3rz manual very hard to shift into first

[mymalade]

I read about some similar issues on the Tacoma forum, but wondering if anyone here might have some good advice. On my new-to-me 2000 4cyl., It is really hard to get into first gear, but all the other gears work fine. The lady I bought it from said she recently replaced the clutch, so I don't think it's the clutch itself.

I have heard a few different culprits, One being the the shifter seat bushing which I plan on replacing, but I'm not sure why that would make it so difficult to shift. Second culprit is that the hydraulics need to be bled, and if so, I'm not sure how to go about doing so.
And the third thing is that the clutch just needs a slight adjustment, and of course I'm not sure how to do that either.
Anyone dealt where's a similar issue, and if so how did you fix it?

 

[Riceye]

If the flywheel was turned along with the clutch job it is possible they only cut the clutch contact surface and not the pressure plate mounting surface. Or, if the differential was not straight up 1:1 between the two surfaces. That would leave the clutch to engage closer to the floor, and perhaps total disengagement was beyond the stroke of the pedal.

Another possibility is the pilot bearing binding on the transmission input shaft.

Both of these scenarios would make first gear engagement difficult.

 

[JZiggy]

Start by bleeding the clutch. Then try adjusting the slave cylinder pushrod to be a bit longer so it releases the clutch more. If that doesn’t help it’s possible the master cylinder has an internal leak. All of these scenarios would lead to the clutch grabbing a little.

Try shifting into first as you press down on the clutch. If that helps it could mean a bad synchro.

Other good ideas have been mentioned as well.