Why does your 1991 Toyota Camry pop out of fifth gear?

Answer 1

Our 2002 Camry started doing this at about 140K miles. I was ready to drop the trans when I noticed a [driver] side cover that I could get to with the front and driver engine mounts out. It turned out this gave me access to 5th gear. A visual inspection showed the slider ring was trashed.

I flipped this over and other than a little grinding when shifting into 5th due to the fact that this face was milled flat and not beveled like the correct side it worked for a year and about 30-40k miles.

The interesting thing I noticed about this is that it is a 4 inch diameter gear that when the slider is engaged on the driven gear there is only about 1/16 of an inch engagement.

Anyone that can remove a wheel should be able to replace the slide for less than $100 from the dealer.

1) Jack up the car and support with jack stands.

2) Remove the driver wheel.

3) Drain the fluid.

4) Jack up the trans just enough to lighten the load on the mounts.

5) Remove the front and drivers side motor mounts.

6) Remove the side cover from the trans.

7) Unscrew the shift fork attachment screw.

8) Slide the shift fork and slider gear off. It may catch on the syncros but it should come off with a little shaking. Don't pry it off or you may brake the syncros.

9) Put it all back together.