I read on this forum that theres is some kind of lockout on these so you cant hit reverse when trying to find 5th . Is this so because I installed a BPP shifter and im grinding when trying to get 5th. I think Im gonna have to realign it or somthing . Its harder to get 5th and 6th 1-4 is a breeze anyone got any info on this ?

Thanks,
Bill

 

The reverse lock-out solenoid is internal to the transmission. You may have an adjustment/alignment issue with the shifter itself.
HTH

 

If your shifter has stops, make sure they are not limiting the shifter travel and preventing it from fully engaging all gears.
As pointed out already, the shifter does not control the reverse lockout. That is a solenoid on the transmission.

I would think that if you have no problems with 1-4, then the shifter position should be correct. Can you change the spring loading to make it easier to get to 5th-6th?

 

I periodically get the same "missed 5th - heading for reverse" grind, and I have a B&M. I'm taking it apart this weekend to to make sure I have everything on correctly

 

Why would it grind if the reverse lockout is working properly This is the million dollar question! Anyone

 

The reverse lockout has an override feature so a car isn't stranded if the solenoid fails preventing the use of reverse. The override is implemented with a spring. When you want to override the lockout you just push very hard agains it to go into reverse. The BPP shifter substantially increases the amount of force to go from the center 3-4 gate to either the 1-2 gate or the 5-6 gate. This is done by narrowing the hole the shifter rod goes through, raising the fulcrum point and adding springs to increase the centering force.

Because it is so hard to make the sideways movement people tend to overcompensate and use a lot of force to shift into 5th. This overcompensation is enough to override the reverse lockout solenoid.

If you were like me and wanted to seal the cabin from the exhaust gases under the car you probably reversed the OEM rubber boot so it would fit over the shifter base. Since the base isn't round like the stock piece the boot rides on top of the base and further interferes with sideways movement.

I had the shifter on the car for a year and hated it. I even took it back to BPP at Carlisle and their shifter guy looked at it and said it was fine. He even told me how nice he thought it was when driving a road course. Right then I knew he hadn't driven any high speed courses or he would know how hard it was to go from 4th to 5th. I went home took and put the OEM shifter on the car and got rid of the BPP piece of crap.

Oh, did I tell you it would rattle so bad at WOT in 3rd gear that you could hear it rattling on my in-car videos even though a 100 mph wind was blowing around the mike and the exhaust was making lots of noise.

Bill

 

With all due respect, I believe that you are incorrect. The lock-out solenoid sits on top of the tranny. They replaced mine without dropping the tranny as the service manual tells you to do. The mechanic had a long skinny socket that fit in an on top of the tranny on fit the solenoid. They showed me in the manual pics of where it is located.

 

Well I changed the springs to the softest ones and im gonna try it . If that dosent do it im thinking return. It is imposible to get 5th without grinding . It works good with the softer springs goes into gear without grinding .I will say it does rattle some but not enough to be annoyed about. Now if I can get the fuel gauge sorted out I will keep it.