It seems that I am unable to get my car in reverse. It feels like it is permanently locked out. Have tried going in with both the car on and off. Anyone have any idea what it could be?

 

start with the simpler stuff. check your linkage.

 

Have you done anything with the transmission before this happened? Also, do you have a short shifter?

Can you get into 5th? Is it hard to get into 5th?

Dale

 

^agreed..if 5th doesnt work either its most definately the synchro in the trans

 

as other said start simple drain the fluid if there are metal shavings replace trans.

 

I have fifth gear grind, but get into fifth fine. I cannot get into reverse, it doesn't even start to go in. All other gears work. Normally going into first takes the lock off, it feels permanently locked out.

 

was there any metal in the fluid? The bushings in your shifter housing may be worn out or even improperly sitting. I just swapped the shifter parts from my old busted GSL-SE transmission to a 87 FC tranny. The shift rod that sticks out of the transmission parallel to the output shaft is identical but 30 mm shorter. Anyway, the nipple that holds the diagonal spring that holds the ball bearing that keeps the rod in neutral is a bit worn, so it too doesn't go into reverse and it all may need to be reset. check that first then pop the the tail shaft housing off and inspect the reverse gear. It should be the immediate rear gear. If you have worn stuff, I can send you my old trannys guts, broke tail shaft but otherwise good stuff. Check the bushing that the shifter sits on too.

 

Just to throw this out there... My old tranny started getting harder and harder to get into 5th gear until eventually I couldnt get it into reverse. I replaced the tranny with a low mileage one. You'll need to replace the synchros but don't take my word for it since I'm not a transmission specialist