intermittent start issue and hesitation going into drive

[hankd]

hi all
i recently had my 4runner repaired after a lengthy battle. i had gotten water in the truck after standing for 20 minutes in 2 foot water. after i blew a few ecu's we finally got it sorted out and the truck is now operational. i now have a few lingering problems i would like to solve.

the truck now starts intermittently. usually starts fine, but sometimes will not click or turnover. if i fiddle with the gear shift a bit or go into neutral, it starts up fine. during the above repair, it was towed 7 times and they used the little switch in front of the gear shifter that lets you tow it without keys. the little cover for the switch is broken so it's been in the glove box. i've been told it may be a shift solenoid or the neutral safety switch. just wondering if anybody has an opinion on which of these it may be.

another new problem is it will sometimes take 3-5 seconds to engage drive. same symptom if i go from p to d, or r to d, or n to d. the transmission seems to work fine, so i'm wondering if something inside the shift mechanism. i sometimes experience the sticky shift, which i fear may eventually turn into the floppy shift. however i don't think that is necessarily related.

4wd operations work normally, no problem locking the center differential.

truck has 194,000km on it. thanks for any info!

 

[hankd]

i'm pretty certain it's the neutral safety switch as i'm having identical issues to a lot of other people with the same problem.

and if i work the shifter between park and drive a lot it starts to go right in. so that's hopeful.

 

[08TxRunner]

The second problem, delay going into D, has been reported a lot. I have it sometimes. I suspect it's an electrical contact issue in the shifter - maybe something that reports to the ECU what gear you are in - that is causing this. If I gently and slowly go from R or P into D, the problem crops up frequently. If I do the shift with a little more speed and authority, it almost never happens. I recall a thread where someone took apart a small white box associated with the shifter mechanism, cleaned it, and that seemed to fix the issue. Wish I'd bookmarked that thread...

 

[hankd]

The second problem, delay going into D, has been reported a lot. I have it sometimes. I suspect it's an electrical contact issue in the shifter - maybe something that reports to the ECU what gear you are in - that is causing this. If I gently and slowly go from R or P into D, the problem crops up frequently. If I do the shift with a little more speed and authority, it almost never happens. I recall a thread where someone took apart a small white box associated with the shifter mechanism, cleaned it, and that seemed to fix the issue. Wish I'd bookmarked that thread...

this is helpful! i was actually being super careful with it, and it happens less when i just shift normally. i'll go through the forums for a bit and see if i stumble across the thread you mentioned.