Loose gear shift

transmission gear shift has a little play in it where it connects to the steering column & while driving down the road, it slips down a little bit & causes the O/D light to come on
when the gear shift has slipped down & caused the O/D light to come on, the button in the end of the shifter no longer works....

 

I would definitely be separating the upper and lower column cover to investigate.
If not aware how, turn steering wheel full CW, should see a phillips screw, turn full CCW, should see screw, middle bottom of lower column cover theres another screw. Cover should then separate to see what's loose. While there, also look at the single conductor wire that goes up thru shifter to O/D button, it's known to get frayed and come on for no reason other than it's grounding to column section.

 

Earlier models had a lot of problems with the shifter housing cracking. Not sure if related. @BubbaW is spot on. You really need to pop off the column housing clamshell to investigate.

More info on the shifter housing cracking is here. That info is actualy linked up in the 2nd reply of the newbie intro thread.

 

sounds like I have a project for today....thanks for letting me know how to get the cover off bubbaw....sounds like it could be tricky to get off if you didn't know how to do it....

I thought I was getting a good deal on a low mileage, 147k, tundra, but after reading the thread on things you should know, I'm not so sure....
already changed the lower ball joints, left one was about to come loose, the nut was barely on, but was locked there & wouldn't tighten or loosen....
and I didn't know the cats had been replaced with straight pipes until I got it home & ran the codes & got errors on both downstream o2 sensors....now trying to decide to best, least expensive way to solve that....
also now need to check the transmission mount & change the timing belt, based on the things you need to know thread.....
after reading the things you need to know thread, I'm a little more concerned about the oil pressure....the guage only gets a little above the half way mark at start up, when the engine is at a fast idle....is that normal? can I put a manual guage on it?

 

update....frayed wire caused the problem with the od light issue, good call bubbaw....I would have missed it if I didn't know to look closely at the wire, ie was a few small hole worn thru the insulation & was rubbing on the column....wrapped it up with electric tape.....

 

Crackie got a new shift column mechanism. Probably in the chronicles of crackie thread. @Tundra2 . If you have a lot of slop, a new one may help with that. Mine can wiggle up and down about 1.5” or so. Probably my fault as I rest my right hand on it when driving.

 

So, the VVTi V8 engines idle differently than the earlier '00-'04. IIRC, at startup my '06 oil pressure is pegged at around a 6.5, then drops to the needle just touching above the midway bar. Idle starts around 900 and drops to a 650 within a minute. We should really take videos and post on here so people have a reference point.

You mentioned throwing codes - are you only throwing codes for the O2 sensors? Do you know if the MAF is the original/OEM Toyota part, or if it's been replaced? If original, you may want to consider getting some good MAF cleaner (CRC MAF cleaner is sold at most LAPS). Details on how to clean are here.

EDIT: Ah! It was @lostcoastjim and the thread has been deleted, hopefully he got it resolved with the dealer. Man, what a waste of 20 minutes of hunting, at least Google has it cached!

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As for whether or not you got a good deal, it's all about the frame. If the frame is clean, that's the #1 most important thing. Too many people come on here like this and like this and like this. I wish I could find the thread from the person who bought their truck a couple weeks back, and messaged on here 7 days later, only to find they got sold a lemon with a tanked frame. It happens absurdly often here. Maybe they deleted the thread.

 

frame & rear transmission look good....no rust & no cracks....

oil pressure on this one never gets much higher then the midway bar, even at 5000 rpm....

was throwing codes for the downstream o2 sensors, the rear speed sensor LH circuit & a ecm/pcm failure....I replaced the pcm with one bought online & resolved the pcm failure code, but the other two remain....

 

I mean, I know many people have mixed feelings about using products for this, but ...Just to make sure there's not something carbon-based that's got the oil pickup tube slightly clogged, you may want to run a Liquimoly engine flush, unless you plan to have the oil pan off soon and can directly check the pickup tube for debris. Seafoam is another crankcase-safe product that will help break stuff down over time. I've been using Seafoam in my vehicles religiously for a solid 30 years with no issues. I've been using Liquimoly ever since I bought an older, used VW about 20 years ago. Never had issues with leaking, blowouts, or other failures as of yet, dozens of treatments in.

I get why some people are anti-additive: There are a lot of 'stop leak' and similar additive products that are emergency, stop-gap measures to get you by until you can properly fix the problem, but people abuse/misuse them as perma-fixes when they shouldn't. I don't see the Seafoam and Liquimoly products in that class of stop-gap emergency fixes, so much as regular maintenance things, safe-in-all-cases, same with Marvel Mystery Oil. I've also grown an affinity for ATP's AT—205 product recently for stopping minor leaks (cam seals, rear main seal, steering rack) without over-swelling and degrading gaskets.

Next time I drive the truck, which may be today, I'll snap a quick video of how mine behaves. I've got a little more than half your mileage, but 75k vs. 147k is nothing for this drivetrain. I could also see some of the mods already done to your truck (no cats, straight pipes, no O2) having impacts on idle RPM, but there's a lot of other factors too.

 

the truck idles fine, a little rough, but, like you said, no cats & 2 o2 sensors missing, it's to be expected....I was more concerned about the oil pressure....I'll put solving the cat issue fully once I get the oil pressure issue resolved....trying to decide between putting in aftermarket cats with new toyota sensors or all toyota parts.....reading thru some post, it appears aftermarket cats may be problematic

same place that did the lower ball joint replacement does bg engine flushes, i'll talk with them about the cost & I'll try to get the engine flushed asap.....until then seafoam & mmo along with frequent oil changes & find some 205 to put in the power steering reservoir.....one of the seals on the steering sector is seeping a little....

 

I just found an 01 4x4 tundra with 240k miles with a rusted out frame closeby on craigslist for 1200....how's the part interchangeability between an 01 and an 06? can I make mine 4 wheel drive?

 

You should really read this thread end-to-end to answer those questions: https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

 

Oh - and on this - the BG Dynamic Engine flush treatment is supposed to bring engines back to near-virgin internals and it comes with a full guarantee if done by a licensed shop. Might be a bit overkill for a 2UZ, they'll run forever with regular maintenance.

 

ok, the 01 parts won't work.....mainly because what they were calling a DC, was actually an AC.....which means the axle housing widths are different according to the things you need to know thread....

something else to consider, along with price, when deciding weather or not to do a bg engine flush....leaning more toward going with using seafoam & a bottle of mmo every oil change....

 

Yeah, last I saw I think the Dynamic BG flush was in the ballpark of $375-$550 depending what the shop wants to charge.

$375 is almost at that range of "aw what the hell, engine is unknown to me, there's no risk, let's roll the odometer back!"
$550 for me is more like "if I'm not seeing visible sludge through the oil filler port, I think I've got time to slowly work it out over a few OC + flushes"

If they had a $250 option, hell, I'd probably do it on my 75k mile engine. Just because the PO was changing oil based on mileage vs. time and was short-trip driving. I had a ton of varnish.

 

Hey @dwlacy just following up on this one.

Truck was stone cold when I got into it just now to drive 25 miles, mostly interstate, to pick up one of the kids, then 25 miles back.

At first startup, oil pressure was a single notch above the center, about a 6/6.5 out of 10.

Oil pressure dropped below middle line some time just before or just after warmup. It didn't matter how hard I gunned it, it was almost impossible to get it above half.

FWIW, I'm running full synthetic, Mobil1 high mileage in the OEM reco'd weight. I'm parking in a garage, so my oil rarely gets below 50F and flows thin all the time.

Hope this helps with a sanity check for your oil pressure gauge.

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OK, so the oil pressure is fine, but what about those volts? Seems low to me...

 

Are you talking about my voltage? 14.5 volts is bad?

 

An '06 with 75,000 miles, limited and 4X4???

 

Yeah, you like low miles? I don't. This is what was under my valve covers (LINK).

This is what was under another person's with a scant 100k (LINK).

Low mileage is a nonsense gauge for how healthy a truck is. I'd rather have a 150k+ mile 1st Gen that saw a proper oil change cycle and mostly hwy miles.

 

I understand, leaks are a mess. Those cam lobes look brand new though. I would bet that engine runs great ... and likely the transmission too, it looks like that engine never got too hot.

 

Yup. You nailed it. Downside to that is, I had to clear some sizeable crusty, burnt chunks out, any of which could've clogged a port or the pickup tube.

I guess "it is what it is".

 

@Shifty your oil gauge runs about the same as mine then....gives me more piece of mind

 

I'm just used to seeing the needle closer to the top. I guess mine's different because it's on the other side...

 

That looks high to me. You running the GM diode?

 

Stock AF.
Although now I'm curious enough to go put a meter on it...film at 11:00

EDIT: 14.01 VDC

 

You have an AGM battery, or regular battery?

 

Regular battery. This spring I'll change the alternator, but I suspect the gauge is just calibrated that way.

 

The '05-'06 gauge cluster is way easier to read. High mark is 19, low mark is 9 so you know it's 10v in between, therefore the midline is clearly 14v, with 5 invisible segments above and below.

Yours ... 0 at the bottom, 18 at the top, two thinner mystery lines unevenly spaced between those two bold lines ... is the first thin mystery line 8v, and the 2nd mystery line 16v? Who the hell knows?!! Seriously, terrible, horrible, inexcusable usability fail on Toyota's part with that one.

If my assessment is correct and the thinner lines are 8 and 16, respectively, then I'd say your gauge is around 14.5v in that pic

 

Mine follows pretty close to the same and since the volts are regulated between 13.2 to 14.8 vdc according to FSM, with mine at that position ENG ON, the voltage of batt is 14.5. The below pic to me represents 14.5 given there are 1.5 vdc between white lines....but that's just me.

As for @Shifty and his gauge, I like their gauges the way they have them, similar to Nascar when they had gauges....water and batt gauges when you take a peak, levels are correct mid way.