120 Prado shift lever repair kit

[Guest Close Guest]

Kits are now back in stock. Just picked up the pins this morning. See first post for how to get a set.

[Ansible Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Ansible]

Hi Andrew, I was wondering if you still had/have any of these mods for sale?
I've recently purchased a 2005 5-speed auto and this has just befallen me as well.

My initial problem was that someone was a little rough with the shifter in the first place, and had actually broken off a few of the plastic gates along the track in the top part of the lid, however while I was shifting back to 1st gear a few weeks later I also heard the dreaded rattle, and the stick went loose.

Much anxiety, $175, and lots of shaving later, I still have the problem that the stick does not move very smoothly.
Toyota is of course still charging $1k+ for the whole unit, so an alternative is required.

So ultimately, my question, are these still available if all else fails?

Thanks,
A

[Guest Close Guest]

Hi Andrew, I was wondering if you still had/have any of these mods for sale?
I've recently purchased a 2005 5-speed auto and this has just befallen me as well.

My initial problem was that someone was a little rough with the shifter in the first place, and had actually broken off a few of the plastic gates along the track in the top part of the lid, however while I was shifting back to 1st gear a few weeks later I also heard the dreaded rattle, and the stick went loose.

Much anxiety, $175, and lots of shaving later, I still have the problem that the stick does not move very smoothly.
Toyota is of course still charging $1k+ for the whole unit, so an alternative is required.

So ultimately, my question, are these still available if all else fails?

Thanks,
A

Ansible,

Yes the kits are available. But....

Can you explain what was done that costs $175 and what do you mean by shaving?

What does the track look like now? Do you have any photos? You can send them to the email address in the first post of this thread if you wish. Some further diagnosis is required, but this kit will smooth out the gear shifting.

[Ansible Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Ansible]

Ansible,

Yes the kits are available. But....

Can you explain what was done that costs $175 and what do you mean by shaving?

What does the track look like now? Do you have any photos? You can send them to the email address in the first post of this thread if you wish. Some further diagnosis is required, but this kit will smooth out the gear shifting.

Hey there,
sorry for the vague post, it all made sense to me.
I'm sorry but I don't have any pics with me just yet, but I'll post them soon.

The $175 was my own fault for not doing any research whatsoever into the issue. I called a wrecker who had the part and I was so excited at the prospect of saving $850 I just bought it... except it was the wrong part. I needed a 5-sp but they sold me a 4-sp.
Couldn't be bothered going back.

Looked at the mechanisms a lot, A LOT!! played around with how the whole thing moved, what the spring loading item was etc until I had it all worked out.
Problem was making the 4-sp into a 5-sp. Easy enough to cut the channel, but I also needed the guide mechanism on the underside... so I took to it with a Stanley knife to smooth it out and take a lot of the strain off the detent rod. I had come to the same conclusion as someone else, that the spring was way too strong for the mechanism.

Anyway, after I'd shaved off a fair amount of the plastic ridges underneath, I put the whole thing back together... only to find that it wasn't enough. Shaved some more. Not enough. Rinse-repeat.
Basically, what the problem was that the detent rod shaft was weakening with every attempt, and was going to crack again. So I decided to leave it the hell alone.

Ultimately, I've butchered the 4-sp replacement I'd bought, drilled holes in it (nice ones) and shaved bits off it, so I can't take it back. My original 5-sp was rooted to begin with anyway because a previous owner had been way too heavy handed with it, and had broken off a lot of the gates.

I'm thinking that your new and improved detent rod will make the issue MUCH better, but I'm not happy with just that.
I've contacted the guys in NSW (details located in an earlier post in this thread) who can order them in, cheaper than Toyota original, postage cheap as chips.
I'll buy the replacement rod as well to avoid the issue popping up in the future.

[Guest Close Guest]

Ok that makes sense now.

The repair kit plus new lid would be the way to go.

[Ansible Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Ansible]

Ok that makes sense now.

The repair kit plus new lid would be the way to go.

Problem is you can't get just the lid... typical.

Here are my photos...


This one is what my original 5-sp lid looked like, and why I needed a new one. Red: obvious. Orange: this is after I cut out a piece that was keeping from shifting from D -> 4.


As above


This is my original lid after I "fixed" it with the stanley knife.


Graphical representation of same. Orange arrows are where I made my "modifications", apparently to no avail.


Obviously broken detent rod shaft, explains why it fell out in the first place.
This is the original one... the one in my "new" 4-sp box isn't as bad, but is likely to go soon too.

I'm thinking about using my old 5-sp lid with the new 4-sp box, perfectly compatible.
At the moment I'm having a lot of trouble shifting from 4 back into D, and I'm afraid if I'm too rough that shaft will break as well.
I'll keep you updated.

Also, does anyone know what that nice white grease paste is that comes plastered on the factory stuff? It's the lubricant for the rod, but I can't seem to find an appropriate replacement for it.

Thanks again.

[Guest Close Guest]

Thanks for the photos. I see your troubles. So you have a new box on order already? My bro-in-law has a box but i'm not sure if it is a 4 or 5 speed.

That white grease I think is white lithium grease.

[Ansible Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Ansible]

Unfortunately no new box yet. I need to wait for next pay.
But because I'm tired of paying for pre-broken things, I think I'm just going to bite the bullet (get it?) and buy the new one for $600, add the special detent rod and I think I'll be cheering.

[Guest Close Guest]

I think the new rod will help your situation a bit now, before the top of the plastic tube cracks further and the rod falls out completely.

I'm waiting to hear back from my bro-in-law to see if he has the 4 or 5 speed box. I don't believe that it is a damaged box as he got it to replace his before I started producing the repair kit. He now has my kit in it instead of replacing the box.

[Ansible Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Ansible]

I think the new rod will help your situation a bit now, before the top of the plastic tube cracks further and the rod falls out completely.

Too late.
I decided the other day that I wanted the 5-sp lid in my car instead of the 4-sp, so I went about replacing just the lid. As easy enough process now that I've pulled the whole lot apart about 10 times.
Anyway, so I try to switch from P to R (depressing the shift lock)

So now I've just decided to go without the detent rod at all.

[Guest Close Guest]

The rod is the cause of the problem. Eventually you will need a new rod.

[Ansible Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Ansible]

I totally forgot to finish that post... I was going to go read another thread and ask a couple more questions.
I remember reading another post somewhere where John said he used some stainless steel safety-tie wire as an added precaution, and I was going to ask about it.
The other question was how I would go about ordering a new rod and spring from you Andrew, but I think I found the answer (email? PM?)

One other note... the quick clips (star clips) that you're using, are you having those made, or are you just buying them from a store? I only ask because I have found a store near me that sells them, for something like $4-5 for a pack of 10 of them. Can post pic later if required.

[Guest Close Guest]

The safety wire used by John was to wrap around the top of the plastic tube where yours has split open to strengthen it.

The push on star washer is included in the repair kit, so there is nothing further to purchase

[Homer04 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Homer04]

Another victim,
First time since I bought my 05 Prado that I went into low range for some climbing over bumpy stuff. Selector was tight and had to pull hard to get into 2nd. Didn't feel good and selector loose and not locking in 4 or L now.

Thank goodness for this repair kit. I was not looking forward to the $1k replacement part. Not being able to lock into 4 whilst I'm towing my boat is not fun at all.

[foxclan Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close foxclan]

Email order sent Andrew
Difficulty selecting L in the transmission shift gate, hoping the upgrade will solve this issue.
Cheers
Troy