No Fifth Gear

I have a 98 Celica GT convertible that had suddenly lost fifth gear, and what I mean by loosing fifth gear is not that it pops out of fifth or that it will not go into fifth, the gear shift lever goes into the fifth gear position just fine and stays in that position, yet the car responds as if it is in neutral. This is what happened while driving home recently. The first time this happened was within a week or so of having my clutch replaced, so I took it back to the mechanic that replaced my clutch. Upon investigation he found that the nut that holds fifth gear in was loose. He tightened this nut and it fixed the problem for awhile. This was now over two years ago, and to make a long story short, I eventually ended up having to replace that transmission with another used transmission from a salvage yard. The current transmission has been in the vehicle just over a year and a half with no problems until now. I am getting this same problem again, with no fifth gear. If anyone has any idea as to what may be going on with this please let me know.

Did you have to replace the transmission because of the fifth gear problem or something else ? Maybe that nut is loose again on this transmission .

what happened was the car ended up going back to that same mechanic about 5 times for that same problem over a period of about 1 year. The last time i took it back the transmission was completely shot, several gears and at least one of the shafts needed replacement, so I just replaced the transmission with another from a salvage yard. What I am interested in finding out is what may be causing this problem? I have taken the front plate off the transmission and can not see any thing wrong myself and with the vehicle not running I put it in fifth gear and the gear does not turn so it is meshing up with the other gear to engage. The nut that has the nut that has the kink chiseled into it to keep it from coming off is loose, but on a video I was watching on you tube about this transmission shows it loose in that video as well, so unless there is another nut behind this one that is loose I do not know, as I have not taken it apart yet, will be doing that this weekend.
Also in order for me to find the right parts for this transmission I was needing to find out where the transmission model number is stamped onto the transmission and is this somewhere it can be viewed without pulling the transmission? According to what I have been able to find out so far is that the original transmission for this car was the Aisin S54. I have found other sites listing it as the C53 which in looks appears to be the same. How can I find out which one I have as it is no longer the original transmission.

If anyone has information on how I could find out exactly which transmission I have in my vehicle please let me know. As was mentioned it is no longer the original transmission, so I need a way of identifying it to see if it is the same type as the original or not.

You can take your VIN number to a dealer and they can tell you exactly which transmission you have. Without actually seeing your transmission, I suspect that you have a transmission that originally was a rear wheel drive 4 speed.

When Toyota switched to front wheel drive and 5 speeds, they capped off the rear output and passed the other end of that shaft through to a new front compartment that houses the 5th gear and the front wheel differential. This was a common practice of many car manufacturers in the 80’s and some of those transmissions were made well into the 90’s. It is also common for the one of the nuts on the 5th gear assembly to come loose.

You can take your VIN number to a dealer and they can tell you exactly which transmission you have. No that is not correct, I have a manual Front Wheel Drive Transmission and there are apparently from what I have found on line several manual transmissions that would fit my vehicle and have the same mounting bolts on the bell housing. IE The C50 series (C50,C52,C53) or S50 series (S53 or S54). Any of these transmissions would fit my vehicle. Plus as said this is NOT the original transmission so what shows up from the VIN number search may NOT be what I currently have in the vehicle, that is why I am needing to find out how to determine just what transmission I do have? It may be the same model as the original, but not necessarily.

On the drivers door jamb there should be an ID Plate. On this example the transmission code is in the last line on the left.
A / TM: 01A / U241E TM= Transmission so the transmission in this case is the U241E

This method as with using the VIN number is only valid if the transmission is the original transmission, however I have said in my past three posts, THIS IS NOT THE ORIGINAL TRANSMISSION. It has been replaced with a used transmission that was sold as a transmission that will fit my Toyota. I am needing to find out how I can determine what transmission I actually have in my vehicle by numbers found on the transmission itself, and would need to know where those numbers are located. It is my hope that the type of transmission is the same as the original, however that I am currently not sure of and am needing to find out that information.
Thank you.

I can only offer this: try the local dealer-see if there is an independent transmission shop near you-you might try toyotanation.com ( it is hard to navigate and is also the home wild guesses ).-also salvage yards do have exchange sites they belong to.

I agree with VOLVO_V70… if there’s ever a time to seek a local, reputable, preferably long-time transmission shop, the time is now.

Then why don’t you contact the shop that replaced it. I wouldn’t think they would replace it with something else with out telling you. The trans number may also be stamped in the top of the trans case, mine is. It is pretty close to where the VIN tag is riveted on.

As for contacting the shop that put the transmission in, they had only put in the transmission that I purchased on ebay, which was sold as a transmission that would fit my make and model of Toyota, that was all the shop needed to put it in, it did not matter to them if it was the same as the original or not.
As for your other information that may be useful if it can be viewed from the top without having to remove the tranny. I will check on that this evening to see if I can find that number. Thanks…