Help!! FD will not go into reverse!?!?!
 

I have not ahd any problems with this transmission until now. I hadn't driven the car in about a week, but took her for a short drive sunday. Backed out of the drive just fine, nothing weird while I was out. Anyhow, I went to leave for work this morning and it will not go into reverse. Not while running. Not while the engine is off. Just no go. Anybody run into this before, have any suggestions to what I can try before pulling the trans? FWIW, I do have an ebay short shifter on her, which I have not had any problems with, but I'm not ruling anything out. Thanks.

I assume you pumped the clutch a couple of times and tried again?

Yeah, tried the old double pump, triple pump, etc...She goes into all the other gears fine, and will drive in all the forward gears just fine too. Reverse is all that is curently giving me any problems :(

This is kind of random, but when I was installing a new reverse light switch in my transmission, I had tightened it too much, and it prevented me from going into reverse. I loosened it about a quarter turn, and things were fine again.

Do you think you could be low on transmission fluid? I was incredibly low at one point and it made difficult to go into reverse..

i neglected my 5th/reverse syncro when is stared to grind. one day when i was "getting on it" i shifted into second gear acompanied by a loud bang. after that it would not go into reverse and fifth gear acted just like nuetral. turns out my syncro was in three pieces and the syncro housing damaged as well.

I've heard that to be a common thing issue too. Or when shifting really hard from 2nd, missing 3rd and accidentally going into 5th can damage the 5th/reverse syncro

5th synchro is usually broken by a hard missed shift to 3rd.

Once cracked, 5th synchro will work for a while but it will shift poorly to 5th and there is a risk the pieces will work loose and jam something else, like reverse gear.

Fortunately 5th and reverse are the most accessible gears on the transmission so if the damage is not severe you can usually replace a synchro, a couple bearings, and keep the rest of the trans.

I hadn't been having 5th gear synchro problems. Occasionally it would grind so so slightly if I tried to go super fast, but normal shifting was fine. I haven't checked trans oil level lately, but I just replaced it in november when I bougth it (the car) and it doesn't leak. I'm just going to assume that something has gone pretty badly wrong, and replace it. A local buddy of mine has a fairly low milage unit I can pick up for a good price, so I'll just grab it and put it in. Maybe I can rebuild this one and keep it around as a spare.

see i did search. well i still havent found a great answer. Yes i do know that this is an old thread but im having the same issue. I took the fd out yesterday, backed up fine out of the garage. I went cruising since it was a nice day. drove fine no issues. I get home to back in my garage and it wouldnt budge. it will not even try to go in. with car on or off. Every gear shifts fine, but a no go for the reverse. i took my shift boot off like said and the 3 bolts that hold the shifter in place. i didnt see anything but grey grease everywhere and the round part that holds the shifter in place. other than that i didnt see any spring or any extra parts. its a small hole to see into anyways. should i take the 4 bolt plate off to that the shifter itself sits?

The problem is not in there if you're having trouble with one gear.

Did you try putting it in neutral, then pumping the clutch pedal once, and trying again?

David

yes i tried everything wont go into gear at all.

Any more info that could help?

Usually a piece of synchro that got jammed in the reverse gate.

Is it easy to get to to unjam it? Or would the tranny need to be pulled and disassembled? I've been looking for a transmission and the cheapest I found is a jdm for 500 shipped. Ive seen people say they can be had for 300 .if so who sells them cheap or which company has the best price/deals?

No, if the synchro is broken it will need to be replaced. Eventually it will fail completely and you will not be able to get into gear without grinding. $450-500 is about average for a used fd trans.

well for some good reason it broke loose and now i can shift to reverse.

That just means you have a temporary reprieve before it's a problem again. Get it taken care of properly.

If you have the mechanical ability to pull the tranny from the car, you have the mechanical ability to fix this problem. The reverse synchro can be accessed by only partially tearing down the back section of the transmission. The only difficult part is a long puller required to pull a bearing about 16 to 18 " down the output shaft. dgeesaman on here has a complete tranny rebuild thread that goes through it step by step. I fashioned a puller by using an adequate length of pipe, capping one end, threading a sizeable bolt through the capped end, and attaching fly wheel puller arms to the pipe.

Here's the thread: https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...riteup-398410/


EDIT: Duh, I guess David already weighed-in on this one. Why didn't u reference ur thread?

^^And, yes, get a new synchro and fix it properly. It is only working toward a more difficult lock up.

thank you for the link. i will read up and if i cant fix it ill buy a good use one. Thanks for the info again guys!