Gear Shift Plastic Insert Dislocated

Hello. For some reason the plastic insert underneath the gearshift has dislocated. This now causes the gearshift to not easily change from park to drive to reverse. Is there a way to fix or do I have take apart the whole thing? What would cause this to become loose?

 

It's super easy to take off.

Unscrew the shift knob
Pull towards the roof equally on both sides of the entire plastic piece
Fix whatever is out of place
Reverse order
Profit

 

My 2015 was doing same thing...wound up being neutral safety switch. That plastic piece offers no resistance while shifting through the gears. I disassembled my console, lubed all points of contact, and it was still difficult to shift. There are several you tube videos on the subject. Hope this helps!

 

Thank you! I will try to remove the console also look at the neutral safety switch.

 

First thing I did was unscrew the shifter and 4wd knobs. Then I pulled up on the main plastic cover/piece starting from the rear where you have the rear window switch (easiest to start from the cupholder side though). There are 2 clips in the rear. This offers a bit of resistance so some force is required.

Once those popped I moved to the front and pulled up again and there are 2 clips there as well. Then carefully unplug the wiring harness for your rear window and heated seats (located passenger side closer to the rear of the vehicle).

Pull the leather cover off the 4wd shifter shaft. Then remove the main plastic cover entirely. Once inside there are 2 more pieces of plastic to remove. These have little locking hook/tooth design. 4 of these per piece. Do not use force with these or they will break. If I recall the first piece was a black one to remove around the shifter, the second is a clear plastic piece that actually holds down the sliding shifter cover thing that you labeled in your picture.

I removed mine the other day for unrelated reasons and cleaned that part. If you need I can post photos or video to help. It’s easier than it sounds, 2 minutes of work at most once you know what you’re doing.

 

My 2022 4 runner just started doing this, from park to reverse, hard to move either direction.

 

My 2020 had same issue. Neutral Safety switch replaced under warranty. Must be a common defective part?

 

Did this myself and lubed the shift linkage with WD40? shifts nicely now!