I'm almost finished with a 5sp swap (R150F w/ VF1A) on a 1990 4runner 4x4 but the 5sp seems to be stuck in reverse. It shifted into the various gears fine when it was on the workbench, but now that its in the truck I can't get it to shift out of gear. It feels like its in neutral (will go to the right, not left forward or back).

Things that are new:
Master cylinder (Aisin)
Slave cylinder (Aisin)
clutch softline (Napa)
Clutch, pilot bearing, throw out bearing, pressure plate (marlin)
Flywheel (Napa)
Shifter seat, both pieces (marlin)

Have already bleed the clutch line and adjusted the pedal height and freeplay. Clutch pedal bracket is not broken.

T-case shifts just fine and have tried in H2-H4-L4. Clutch engages and disengages driveline as expected.

We have tried shifting with the starter turning it over (all 4 wheels are off the ground) with the clutch in and out. My starting system is rewired to allow this to happen. This is how I found out its in reverse.

Also tried removing reverse light switch and using a screw driver to pry on the reverse shift fork inside the case (removed the rear driveshaft for this step).

When I changed the gear oil in the case the old fluid looked good.

Anyone have any good ideas?

 

i had a similar issue when i rebuilt mine. although mine was hard to shift when out of the vehicle without putting pressure on my imput shaft. Im not sure about your swap is it a auto to manual or manual to manual. could it be that the imput shafts are different length? if so it could easily hit other gears making it impossible to shift because the shaft should basicaly be pressed against the pilot bearing.

 

The swap is auto to 5sp, I wouldn't ever go the other way.

We finally got it freed up by using a screw driver in the reverse light switch hole to move the reverse shift lever towards the back of the truck. For anyone who tries this in the future, when you look in the hole you will see what looks like a lugnut (has a chamfered edge thats meant to ride up onto the reverse light switch). Apply pressure with a screw driver to move this towards the rear of the truck. We never heard a big clunking sound, just a small noise and a "i think something moved" perception and it was in neutral.

 

"I think something moved".....

Sounds like a line from a good horror film...