Sticky Shift

[tercelwill]

I was out Delivering pizzas the other night when a torrential downpour left a lake in the middle of my path. I was confident my Tercel could handle it so i threw it into 4 wheel drive and sloshed through it. The water was up to my headlights but she made it through with ease. The next morning however i felt some resistance in my 1st and 2nd gears. working the shifter back and forth seems to temporarily bring it back to normal. i'm wondering if it's nothing to worry about or what, i've seen all kids of videos of people taking on way more than that. If anyone has any input it would be very appreciated.

[ARCHINSTL]

Welcome to the Club!
I'd suggest a Search for shifter bushings; one link is http://www.tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtop ... ngs#p28485
Other members have commented on this in other threads and there are pictures as well.
Tom M.

[takza]

If there is a chance that you got water in your gear oil...I'd say change it out...plus a look at the shifter.

If you have the air tube on the intake...it opens right at headlight height...water dams up and you can get a slug of solid h2o into the engine.

[tercelwill]

Thanks for the tips. I drained out the gear oil sure enough there was water in there. I switched out the oil and it got a little better. the shifter still has some resistance on it so i removed the console and the four bolts that hold on the outer boot. I saw the inner boot was torn and there was quite a bit of rust at the base of the shifter. the shifter also has about half inch of vertical play. I'm guessing the bushing is shot. how would i go about replacing it? Thanks again

[ARCHINSTL]

There are a number of threads, with photos, on this subject.
See this for numbers (also a stand-alone thread in the Parts section)... http://www.tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtop ... hilit=boot
Tom M.

[Petros]

you can clean out your trans further by putting in 50/50 mixture of ATF and gear oil (use cheap stuff) and drive it gently for a few days so it gets nice and warm (at fwy speeds, but NO heavy loads). And than drain it warm, and than put in the good stuff.

I suggest 50/50 mixture of synthetic gear oil and quality mineral multi-vis gear oil (100 percent synthetic is too slippery and slows the synchros). This works best and cost less than all synthetic gear oil.

The AFT is a very strong detergent and will clean out all the old sludge and metal flakes from the internal parts. It will improve the shiter and synchro function too.