Change 2005 Toyota Tacoma Manual Transmission Shifter Seat And Bushing

Feb 8

It’s probably rare to have a manual transmission in this day and age, but I enjoy it. Its scarcity probably also means that I wasn’t able to find too much help online with a recent issue where my 2005 Toyota Tacoma was popping out of gear. This would cause the RPMs to spike dramatically since I would unexpectedly be in neutral. I eventually realized that I needed to change the shifter seat and bushing.

1. Seat and bushing, respectively. I purchased mine at a local Toyota dealer for around $25 for both parts, but I found one on Amazon that seems like it would work as well.
2. Before any changes
3. Removed knob
4. Removed cup holder console, watch out for the plastic clips because they break easily
5. Removed covering on bottom of center console
6. Removed screws on bottom of center console
7. Removed screws holding center console
8. Removed center console
9. Removed trim around shifter
10. Remove screws around shifter
11. Remove shifter boot
12. Remove bolts
13. Remove shifter assembly
14. Remove shifter from assembly. This was by far the hardest part. Part of it is the fact that you don’t know what’s going on in the assembly and the other is that everything is really stuck together. I ended up being able to do it with pliers and 2 screw drivers. But after it was done I was able to do it with just pliers. It’s spring loaded so you just need to push down on the retainer cap and twist until it pops out.
15. Compare the seats. The old one was crumbly and destroyed!
16. Compare the bushings. Not too bad but might as well change them.

References:

• Instructable (for previous generation Tacoma)
• Tutorial to install short shifter (PDF)