Alright I got another one for you guys.. I am forever burdened with the strangest issues with my (new to me) 85 pickup 2wd 4spd

Long story short, I picked up and SR5 gauge cluster and a 5spd transmission (w55) for practically nothing.. literally. They came out of a 85 truck as well with only 140k on them. So one day I swapped in the cluster and got all the gauges working as they should. The next day I swapped the transmission in. And she fired right up with zero issues and everything worked as it should, speedometer and all.

A week later after driving it 60 miles round trip to work and back enjoying my 5th gear on the highway, cruising at 65 I watched the speedometer go from 65 to zero in about 2 seconds and it sat at 0 the rest of the way home.

Again, long story short after cleaning, lubing, and swapping out 2 different speedo cables with no luck I moved onto the cluster. Swapped in my old one, still nothing. So that leaves me with the speedometer sender gear? Or whatever it's called on the trans end of the speedo cable. Pulled that out whilst spilling my new gear oil all over the ground of course... it checked out good. Pulled that same unit out of my old 4 speed swapped it in and still nothing. I can manually turn the gear on the unit while hooked up to cable and speedo works.. so that leaves last but not least, the transmission speedo drive gear.

Now my old 4 speed (w46) and the new 5speed (w55) are virtually identical from the outside. The housings are completely the same. So I tore apart my old 4 speed to figure out what was going on in there as far as the speedo sending unit drive gear.

I will I'll attach some pics of what I found. There is retainer springs on each side of the speedo drive gear that sits on the output shaft. These springs keep this gear from sliding either way and keep it in tune with the output shaft.. Why Toyota didn't make this a fixed position no movement gear is beyond me..
Back to the 5 speed I go, took my handy dandy flashlight and looked up through the hole left from removing sender unit. What I found is the retainer springs are no where to be found and the speedo drive gear can slide front to back or spin freely as it pleases. Thus, being absolutely useless and failing to do it's ONE JOB.

So my question is, will those springs sitting in the bottom of the trans cause any harm? No can't get them out through the drain plug as they sit at the back half of trans and there is a divider which the drain plug is on the opposite side..

 

Well I couldn't stand not having a speedo so I tore off the extension housing and replaced the spring and gear with my spare set. All is good now! I did this with the transmission still in the truck.. Wasn't as bad as I imagined and only took about 2.5 hours.

 

Good job ...Thanks for posting!

 

I don’t suppose anyone knows what the part numbers are for said drive gear or can maybe give me a walk through on how to replace it. I’m kinda in the same boat and this girl is starting to get pissed

 

Whats your issue? Are you sure it’s the drive gear?

 

Yes I replaced the speedometer and the cable both and I still have nothing so that leaves the little gear on the other end of the cable. I need to know how I can either replace or fix the current one. None of the parts stores around me can even get the gear. I’m at a loss as to how I can fix this. It’s really getting irritating

 

My other option is going to an electronic speedometer but that’s a can of worms I’m not exactly ready to open. Also as part of another sidebar conversation. Where is the ignition coil and how do I splice a wire from that to the P screw on my tachometer I want to get that working

 

Carefully inspect your cable vs the cluster, from what I recall there are two sizes and one of them uses a little plastic adapter to size the cable correctly for the cluster.

 

Yeah I already did that the new cluster and the cable fit like a hand in glove

 

I ran without a speedo for approx 8 years on my 85 RWD. Finally got around to fixing it. In my case I replaced the nylon driven gear that goes into the manual gearbox, to which the cable attaches. I bought the part from the local Toyota dealer in 2018. They ordered it, and it arrived next day. I would suspect the nylon driven gear has worn as the drive gear, in the gearbox is steel, so should be harder. On the other hand, if the spring clip that holds the drive gear to the transmission shaft has come loose then it's time to follow Shagool22's solution and remove the rear housing and replace the spring clips.

 

Thanks for the tip. So I should be able to go to my Toyota dealership and still get parts for my truck?

 

Yes there are still selective parts available. Take the VIN with you when you go to the dealer. This week I bought the rear axle bearing, inner and outer seals the bearing retainer and the axle hub "O" ring, all off the self at the dealer. Of course this just means the parts have continued to be used much later than 1985. Also try: https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/ I have had good luck there too, for fan switches and defroster fan resistors and others. Failing that Rockauto and look for the OEM branded parts such as Aisin, who were, and are, a supplier to Toyota.