FD won't go into reverse
Thread Starter
Rotary for life!
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,155
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From: Somewhere...
FD won't go into reverse
Hi guys,
All of a sudden, I went to go for a drive. Started it, waited for it warm up but couldn't get it in reverse. I could get any other gear. I continued to play with it, and managed to get it in reverse once but haven't been able too since. I have had problems with my 5th gear where it would crunch when I go into 5th, but I usually let the revs drop then change which then doesn't crunch. I can get any other gear without any issues, it's only reverse that I can't get. It feels completely jammed.
I have a RE short shifter and new clutch which is not even one year old.
Any ideas what it could be?
Thanks,
All of a sudden, I went to go for a drive. Started it, waited for it warm up but couldn't get it in reverse. I could get any other gear. I continued to play with it, and managed to get it in reverse once but haven't been able too since. I have had problems with my 5th gear where it would crunch when I go into 5th, but I usually let the revs drop then change which then doesn't crunch. I can get any other gear without any issues, it's only reverse that I can't get. It feels completely jammed.
I have a RE short shifter and new clutch which is not even one year old.
Any ideas what it could be?
Thanks,
Last edited by rexhvn; Jul 31, 2017 at 07:19 AM.
What's the idle RPM set at?
I had issues once with my FD not going into reverse after a rebuild with a higher than normal idle. Reverse gear doesn't have syncros and what-not, so it really needs to be idling low, or very slowly rolling backwards to slot into gear. Just my $.02
I had issues once with my FD not going into reverse after a rebuild with a higher than normal idle. Reverse gear doesn't have syncros and what-not, so it really needs to be idling low, or very slowly rolling backwards to slot into gear. Just my $.02
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 498
Likes: 23
From: Greensboro, North Carolina
Does it help if you roll forward about a foot or so, then try going into reverse?
In my Toyotas, I've become accustomed to putting the transmission into 4th gear before going into reverse, and it makes it grind less and go in smoothly.
By the sounds of it you might have been trying that too to not much luck.
In my Toyotas, I've become accustomed to putting the transmission into 4th gear before going into reverse, and it makes it grind less and go in smoothly.
By the sounds of it you might have been trying that too to not much luck.
Thread Starter
Rotary for life!
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,155
Likes: 1
From: Somewhere...
What's the idle RPM set at?
I had issues once with my FD not going into reverse after a rebuild with a higher than normal idle. Reverse gear doesn't have syncros and what-not, so it really needs to be idling low, or very slowly rolling backwards to slot into gear. Just my $.02
I had issues once with my FD not going into reverse after a rebuild with a higher than normal idle. Reverse gear doesn't have syncros and what-not, so it really needs to be idling low, or very slowly rolling backwards to slot into gear. Just my $.02
Does it help if you roll forward about a foot or so, then try going into reverse?
In my Toyotas, I've become accustomed to putting the transmission into 4th gear before going into reverse, and it makes it grind less and go in smoothly.
By the sounds of it you might have been trying that too to not much luck.
In my Toyotas, I've become accustomed to putting the transmission into 4th gear before going into reverse, and it makes it grind less and go in smoothly.
By the sounds of it you might have been trying that too to not much luck.
The 5/R shift fork, reverse idler, 5th gear synchro, etc are all in the same part of the housing, isolated from the other gears. It's possible that two things happened: the 5/R fork or slider broke or is jammed, or something has the shift selector from engaging the 5/R selector. Broken 5th synchros apparently do that at times...
Dave
Dave