Shift lever is stiff and difficult to move at times?

2007 4.0 with Auto Trans.
I have notice the past couple of weeks that at times the shift lever is stiff
when trying to move to any gear.
You can move through all the gears and some times it is fine and other times it is stiff.
But almost always 2 and L are stiff.

I don't think it is the shift cable. And I am pretty sure it is not electrical.
It is almost like something is binding up. Once you "pop" past the stiff spots
it snaps in to gear smooth. Just like normal.

Any ideas? I'd look at it better but it's 25 degrees here wind is blowing.
It is not all that bad, but I would hate to get it stuck in a gear.

 

Have you checked the shift guide trim piece. Its located under the shift bezel, its a vinyl like piece that is located under the bezel. Its possible that it has bind up.

 

This ^^^^^

 

I'm 300% sure that your Park/Neutral switch is f---ed.....


This happened to me occasionly for 2 years before it threw a code that the dumb ass dealer could finally figure it out.... Expensive fix... around $400 cdn, I think...


Good luck Mine is an '06...... I know that's your issue...


Over

 

Shifter stuck in park http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd...-failed-2.html

STICKY SHIFTER / SHIFTER IS HARD TO MOVE
Most of us would disconnect the shifter cable from the transmission lever and then verify the cable is free by hopping in the truck and moving the shifter from park to low . We should feel nothing because the shifter cable is no longer connected to the transmission . If the shifter is still tight to move , we know that the issue resides in the cable or the plastic shifter cover . A quick lube job is going to fix that up .

Next , with the shifter cable removed from the transmission lever , try and manually move that transmission lever by hand . You should feel click , click , click and it should be fairly easy to move with your hands . If you cant move it by hand , remove the PRNDL switch shown on page 16 at this link , it shows the switch in question . Spray the heck out of it . Some guys actually have to replace the PRNDL switch becuase of corrosion .The PRNDL switch gets very tight when it corrodes http://www.toyotatundraforum.com/pdf/A750E.pdf

When the switch is removed , you can spray the seal on the transmission that sits behind the switch to see if there are additional problems with the lever shaft since the lever shaft is also known to corrode .
, then take a small screwdriver and pry the lever seal away from the shifter selector shaft enough to blast some lubricant between the seal until you get the lever to move by hand .Might have to work it back and forth a little but its going to free up . You should have the wheels blocked when you do this .Both of these issues are very common

Next , place the transmission gear shifter in park and " REMOVE THE KEY "
Throw the key on the drivers seat until your done .
Go to rear of truck and manually push it by hand to verify the truck is actually in park . Go back under the truck and check to see if the shifter cable lines up perfectly with the hole in the transmission lever . If it doesnt line up , adjust the shifter cable until it fits perfectly into the transmission lever . The adjustment is under the shift counsole .
Once the cable is aligned with the transmission shift lever , verify the truck will only start in park and nuetral .

P0705
This covers any normal shifter cable and alignment issues and all diagnostics start on page 53 of this pdf http://fjcruiser-club.com/docs/RM/A7...0Transaxle.pdf

Then read here http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd...yesterday.html
.

Now you know the shifter is free with the truck in the off position .
Now , start the truck and verify you can smoothly shift through all the gears . Has the shifter freed up or is it still really tight ?

If its still tight with the engine running , remove all ground straps and clean them spotless . Add additional ground straps if you please .
I have seen vehicles catch on fire for this very reason .
When the ground wires on circuits get old and corroded , they no longer function properly and loose contact with ground . Guess what your shifter cable just became ? The ground wire from your transmission to the vehicle body .
I have replaced many melted shifter cables . The shifter cable becomes the vehicles ground and the plastic outer shield will actually melt to the inner cable . This is more noticeable on todays vehichles with all the fancy control motors and electronics as they draw much more amperage in comparison to older cars and trucks . With the non metal box on our trucks all we have is the frame and truck cab to rely on for our grounding needs .
A little sand paper used to clean those ground straps usually fixes the problem but you can always add a couple more straps to be safe . Some guys are too late and the cable is fried . Some guys replace the cable without replacing or cleaning the grounds only to have the same issue again .
Let me know if this helped

 

No, I haven't checked this.
But it will be my first thing I check.
It feels just like something sliding over something.

Now, I just have figure out how to remove the console.

 

No, I haven't spilled anything that I know of in it.
And if I did, I would expect it to be stiff all the time.

But I will know for sure once I remove the shift console.

 

Thanks for the info gearcruncher.

I honestly believe the issue in the shift console.
It is hard to explain the problem. It's like the shifter is posing over something.

But you info will helink if I can't find anything there.
That pretty much cover everything.

 

Maybe, but my truck starts in P and N.

Did yours get stuck in gear or was it just harder to select a gear?
Mine takes more force to physically move the shifter.
Feels like the shifter is rubbing against something in the console.
Once it gets past what ever it is it is rubbing it moves fine.
almost like I need a little extra room for the shifter to move around it.

 

Follow the instructions I wrote and you will save all kinds of time .go under the truck añd disçonnect the cable from the transmission.is the shifter still tight with the cable removed? It's only 1 bolt to Remove

 

My shift lever was very hard to move...stiff like crazy....I could force it to go into all the positions; however, the dash light would not show that it was in 1st or 2nd gear (others worked).... Another thing...when it was acting up like this, I could NOT set the cruise control.....Try that next time it acts up and you get on the Hwy.....


Hope you find the issue..


Over

 

I have watched this subject of the sticky shifter on this forum for a year, and have finally had the problem successfully fixed after bringing it in for repair several times. I hope this information will help someone else.

I have a 2005 Tacoma 4x4, and intermittently the shifting would be difficult, but never when it was at the garage, of course. Finally, the "D" would not light up when the truck was first put in gear for the day, especially after sitting in sub-freezing weather for 8+ hours. It sounded like it had shifted into drive and it would move forward, but was slipping as if partly in neutral. If I ran through the gears a few times, the "D" would light up and then the shifting was fine.

Today, the dealer (no other garages would touch the problem) investigated and found lots of debris and corrosion built up "between the safety shift". They cleaned this area after "removing the lock nut", and also adjusted the shifter cable.

It shifts like new! I'm lucky; they told me "all the parts look good", and it cost me less than $200.

 

I have an 06 Taco and I’ve had this shifter issue intermittently. The check engine light came on the other day so I used my code reader and a p code appeared. I cleaned some of the connectors on the trans and sprayed the shift linkage but that didn’t help much. Where exactly is the safety shift?
Much appreciated!

 

currently having same issue

 

I had the same issue on my 2005; it was debris and dirt that had collected up underneath the truck into an area around the shift selector. $180 for dealer to clean it all out; now it works like new. It was worse in freezing weather probably because the debris was wet and iced up.

 

If i remember correctly, the manual says that if you experience a sticky shift for more than 4 hours, see a doctor immediately....

 

I removed the console cover over the shifter, cleaned and sprayed some lubricant. Then I crawled underneath and sprayed some PB Blaster on the shifter to bracket connection and the piece that comes out of the trans.

 

I did this and it worked but used a screwdriver as leverage to move the lever until I could move it by hand...
Seems like it’s stiff from inside the tranny... maybe an fluid change would be good

 

Pretty sure this exact thing is happening to my third gen. Except it’s thrown me a trac control and engine light. Still drives fine but the shift lever scares me a little, I wonder how many of these components are the same

 

you have a 6 speed auto and the 2nd gen is 5 speed automatic . this means one more detent on the range sensor .
With this being said , you have different parts but suffer from the same range sensor issues that plague the 2nd gen trucks