speedometer repair for my '86 truck

[richiered]

hello everyone,

i have 2 1986 toyota pickups....one was my work truck till it was sandwiched in a pile up, now its my parts truck. the one i use now was sitting for a year or so before i brought it back to life.

after smogging and other cosmetic things were done, i noticed that the speedo was acting up. at first i felt that it was giving me the wrong mph (it never seemed to go past 60, when i knew i was doing at least 80) then one morning it didnt move at all for the first 10 miles, then just started working again. this happened a few times till the other day it stopped working all together.

since i got the second truck i have been working on it alot and have become quite good at fixing stuff. the first thing i tried was swaping cables....didn't work. then i checked the console in the dash to see if it was the problem....it wasnt. the last thing i checked was piece that is part of the transmission that the cable goes into....it was spinning freely...i think that is my problem. i finally figured out how to get the piece out and spilled what i think is tranny oil on myself in the process.

my questions are:
1. is that gear/shaft piece the same for 4speed and 5speed trannys?
2. what fluid was that i spilled and how do i replace it?
3. do i need to pull the tranny to do this repair?
4. is there a special process to getting the gear back in without ruining it?

thanks for any help out there!
i get paid per mile at my job, and i need to do this soon.
richie

[richiered]

ok, i glanced at a not-so-informative repair manual....i can do the oil replacement part. i just need to know if that gear piece i took from the 4speed is the same for a 5-speed.

a little off topic maybe....i spoke to another 86 toy p/u owner and he said that the 4speed tranny was better and faster than a 5speed. is this true? why? i felt my 4speed had more pep on the freeway but the 5speed is better in the hills.....am i fixing the wrong tranny?

thanx for any input and help,
richie

[rayman]

I can't help you on your questions, but will be very interested in any answers you might get. I recently bought a 1988 Toyota 4x4 pickup and will need to start working on it. To start, the front parking brake cable is broke and needs to be replaced. Any experience with this? Past the actual routing of the cable, it doesn't look bad.

[richiered]

sorry rayman,
i havent ventured into that part of the truck yet. my old truck just got a whole brake job just before the accident($600) so i will be taking the the stuff off it eventually. btw, my trucks are both 2wd so i'm not sure if 4wd brakes are the same. good luck!

richie

[richiered]

oh what a headache....toyota!

so after going to the dealership and getting what SHOULD be the right part and changing the gear oil the speedo still does not work! the job took like 30 minutes total to do and it was quite simple. the answers to my own questions are

1. no, there are like 7 different gear sizes for all makes and years. there was a stripped 34 tooth gear in my tranny and the dealership told me it should be a 32 tooth after checking my vin#.
2. i spilled gear oil, not tranny fluid.....i think it was almost 3qts
3. i did not have to pull the tranny, there is a 12mm bolt that holds a clip into a slot in the gear cuppling. once the bolt is removed, i slipped an angled wedge into the slot and it pops out. a little clip holds the gear in place.
4. the teeth are angled so that the gear should slide in......when i put the new part in the gear still spun freely (i had a feeling the speed was still not gonna work ) but i went ahead and filled the tranny with gear oil anyway.

so.....i went to the dealership again to see what my other gear choices were. a 33 tooth and a 34 tooth. these are both for 1 ton models, mine is a 1/2 ton. i also called the previous owner and he didnt have any idea if the tranny was ever swapped

my new question....is there any special indications on the tranny that would give me info on which is really the right part? i already spent $30 on a non-returnable part and want to avoid making the same mistake.

i know my truck may be old, but some help/advice/info would be great.

richie