Stall When Shifting Into Reverse
 

Hey all. Seems like as soon as I knock down one problem, another pops up. But that's old cars for you...

Got a GSL-SE here, so that means 5-speed manual. I let the car warm up and the idle came down to 800 RPM or so like normal, but when I tried to shift into reverse, it stalled out immediately. Started the car up again and tried to shift into reverse again, and the gears grind and won't let me. Then I tried the forward gears, and it either variously goes into gear hard or won't go into gear at all. The couple of times it let me put it into 1st or 2nd, it didn't stall out. This is a recent problem. Up until now, the car didn't give me any trouble like this. Any ideas? The entire transmission was rebuilt last year. So was the engine. There's plenty of clutch fluid, and fresh gear oil was put in not long ago. Rebuilt fuel injectors a year ago, IAC valve was checked out a couple of months ago for another unrelated reason.

Is the pedal squishy or slow to return? Might be the clutch slave cylinder or master going out.

so best to do both, along with the rubber hose that connects them.

I had the same problem, i got about 500 miles on my gsl, it started doing the same thing. Mine was the pilot bearing, i put a new clutch and throwout while i was in there, its all good now. Once you loose 1st and R, they dont come back til you fix it. A new slave and steel braid clutch line is always good too. Its easy to change the pilot with the mazda tool. Took about 30 seconds to pull the old bearing. If you can shift into reverse/first with the engine off, but not when running, thats a bad pilot bearing. Be careful of the ones they send in the clutch kits, I got 2 chinese knockoffs, I ordered the real oem from mazdatrix.

Third vote for pilot bearing failure.
 

When the pilot bearing fails, those skinny rods of the needle bearing crack up and become lodged in the input shaft end, which then causes the trans to spin with the engine even though the clutch is disengaged. The net result is that the trans doesn't want you shifting it. Get the Mazdatrix special tool for pulling it and save yourself time and headaches on removal. They also sell an installation tool, which inserts the new bearing to the correct seating depth. Don't over grease it, and don't forget the grease seal!

Mine failed shortly after I got the car, get a new clutch, and the real OEM pilot bearing, i have a chinese knockoff on the shelf, i put them both on my finger side by side, the chinese bearing required more force to turn, and had more fore-aft play, the real koyo bearing is smooth as butter with half the play in the bearing.

Yeah, I was hoping it wasn't the pilot bearing because I thought the one that came in the Exedy kit would be decent quality. But here's where we're at: the clutch pedal feels firm, even, and normal. No weird sponginess or play. Clutch fluid is fresh, normal colored, and full. With the car off, I can shift it into any forward gear with no problem, and sometimes can shift it into reverse. Other times, even with the car off, the shifter will go halfway into reverse but not all the way. Enough for me to be able to take my hand off it without it snapping back to neutral, but not where it should be. If I go shift into other forward gears, it'll sometimes let me shift fully into reverse afterward, but I didn't pick up any particular pattern.

Never had an issue with pilot bearing supplied in any of the Exedy kits i've installed in 1st gens. #s? North of 60,likely more. I have encountered in those #s a handful of times,the wrong pilot bearing supplied.

Have had a couple cars brought to me with trans in back of car that couldn't be reinstalled as the incorrect Exedy clutch kit supplied pilot bearing had been pounded into e shaft,deformed while doing so and made it impossible to install the trans fully as input shaft could not enter pilot bearing. Correct pilot bearing removal tool no good here,pilot bearings had to be cut out and removed-without damaging e shaft. Lot of patience,time,but it can be done. To date,have walked 3 members here though this misery with success,and 1 other that didn't end well.

ALWAYS slide the new bearing onto input shaft of trans to verify it's correct. Next,with a vernier caliper,compare od and length of supplied bearing to what you removed from e shaft BEFORE driving replacement in place. If original bearing destroyed by wear or by removal,use the vernier to measure the id of e shaft where bearing resides.

There is an installer tool that sets pilot bearing and grease seal at correct depth in e shaft. It is not necessary if you do a lot of these or if you measure the installed depth of old pilot bearing before removal. The tool doesn't cost much,it is easy to use and yes,i use it. It's quick,you KNOW when bearing and grease seal are installed correctly.

Did you replace the clutch/pilot bearing yourself,what did you use to install it? Or did the shop that rebuilt your engine/transmission do it and are you certain they replaced it or did they possibly leave the original in place thinking it looked ok. I ask this question because this is same shop that rebuilt these components to cure a squealing noise that was caused by neither as you subsequently learned.Hard to believe that shop could return car to you with original noise complaint,not making any effort to diagnose it,yet charging you(handsomely,i'm sure) for work done.

Regarding car not going fully into reverse consistently with engine off...all 5 forward gears are synchronized where reverse is not. Let car roll or push it about an inch and shifter will go fully into reverse. There is no problem with transmission.

Do you hear a whirring or mild grinding noise when its idling in neutral? Pilot bearings as they go out will gradually start making these noises and cause the symptoms you are describing.

This is why we all do our own work because no one else can be trusted.

Turned out to be a bad master and slave cylinder. It was hardly noticeable from the clutch pedal feel and there was still plenty of fluid in the reservoir, but it was enough to give me occasional problems. Looks like we caught it early, but it's up and driving fine now. Still a few other things to do on the car, but the shifting issue is sorted. Thanks to everyone who pitched in.