OK, I searched to forums, but did not find anything on this. I just got my 03Z (LOVE IT!). The only thing I noticed is that I think it is way too easy to accidentally go towards reverse when trying to go into 5th. It did not happen to me, but my father in law did it, and I heard it grind. I know there is supposed to be a safety for this, but it iappears to not be working. Also, I noticed my 1to4 is not forcing me to go into 4th which I am glad about, but I was wondering if the two are related? Thanks in advance!

 

There is a reverse lock-out but they have been known to go bad. Also CAGS may have been disabled by the previous owner.

 

Crawl under and take a look the CAGS will be obvious as there should be a dummy dust connector plugged in at the transmission, check your connections for the reverse lockout might have come loose.

 

Sorry, I was mistaken. The 1st to 4th lockout does work. That option stinks by the way...I am sure it can be disabled somehow. Just the reverse is a problem now. I definitely can grind reverse when trying to go into 5th, I know I should not be doing that, and probably wont, but my wife will drive the car sometimes so I have to resolve that issue. I will lookup threads for CAGS cause I have no idea what that is. Thanks again all!

 

sometimes mine will do it also going to 5th if I haven't backed up 1st, not sure if it matters but my heads up display doesn't show speed either anymore, just the tach readout works. I never have it on but I thought it all worked before I have the car at a stereo store getting sirius put in it.

 

MY HUD is working properly. I just ordered the CAGS eliminator for the 1to4 shift. I just have to figure out the reverse thing. I caught myself headed all the way over towards reverse when going into 5th a couple of time. I relized it though, and did not grind anything. I am sure it is because this is my first day with the car, but I am also sure that this will happen to my wife, and she may do some grinding. I have to address this ASAP.

 

the cages can be turned off by any local tuner.
and as for the miss shift into 5th there should be a lockout as long as you are going faster then 15mph? with a little more time behind the wheel you will get use to putting it in 5th.

 

use the page button and it will reappear.

 

Its probably the reverse lock out solenoid that is not working, and probably needs to be replaced, as it should not let you put it in reverse even if you wanted to if your not stopped.

 

Can anyone tell me where that reverse lockout solenoid is located? Is there a way to test it? I guess I can give it a shot at replacing it myself if I can verify whether or not it is bad, and if it is not extremely difficult.

 

Reverse Inhibit Description and Operation
The reverse inhibit solenoid is a safety feature which prevents an inadvertent shift into reverse at speeds above 5 km/h (3 mph). The system consist of the following components:

The powertrain control module (PCM).
The reverse inhibit solenoid.
With the ignition ON, battery voltage is supplied directly to the reverse inhibit solenoid. At forward speeds above 5 kp/h (3 mph) the PCM grounds the control circuit of the reverse inhibit solenoid. This energizes the solenoid and mechanically blocks the shift lever from going into the REVERSE position.

However, the solenoid enables a spring loaded blocker which can be over ridden if the driver uses enough force when shifting. This a fail safe feature in case the solenoid fails in the wrong position and you need to get the car into reverse. If you have an aftermarket shifter that has increased centering force it is easier to overpower the spring as some shifters require a lot of force to get into 5th thus leading the driver to slam the shift and over power the lockout.

Check your On Board Diagnostics for code P0801 which indicates if the PCM has detected an electrical problem with the lockout.

Hope that you have a wiring problem Vs needing to replace this part. It is not easy to get to and requires dropping the rear spring and lowering the rear suspension cross member (and drive line) about an inch and a half to get to the part.

Bill

 

ouch...No codes! I was planning on putting in a C6 shifter though. Do you think there is any chance at all that it might help with thi problem?

 

Your problem sounds just like mine. The lockout does not work and I can't let the wife drive the car until it does. Not a big problem for me, but a real annoyance.

Previous threads suggested checking that the connector for the solinoid was making good contact. That is my next task.

There are several other threads on this. Check them out. I think there was reference to a special tool that makes the job a lot easier.

 

I had my sel replaced
it shifts great now
all the rev/5th grind went away

 

So how did you make out? I think I have the same issue on my 03Z. I just figured that I still needed more time to get the shift pattern down but it just didn't make sense that it would even go to reverse. I've done it twice and the grind is just sicking.