Rav4 1997 - Manual transmission 5th gear problem!

[mstudli]

Hello all, I have a problem with a 1997 toyota rav4, 110000km's the 5th gear keeps jumping out when accelerating and decelerating, it has become so bad now that as soon as a little bit of clutch is released in the 5th gear it jumps right back into neutral. What does this mean, I figure motor mounts but could it be the gears themselves? The transmission has always had a bit of stickyness (especially when its warm out) in the first gear and a bit of loose in the 5th. Any ideas???

[djmcatee]

I have been dealing with manual transmission problem on my RAV4. A year ago (80,000 mi) it was popping out of 4th gear. Toyota dealer rebuilt 4th and 5th gears then. Now 1.6 years later (12,000 miles later) the 5th gear is popping out worse than ever. I can't seem to find used ones in the parts yard as they sell them as fast as they get them.
I have owned many toyotas and have never had a problem like this. Has anyone else had this problem or do I just have a lemon of a tranny?

[vindego]

I have the same problem with my 1999 rav. at about 175000 km 5th gear started popping out when I would push on the gas pedal.

I decided to open up the transmission and this is what I found:

-The ring gear the engages 5th was wearing at an angle (the splines inside) wich is causing it to disengaged or pull out when any amount of torque is applied. I also saw that the u shape fork (or plate) that slips over the ring gear (it's what the shift linkage controlls to engage the gears) was wearing to the point that the ring gear had room to move around in it wich I suspect is the reason why the ring gear has worn so excesively. The problem apears tobe that the fork(or plate) is made out of aluminum where as the gears are made from steel. the aluminum is to soft to act as a bushing thus causing the steel to wear it down and create more problems....... like 5th gear wearing out and poping out when the gas is applied.

I am hoping to have a new fork made from brass instead of aluminum machined for me at the local machine shop here.

I can see how if toyota rebiult a transmission and just re-used the old fork (or plate) it would cause it wear out quickly.

I am no mechanic so I don't know the proper names for these things, I just know enough to fix them myself. therefor my above explanation is as what makes sense to me as I saw it, there may be something else that is the root cause of these problems that I am not aware of.

Vince

My best guess is that it has something to do with the gears. The easier way to deal with it is to ask your dealer about this problem. I'm also driving a RAV4, but I didn't encounter any similar problem.

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[Drew]

Mt 1998 RAV4 is in the shop right now. It started back in February with popping out of 5th. Then it wouldn't stay in 4th. So, I took it into Mr Transmission to have a look. The previous owner told me he had it fixed about 50,000 km ago. The transmission guy basically told me that the whole thing is going to need to be rebuilt. Sounds like the bill is going to be around $3000. Those Japanese cars may be dependable, but I don't ever remember having a repair bill like that for my American vehicles. Kind of a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation as its not driveable as it is and not worth a whole bunch even when its fixed. Hopefully it stays fixed this time.

[yncy515]

i had that problem too with my honda civic last year. and i had to replace its transmission.