Wow, from '05.

 

Well- Good to know I am not the only one to do this (on several occasions)

For me- fifth gear on my 2002 Z06 can be elusive, unless I am articulating my MGW shifter lightly. Don't recall the issue with the oem , but sloppy, shifter. It does make an awful noise too

 

I think it very unfortunate that GM positioned reverse at the upper right of the shift pattern on manual C5s. With these miserable-shifting transmissions it is not hard to go for 5th and not hit it. Reverse should be next to first, on the other side of the pattern. Or down next to 6th gear--you'd be less likely to boggle 5-to-6 than 4-to-5.

 

Digging this thread up again. Unless the solenoid is bad you should NEVER be able to go from 4th to Reverse!!! If the solenoid is lazy or bad you can go right into reverse. I, am however, having the opposite problem. Mine hates going into reverse and my arms getting stronger each time I have to force it over there and I am sick of it. ( months) Tonight I will verify it's hooked up and if so hit it with a hammer a few times to see if it unlocks. I'll check the pin connections, and if that don't do it, another solenoid.

 

Hey, the Z I picked up has this issue... Seems the reverse lock out works randomly.

Here's my scenario:

I will often shift 1, 3, 5, 6... Sometimes depending on my mood I'll go through the gears. I've noticed about 20% of the times I shift from 4th to 5th, 3rd to 5th or 6th to 5th, It'll slip right into the reverse position and grind. A friend of mine asked me why I was putting it in reverse at speed (the reverse lights were going on).

When I shift in most cases, I'm hardly using any pressure at all to move the shifter, so I know I'm not over powering the shift. I've tried testing my theory by pulling the car out of 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th at speed and moving the shifter left and right to see if the lockout is working... In all cases it seemed to be working. But randomly it will not.

Is this a problem that'll require repair to the transmission? Is this common?

 

From what I have read there is interlock in the shifter that prevents you from shifting in to reverse if your going faster than 2MPH so how did you manage this?

 

It's your reverse lockout solenoid mine went bad, and i could go into reverse when shifting into 5th. Just replaced it and now have no problem.

 

Do you have the stock shifter or an aftermarket shifter? Is it possible that with the long throw from 2nd to 5th (especially with the stock shifter) and the fact that you were rowing the gears so briskly that you disengaged the clutch before the car was actually into 5th gear causing the grind?

 

This is one case where I think that the Germans got something right. On BMWs the Reverse gear is to the left of first gear. So in neutral you have to go way left and then up. There is extra effort added to get it to the R gear instead of normal 1st gear to the left. Then when your moving its locked. But normally you aren't going to 1st with spirited driving.

BTW your problem is a sensor/computer. Basically think of the computer in the car as a 56k modem. It works well sometimes, but others it gets bogged down. Sometimes from a faulty sensor/touchy ground/etc. You can start with changing the sensor and/or looking for loose connections around the tranny. Your solenoid is not engaging the blockout plate, you did nothing wrong.

 

It may be the shifter that is the problem... (?)

Was that a repair to the transmission itself? How much did the repair run?

I have a stock shifter right now, but I ordered the RSD Snap shifter last night. I know for sure the clutch was definitely pressed to the floor. I'm sure if this was a clutching issue, it wouldn't have anything to do with letting me into the reverse position. The last time it did this to me, I pulled the shifter down to see if it'd go into 6th. I did not. I had to move the shifter to the left to get it into 6th. It's definitely letting me into the reverse position.

Where are the sensors? I'll probably look it up. I'm sure a Haynes book would be a good purchase right now. I have no codes coming up, btw.

 

If everything works fine, I'd say you didn't do any harm - just be more careful shifting next time.

 

Interesting enough, today it hasn't happened. It happened quite a few times yesterday, but I've driven my car a lot today, and haven't hit reverse once by mistake today. Maybe because I'm aware of the problem though.

 

My 02Z was doing the same thing. It would clearly allow you to pop over into the reverse gate occasionally, very random. 99% of the time I would notice and no grinding would occur, but that isn't a good thing to have to worry about everytime you go for 5th in your daily driver IMO. The solenoid itself is on the very top of the tranny. If you basically bear hug the transmission you can get your hands on it, but I'm not sure you could remove it like that. I believe the manual instructs to drop the tranny to do the remove and replace...

I had my clutch changed a couple weeks ago, I should have just purchased a solenoid and had the shop throw it in real quick while all that was out, but I literally didn't have the spare $200 for the solenoid.

Luckily it appears that the clutch swap process of having everything out, presumably the solenoid's electical connector was removed/replugged in, probably some grounds were re-tightened, etc, has cured the issue 100% so far. I'm crossing my fingers it does not return. I used to have the problem with it once every second or third day driving the car, zero occurences in the 2.5 weeks since everything was apart.

If it isn't a hassle for you to get the car jacked up you might see if you can get your hands on the solenoid and electrical connector and try just unplugging it, cleaning the plug if at all possible, and re-plugging it back in. Could just be an iffy connection...

 

Excellent info. I have access to a lift, so I'll see what I can see. Thanks!

 

Just had mine fixed at Corvettes of Westchester. They did not drop the tranny, they removed the X-pipe and reached up over the trans. grabbing 5th is a pleasure again.

 

My guess is you ground a GEAR and not Reverse -

Like stated your tranny can't be dumped in reverse when driving.

Thanks,Matt

 

Now the real question is. Why was she jumping in your lap? She's not tall enough to touch the pedals.

 

Trust me, it's not grinding a gear.

Last night it happened again on my way home. This time, no grind. I caught it before I pushed up. I then moved the shifter all the way to the left and then all the way to the right to see and sure enough, I could go all the way to the right and see my reverse lights turning on in the reflection of the signs. I did that a couple times to double check. Trust me, it's definitely the reverse lock out not locking me out.

I guess I'll have to get that taken care of.

Anyone know what the general cost to repair that is?

 

These cars are tough and designed for the unexpected,I threw my Auto in reverse and it shut the motor down,I cranked back up and drove off ,no problems.

 

Hi There;
I don't think you hit reverse as the lock out feature prevents this from occuring.I think what you did was what most of us do once in great while when we run through the gears. Your in 4th & shift to 5th but hit 3rd gear instead & the rpm needle goes into the red zone.
robsc501