Question: 

 Anyone ever purchased a new H55F tranny? I purchased one directly from Toyota, had it shipped to a local garage here in VA. The garage took my transfer case from my H42 and bolted it up to the new H55. I reinstalled it as per shop manual. It is stuck in reverse...and I mean stuck! I was wondering if there could be a cam lock or something Toyota could have locked to keep the gears from moving in shipment??? Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

 Answer: 

 Sounds like it's time to take the shifter out and try to actuate the shift forks manually. Maybe the shift fork is in reverse and the shifter is not in the reverse slot. What position is the shifter in? Reverse, neutral or some other gear? Does it feel "normal"? 

 Question: 

 The shifter appears to be either in neutral, or possibly 2nd gear position. Looking into the transmission via the shifter portal I see three horizontal mandrels (all to the passanger side of the shifter ball seat, and all running parallel with the drive line. Is the mandrel closest to the passanger door the reverse engagemant? This mandrel also protrudes throught the housing og the tranny, and is attached with a locking coupling approx 5 inches to the rear of the shifter portal. It appears that locking coupling might be a gear reversal??? I've tried moving all mandrels...but no luck. 

 Response: 

 The notches on the mandrels should all line up so the shifter can move between them and have access to each one. You should be able to move them by firmly pushing them or lightly tapping them with a drift (don't try to put it into 2 gears at one time). Since reverse is non-synchronized, it should slide into and out of gear easily. 

 Basically my only thought is that it's in reverse and the shifter is in the neutral position. You should try to get it out of reverse by moving the mandrel, and then postioning the shifter into the neutral position or try to stick the shifter into mandrel that corresponds to reverse. 

 If all else fails, take the top of the transmission off and see if all the shift forks are in the correct position. 

 ======================================== 

 Helped a friend install a brand new (in the factory box) H55F in his FJ60 

 today. Install went smoothly and everything was buttoned up and oil added. 

 But it won't shift. Seems to be stuck in 1st or 2nd gear. Clutch 

 engages/disengages smoothly and you can drive around in that one gear. 

 Transfer case operates correctly. 

 Now before everyone starts saying to pull the shift lever and line up the 

 internal slots in neutral with a screw driver, it's important to note that 

 this tranny is not like the 4spds in this case. The end of the shift lever 

 sits in a metal cup attached to a shaft that actuates the gear linkages 

 internally; these internal slots would have to have been lined up in 

 neutral when the shaft was installed in the factory. There is no way to 

 realign this shift linkage without disassembling the tranny. 

 Any ideas? Something obvious that we might have missed? 

 ======================================= 

 First off, you did install the little plastic cup over the tip of the 

 shifter, right? 

 Assuming you did, my H55F did the same thing when I installed it. Talk 

 about a nervous moment. Best I can figure is that the assembly lube 

 (whale oil?) gummed up during the time between manufacture and getting 

 over here. What to do? Drive it. As the lube heats up it will melt 

 the sticky stuff. You'll be able to shift to another gear after a few 

 miles, another a few miles later, etc. It will remain pretty tight for 

 a couple hundred miles but will soon break in. I was using synthetic 

 which may have helped dissolve the gummy stuff. 

 ======================================== 

 Sitting on my floor is a rebuilt H55F waiting to go into my FJ60, but it will not shift. Prior to the rebuild shifting was fine. The tranny was rebuilt to swap out a B shaft, and I had a shop do the work. I've pulled the top cover and the hub sleeves will move back and forth smoothly. The hang up seems to be with one of the shfit forks, specfically the 3/4 fork, the most forward. The rear fork for 1/2 will move fore and aft but I cannot move the 3/4 shift fork. Oh yeah, the shift lever housing slides along the shaft easily. 

 With the rebuild the top cover was not rebuilt, so the shift forks, rails, etc. have not been touched. 

 I've had the cover on and off several times, checked that the tranny is in neutral, that the forks are lining up with the sleeves, inserted the shift lever, but cannot get the tranny to shift. 

 Any ideas? 

 Got it. Just had to step away for a few minutes then come back to it. 

 I fooled around with the positioning of the shift forks a bit and finally found the correct position and alignment between the forks and other stuff. Popped the top on, stabbed in the shifter and I can move the shifter between the gears. 

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