 2017 R156F & the 2005 R155F.
I have both shafts here, and I have not attempted to measure the angles, but they looked very very similar, the no longer available early R150 short shaft, and the later R150/155/156 short shaft.
From what I understand, there were a significant amount of revisions starting in March of 1994 to the internals of the transmissions, and that they are closer (internally) to the Tacoma R150F, outside of external configuration, than the earliest R150F versions.
I actually had read earlier today, another post from Marlin himself, stating that in 1992, there were additional revisions to the r series gearboxes. In that post, he also stated the AX-15 most likely had the same revisions at the same time, since it is a direct sibling carrying many of the exact same parts.