2003 Camry Auto Shift Cable Problem

[PaulW]

Yesterday, after starting my Camry, I could not engage Drive. The shift lever moved loosely from one end of the quadrant to the other without engaging any gear.
I called RACQ Roadside Service and the technician removed all the centre console trims to expose the end of the shift cable.
Apparently a plastic clip that retains the eye of the shift cable onto the shift lever had perished and fallen off.
He made a temporary repair with a couple of cable ties and I was on my way again.

My question is this, can you buy these plastic clips as a replacement part from Toyota or an after market source?

Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Regards

Paul

[Tony Prodigy]

Pretty sure you can buy most bits for a Camry from Toyota. You should enquire about that specific part and ask them if they have an upgraded item. Plastic seems a little silly to me. You'd think something like that would be metal to hold the tension it requires.

[PaulW]

Hi Tony

I went to my local Toyota dealer yesterday and they tried to sell me a complete transmission shift cable for $190 as the plastic bush is not available as a separate part.
When I baulked at the price they suggested I try Repco for an aftermarket part.
Repco have Dorman transmission bushing kits but not specifically for the Camry. They suggested I buy the Dorman 14055 kit, which is intended for GM cars, as this seems to fit a lot of other cars as well. I parted with $50 for a kit which consists of 2 small plastic bushes but haven't had the chance to try it out yet.

Regards

Paul

[Tony Prodigy]

5 minutes ago, PaulW said:

I went to my local Toyota dealer yesterday and they tried to sell me a complete transmission shift cable for $190 as the plastic bush is not available as a separate part.

That's rough. Just thinking now, you could've probably hit up a few wreckers and get yourself a decent replacement for real cheap. I imagine they would throw stuff like that away even so getting one cheap could be a real possibility.

Hopefully that GM part fits ok too. Can you provide some pics of the situation so we can see the set up ?

[PaulW]

After some more prodding, the spare parts man at my local Toyota dealer referred me to a local mechanic who had apparently bought up the last of these bushes when Toyota listed them as a spare part. A quick trip to his garage and $50 later I became the owner of the last Camry auto trans cable bush in captivity. See attached photos of the old and new bush.

  

Someone with a 3D printer could have a sideline business printing these bushes.

The GM bushes, which looked a bit larger than the genuine item, have gone back to Repco for a refund.
Tomorrow's job will be to fit the new bush.

Regards

Paul

[campbeam]

If you have a micrometer, it might be a good idea to record the dimensions.

A bit too late but I located this eBay listing. 

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/353365308113?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item524636b2d1:g:D80AAOSwTJZcaLMt&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACkPYe5NmHp%2B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSd0ReTLyM7cxPnI6zs468EPclPvl9cVPNWrTlCOtly6PK9%2Fj1796Zllz1TfjzXSC7O8YoWbLR%2Bkr5zzoNl7ksPvSQwBlPN73v9xJXPRzp1Zh8K853nWocLHNpLQ%2Fdzti%2FAtxQ9tRKrf8P1qLhFkOmqfY76FioeKmItTeBeIBmDCuxDhR%2F4SY2VRx1kBpyS%2BE1y6ulNqVySk%2Fun4Up5mFq3z6qGTCOgG7IHX0Irdg3vX3RkiBtbdi9R3kQJmMMLQTYlEv3TutFQR355qTBdVtYEeFUavX%2BmzkhGgC3ckONQMaVNlYGIQoKOmYb5lzs3HHKS4OIparmlWi3cxONvQFcA94uckUPuyhs3HIwfP3Nlehb6d%2BgxKD2GJ18Ty0mmWaP2zmX8tst5jpC77BInPdxzKxhz8SyzN2LdR3c8pykX3K25h8FuM1OjoZ2vsHBo%2BFF8Lbop3xVKLgdcOnWiX2OOcvtn8htsO8uXLuP5AN9Y%2BcUkSncyNWF9V%2Fj9i1wGk5YXO4cUm8hwCGjB1vCFYXqmaX4qqhRY8qfBgSL2R9FGhC5y%2F9aXSQ6fXXdF2%2Bh1dvxNbrc7YDZ9f6VegbDYXoZvRJlWo8T39SlPy7ihppBJfMwuSlbiE%2BPTArUrNpkomklf7DiyDFKm%2BJByOBy84QPXH1wdM84XLJiPCHmFRUgW4MgKGz4VVagWAbiQqj0SSF9G%2Bv%2B%2FNCDAa1LCUJAVplUsdLF71%2BzvetWyXqdYuUlKc1qzqT%2FfWn%2BFGJfep%2Bw9yfWxYhJntfePfEVXLN5C9FXBLCxq6mhArtvzzywPU1XB%2BjAroctV7OYlMO4Avff8maa|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2334524

As mentioned, some silicone spray will help with the insertion of the new bush.

[Tony Prodigy]

9 hours ago, PaulW said:

After some more prodding, the spare parts man at my local Toyota dealer referred me to a local mechanic who had apparently bought up the last of these bushes when Toyota listed them as a spare part. A quick trip to his garage and $50 later I became the owner of the last Camry auto trans cable bush in captivity. See attached photos of the old and new bush.

Wow ! What a stroke of luck ! Good for you mate.

The new bush looks like an updated item as I suspected. The original black plastic must have been made of an ordinary plastic and I reckon Toyota's Kaizen doctrine is at work here with the new and improved  "blue" bushing. 

I reckon it could be 3D printed if using a high quality plastic. 

Thanks for the pics.

[PaulW]

Thanks for the link Ashley, I missed that one during my online search, only found USA based sellers.

My micrometer goes from 1" to 2" so its a bit too big for this small bush but I will use my vernier calipers to record the critical dimensions.

Regards

Paul

[campbeam]

5 hours ago, PaulW said:

Thanks for the link Ashley, I missed that one during my online search, only found USA based sellers.

My micrometer goes from 1" to 2" so its a bit too big for this small bush but I will use my vernier calipers to record the critical dimensions.

Regards

Paul

My previous online searches had not located that link. After seeing your photos, I was sure that I had seen an equivalent one in an eBay listing so went looking again. Most likely used slightly different search terms.

Yes, vernier calipers will be the right measuring tool.

[PaulW]

Finally got around to fitting the new bush into the shift cable linkage under the centre console. See photos below.

The most difficult part was inserting the bush into the linkage eye at the end of the cable. 
I applied white zinc oxide grease to both the bush and the eye then used a small G-clamp to push the bush in.

      

         Temporary Fix                                                 Shift Cable Eye                                       Bush Installed                                             Cable Re-attached

At the end of the job I gathered all the plastic bits that had somehow fallen off when the RACQ patrolman was getting me mobile again with his temporary fix (a couple of zip ties). See photo below. He did say that plastic get a bit brittle after a number of years. Most of the bits are redundant as the various components have several fixing points but I will have to glue the curved corner of my gear selector quadrant back in, if only for aesthetic purposes.

Regards

Paul

Edited September 2, 2021 by PaulW

[Tony Prodigy]

Nice work. The g-clamp idea was clever for pressing the bushing in. It needs to be a tight fit otherwise it will have slop in the mechanism.

The best material would be nylon rather than plastic. I think they just got it wrong in the beginning and underestimated it's longevity.

Thanks for the pics too. It's always nice to see the work of others.