I have a 87 Tii. Shifter won't go over to 5th and reverse, what could be the problem? I haven't had the time to take the shifter apart yet, to see if it's broke. It was fine earlier in the day, then all of the sudden.... no more 5th or reverse. Does anyone have any ideas before I start taking things apart?

J

 

pretty weird if U ask me..
didn't U miss shitf or sumthing? it got that way from nothing?! :P
I guess one of the XXX (don't remember name) is broken

wait for sumeone with more xperience tough

 

Your 5th and reverse gear synchrose probably are gone, unless something is just jamming the stick under the boot, which i doubt.

 

I just bought this car on friday...... Well, I just found an invoice in the paperwork that came with the car from a tranmission place for this very problem..... says they fixed it. Well, obviously not very well.... But if they "fixed" it then, could it still be the synchros??? Seems to me, that if it were bad synchros, then they wouldn't have been able to just "fix" it so easily, it would have been a much more costly repair, correct? I mean don't you basically have to rebuild the tranny to get to the synchros? I don't really know a whole lot about transmissions.

 

I'd take it to the tranny shop and see what's up.

 

Before you pull the tranny, take the shift lever out of the entension housing & check the small chamber for any debris (like old bushing parts).
Also the centering spring & plunger may be jammed.

 

Thanks, I should probably put new bushings in at the same time.

 

my old n/a used to have trouble going into 5th and reverse, never fixed the problem, but what worked for me was, when trying to go into reverse i would put pressure on the shifter, while slowly letting off the clutch, and it would ususally pop into reverse.

for 5th gear, i dont recommend this, but i was driving one day, pretty pissed... and the 5th gear not going in was pissing me off more, so i just clutched in and slammed the shifter hard into 5th gear, and after a loud grind the car would shift 1-5 smoothly. but dont try that, or if you do, im not responsible.

 

That probably smashed the trash that was blocking the selector rod tip.

You (of course) were lucky.

 

Is the transmission locked in a gear? I somehow got my transmission in reverse while the shifter was in neutral, wouldn't go into fifth or reverse either afterwards. That was a long day fixing that. There is a procedure if this is your case.

Pat

 

No, it's not locked into any gear. It shifts fine 1 through 4, but it's like there is a wall blocking the shifter from fifth and reverse.

 

Here is a clip from the on-line maual.
Look for something jamming the plunger & spring you see on the lower right.
That's the spring you push against to get into 5 / R.

 

Does it shift inot 5th and reverse with the engine off?
Then it's most likely that synchros are gone.

Does it still get stuck with the engine off?
There might be crap in there.


-Ted

 

What the diagram doesn't show is the spung clip that goes around the socket that the shifter end sets in. I had 9 transmissions sitting in my basemant and only one of them had an unbroken spring wire.

Take your shifter out and look in the hole. If you don't see a wire that looks like a heavy paperclip across the hole where the end of the shifter sets, then take the side plate, shown in the picture above, off and start cleaning.

 

It doesn't go in gear when the car is off..... So, where can I get a new one of these springs if it's broken?

 

He said he has an '87. S4 transmissions dont have a 5th/reverse syncho.

 

sorry not trying to jack thread but I am having the EXACT same problem on my 87 n/a. I was also told it could be the thing that sureshot pointed out but havent had time to get under and take a look yet.

 

i assume the shifter won't even move right enough to try to go into either gear? if not it still may be what i am thinking of.

sounds like a detent stuck, i haven't rebuilt a T2 tranny yet but i have rebuilt mazdas as well as many other manual trans and it is a common thing to happen, best thing i can advise is try removing the detent plugs from the transmission case. keep the parts in order as you go, it should be a plug, then spring and then last a check ball. inspect the check ***** and bore if possible, you may find a burr in the check ball, if you do then polish the burr out. clean out the check ball bore with some cleaner such as brake clean, lubricate the check ***** with transmission assembly lube or petroleum jelly and reinstall them. remove the shifter guide spring and examine it for any damage as well.


there is commonly 3 shift rails in most manual transmissions so there is commonly 3 external detent plugs.

i wish you guys luck.


btw, if it is a stuck detent jamming your car into gear is a good way of causing it to become an unrepairable problem later on as it rams the check ball against the aluminum housing and makes a pocket for it to get stuck again and not come loose next time.

 

I don't concider the spring to be a necessary part. Others may disagree. To replace that spring you have to break open the tranny case and then disassemble the shifter housing. More work than I think it's worth.

If you have checked what I posted earlier and that didn't solve the problem, then the tranny will probably need to come out for futher investigation.

 

the 5/R tension spring i assume you mean right? if you mean the detent springs i would have to agree, you shouldn't remove them or your linkage may bind then you really need to remove the tranny.

 

Hahaahha Mines Did The Same ****, And My Mech Got All Pissed Off And Hammered It To Reverse, Ever Since That Day, It Works Fine. Not Reccomemded Though Lol. Goddam Rx His Issues Lol.