manual transmission popping out of gear

[goblueM]

i have a 4-speed 94 toyota tercel that recently started popping out of 4th gear on the highway. Is that anything to be worried about? My uncle said he had a couple old toyotas that did that and he just rigged somethign to hold it in gear during long drives

[Phred52]

Usually, when a manual transmission 'pops' out of gear it's a sign that the syncronizer rings (between gears) are damaged or badly worn. The correct cure for this is to pull the trans, and replace the rings. It's also quite costly. Phred52

[goblueM]

after doing a bit of reading online, it seems like some people agree with the syncronizers, others say it could be worn shift bushings, which apparently aren't expensive

my main question is if i'm going to damage anythign badly if i keep driving it. all i have to do is shift back into 4th and keep driving... i'll sacrifice the annoyance of doing that over paying out the [Poor word usage] for repairs as long as it wont kill the car

[Phred52]

No, you shouldn't do any further damage to it. I say shouldn't because if it is the syncros, there probably are anywhere from shavings to chips that are floating around in the oil. Obiviously, if a big enough piece of that gets into the gears themselves, it could lock up the transmission, it could crack the case, or cause the bearings to fail. I came back to the posting to add that it could be that the shifter is out of adjustment. Origionally I was thinking that this was a top mounted shifter which would not have linkage. Phred52