Lost trans

[Tercbeater]

My input shaft bearing has been making noise for some time now, it started making real loud high pitch grinding noise then I lost all gears. Any ideas? I know it's not clutch related. Not sure what I'm doing with car now cause finding a trans around here is pretty much impossible.

[dlb]

where are you located, tercbeater?

can you be more detailed? what do you mean you 'lost all gears'? does it shift into all gears but not respond when you engage the clutch, or will the shifter not move into position for each gear, or is the shifter loose and floppy, etc?

[Tercbeater]

It shifts fine into gears but no response. I live in custer county, sd, south of sturgis. I checked the closest pick in pull and they didn't have any of these cars. The car made very loud violent noises and shuddering right before it happend

[xirdneh]

i would guess you lost all the teeth on the input shaft
the only other thing (if you are lucky) is a blown clutch
you will have to pull the tranny to find out
where are you located?

[Tercbeater]

Ya the clutch still feels fine and never gave any indication it was going out. That would make most sense since no gears are working. I'm in western sd

[Petros]

sorry to hear it, sometimes a cv axle fails and makes it feel like the trans is blown. that is an easy fix, just replace the axle (there was a thread on this topic within the last year).

Pull the cv axles first, they have to come out to remove the trans anyway. If they check out than pull the trans and get a look at it out of the car.

There are lots of Tercels in the wrecking yards in Idaho not far from you. Might be able to buy one on-line. Also check the on line listings for wrecking yards. You might even have someone who can rebuild it for you. there are forum members with spare tranny parts.

what kind of shape is the rest of the car? If it is a rusty beater, may only be a parts car, but if good, it is worth fixing or replacing the trans.

[Tercbeater]

I was hoping it was the cv axle but I checked by putting it in 4wd but it still wouldn't move. The car itself is in real good shape, no rust and has all the good options- sunroof, intermittent wipers, etc.. I know I'm gonna get grief for this but I've decided to put the car on a truck 4x4 frame. I can't justify doing a motor swap when the rest of the drivetrain won't hold up to the extra power. I will do swap as clean as possible by cutting tunnel and firewall to allow body to fit flush on the frame. Fuel injection for me is a must and I will be keeping it all toyota. If anyone has any pointers it is greatly appreciated.