Hey Guys,

Sounds like a bunch good advice can be had here!.... Anyway I have a 91 4Runner 3.0, Manual 5 spd 4WD. First gear wont stay engaged....just pops out and makes a heck of a bang....I can hold it in gear on a flat with major pressure on the stick but it isn't easy. All other gears work just fine. Hope one of you fine folks can point me in the right direction? Thanks

Shift lever pilot bushing # 33548-31010 (green)
Shift lever seat # 33505-35020 or 33505-35030 (white)

Note: the 2 above #’s fit all trannies:G,R,W series (22R,R-E,3VZE)84-95.5,no need for entire shift lever retainer (85-95.5 pre-Tacoma)

http://sww.4runners.org/writeups/shift/index.html
http://www.off-road.com/toyota/tech/shifter/index.html
http://www.brian894x4.com/Shifter.html
http://toyota.off-road.com/toyota/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=186539
http://www.marlincrawler.com/docs/shifter_seat/index.html
http://www.marlincrawler.com/htm/transmission/trans_parts.htm
http://www.marlincrawler.com/images/shiftseat_500.jpg
http://www.marlincrawler.com/images/brokenseat_500.jpg

Sidney® ™
Repairs TV's,VCR's,home/car audio out of my apartment
E-mail:sidneybek(at)yahoo.com
Dartmouth,Nova Scotia
Canada
1995 Toyota 4-Runner,22R-E,G52 with 227 000 KM

Your problem may be the bushing and seat, but it could also be a tranny problem. Start with the basics and get the parts from Marlin, they are far superior to the Toyota parts.

yep. try the bushing first.

i came here with the exact same problem (also, can't engage first unless at an almost complete stop) and had that solution presented to me. while it did improve the overall feel of the shift lever, it wasn't what i needed. but it's sound advice,and many others with this symptom have been fixed. if you still have issues, come back for more fault isolation.