I can't seem to shift into reverse, I have to wiggle it, let it sit right up against the area where reverse is, and let it put itself there....
Its not all the time mind you, its only in the morning for the most part.

Any help would be good,
Thanks,
-Karma

 

I want to say syncros but they usually get worse as the tranny warms up not when it's cold. For that reason I would lean more towards the clutch. How well do the other gears engage while shifting under normal driving? How well do they shift under hard and fast shifting? If the rest of the tranny's operation is smooth and trouble free syncros are a definate possiblity, if the rest of the gears feel a little funny under shifting it's clutch time. Reverse is definatly the hardest of all gears to engage, so you do have to expect a little resistance when switching directions of the tranny, but if it is totally not going into gear until it slips in, then something else is wrong. T-5's are hunks of crap so it isn't that supprising if they fail. Good luck and tell us how the rest of the gears feel.

 

Could be your clutch cable needing adjusting.. but for now you could try putting the shifter into 5th gear before trying to get into reverse... See if that helps any..

 

as i recall reverse has no synchro, which is why it will sometimes grind even with a properly functioning clutch system. mine is sometimes hard to get in reverse especially when it is on high idle. if i go to 3rd or 4th then to reverse it goes in quiet and easy


and for the guy that mentioned clutch cable, third gens don't have them, 82-83 had a old style manual z-bar clutch mechanism. 84 an up are hydrualic systems.

 

Yea, I usually shift it into 5th, and then down into reverse, it usually helps, but not all the time.
The rest of the shifting is ok, I think, unfortunatly I haven't driven anything manual minus my camaro, so I don't know the differnace of good versus bad shifting.
Sometimes 1st gets stuck too, but not as often, I figure whatever it is, it will be fixed over time (makes sense eh ^_^)
I just don't want to get stuck in my parking space, because I must back out.

-Karma

 

OK, I had this same problem.. I had the clutch cable adjusted and its all fine now. It used to be hard to get into reverse, and into 1st gear with the engine running.. It would get worse as the engine got hotter.. Gear shifting was nearly impossible above 3500rpm when the engine was hot.

 

Duke is right 3rd gens never had cable clutches, they were either mechanical Z-bar systems or hydraulic systems. I'm not sure when the change was made but 84 sounds pretty reasonable.


Karma the first thing I would check is the clutch hydros...make sure they have plenty of fluid and go ahead and bleed the clutch. If it's leaking or if there's air in the lines the clutch would drag, making it hard to put in gear. It's probably just an air pocket in the hydros.....once the fluid heats up some the air will expand which would explain why it only drags when the engine's cold.

 

Cool, I'll try to go get that checked out, unfortunatly I can't get that far under my car, as I live with a gravel road, Thanks guys ^_^

-Karma

 

I have an '87 IROC and I havethe same prob. When the car is off, I can work the gears silky smooth, but when its running, 1st is really hard to get into and also reverse. Sometimes after making a few 'runs' with the car on some backroads, the tranny seems to loosen right up and shifts perfectly in and out of every gear. I've found that shiftin into 3rd, then 2nd, and then reverse helps reverse engage easier. I also have this prob where after driving on the highway and coming off an exit or something, when I downshift into 4th from 5th its fine, but when I try to go from 4th to 3rd (or 4th to wherever else), the shifter seems to get stuck in the neutral position and I cant move it into any other except back into 4th and I cant even move it side to side. The only way to get it to loosen up is to shift into 4th a couple times until it loosens up. Other than that, its great. What gives??!

 

Well the 1st & Reverse thing sounds like the clutch draggin....check out your hydros and bleed em when you get the chance. The problem with not wanting to leave 4th COULD be the same thing so I'd just try the hydros and see if it helps....otherwise you probably have a bent 3-4 shift fork or maybe just worn out shift fork pads.