Manual gearbox problems

[newgirl]

My prado GXL is about 5years old, and has only done 60,000klm, but today it wouldn't go into 1st gear. I have often had problems with reverse, but with persistance it went in, but know I simply cannot move in 1st gear, but have to take off in 2nd gear! (Not good). The mechanic says it is not the selector but an internal problem. Does anyone know if this is a toyota fault? The car hasn't even done 100,000klms and am up for a new gearbox? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

Edited December 5, 2008 by newgirl

[Keisari]

My prado GXL is about 5years old, and has only done 60,000klm, but today it wouldn't go into 1st gear. I have often had problems with reverse, but with persistance it went in, but know I simply cannot move in 1st gear, but have to take off in 2nd gear! (Not good). The mechanic says it is not the selector but an internal problem. Does anyone know if this is a toyota fault? The car hasn't even done 100,000klms and am up for a new gearbox? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

That's very unusual! Have you noticed any odd sounds, smells, gear-crunching, clutch problems or been regularly grinding the gear? Or did it just fail suddenly? Your mechanic is likely correct that it is a problem in the gearbox itself. It it was stick-related, like a snapped arm, you probably wouldn't be able to select any gear at all.

Reverse gear is often a bit weird because it doesn't have a synchro, but it shouldn't take arm-breaking effort to lock it in. Stupid question but is there actually enough oil in the gearbox?

[newgirl]

My prado GXL is about 5years old, and has only done 60,000klm, but today it wouldn't go into 1st gear. I have often had problems with reverse, but with persistance it went in, but know I simply cannot move in 1st gear, but have to take off in 2nd gear! (Not good). The mechanic says it is not the selector but an internal problem. Does anyone know if this is a toyota fault? The car hasn't even done 100,000klms and am up for a new gearbox? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

That's very unusual! Have you noticed any odd sounds, smells, gear-crunching, clutch problems or been regularly grinding the gear? Or did it just fail suddenly? Your mechanic is likely correct that it is a problem in the gearbox itself. It it was stick-related, like a snapped arm, you probably wouldn't be able to select any gear at all.

Reverse gear is often a bit weird because it doesn't have a synchro, but it shouldn't take arm-breaking effort to lock it in. Stupid question but is there actually enough oil in the gearbox?

Thanks for the reply keisari, yes the car is services regularly and the oil is fine. No there hasn't been any odd noises, crunches or smells etc. Just got in this morning, and couldn't put it into 1st gear! At first we thought it was the selector because of the way it went so suddenly, but apparently not! Any help would be soooo appreciated. Can you point me in the right direction?

[Keisari]

Thanks for the reply keisari, yes the car is services regularly and the oil is fine. No there hasn't been any odd noises, crunches or smells etc. Just got in this morning, and couldn't put it into 1st gear! At first we thought it was the selector because of the way it went so suddenly, but apparently not! Any help would be soooo appreciated. Can you point me in the right direction?

No worries newgirl. I've racked my brain but can't think of anything other than speculation for you, I'm sorry! Is it still under warranty? If you hang around a while longer I'm sure someone more knowledgeable about gearboxes will be able to point you somewhere.

[Rolla Boy]

Take the car to a Toyota dealer and go from there...

Being lower kms you might be able to put in for a warranty submission if all your services have been done and the log books have been filled out and stamped...

If not, they'll be able to repair the gearbox but it will be at your cost...

[lateralus]

it could be anything from the clutch to the shift fork or input gear bearings. because of the large number of fragile components in a manual transmission, you'd be best taking it to a reputable transmission shop to diagnose the problem.