had reverse drove home came out in the mourning no reverse, goes in all other gears fine! no bad noise's, 7500 miles, fuse for trans good, going to check wiring today,dealer tomorrow, ant Idea's??? THANKS Quinn

 

Sounds like you're on the right track. Double-check which fuse, or check them all. I seem to recall that the reverse lockout solenoid is on a different fuse than the CAGS, so there may be two fused labelled "transmission", or one that is for the reverse lockout but labelled something else.

Other than that, yes, check the wiring at the solenoid (not easy to get to, but not impossible) you should have 12 V or so between them when the car is on and standing still. And at the same time you can check the solenoid, should have a little resistance, maybe 10 - 50 Ohms.

On the other hand, I'd expect if there was an electrical problem you'd have a code showing - almost all of these control circuits are monitored, so I wouldn't let out a mechanical problem, either in the shifter or transmission.

Hope its something simple like a fuse or loose connector!

 

My `06 MZ6 (Z51 manual tranny) often has "no reverse" when I first start it in the morning. Has been that way almost since the beginning. Maybe 70% of the time, on cold starts only. Will just will not go into reverse. Goes into all other gears fine.

So after starting the engine cold I let the car roll backwards a few feet with clutch pedal down of course while gently and slowly wiggling / directing the shifter toward the reverse gate... and eventually it slides in... usually after maybe 5 or 10 seconds max. Or while rolling backwards I'll move the shift lever through some of the other gears too then try reverse, etc. It always goes in, but only after a bit of wiggling etc while the car is rolling slowly with clutch pedal down. I never tried "forcing it", would never do that anyway.

Seems to be a mechanical issue, not an electronic issue. I do have a CAGS eliminator installed, but it was installed properly and I've never had a single problem with it.

After the first cold start of the day, all gears are perfect, smooth, effortless... including reverse. It's only the first reverse shift after the cold start that's "fussy". I consider this "normal". I never owned a manual tranny car that didn't give a little fuss in certain situations.

Wonder if what you experienced was just a fairly typical mechanical issue like what I have, or indeed an electronic issue. Let us know what you find.

 

I have the same probelm on my 05 Z51. I bought it about 2 months ago with 25,000 miles. I also checked the reverse lockout but was not the cause. Ive been telling myslef i needed to take it to the dealership but have been hoping it was normal. I was worried it might be a damaged synchro. If it is normal...i think its kinda shotty workmanship on GM's part. I would feel more comfortable about it if i heard some other people expeirencing the same problem thoguh.

 

It's there, just is awful temperamental. Move your stick over to where it should be and slowly release the clutch, you should feel the stick slip right into gear. Only seems to happen to me when cold also.

 

I never drove a manual transmission vehicle that didn't have an occasional quirk like this. I consider it "normal" for almost any manual tranny.

In my case, reverse only gives me a fuss the very first time I reach for it after starting the car cold... after that every is perfect. Doesn't happen every single time anyway.

When I consider how well this car runs / shifts etc overall, I can only think about how excellent a job GM did with this car. Remember too, the tranny is in the back, this ain't a "top-loader" or anything, there are going to be "losses" with extra linkage. Given that, I think it's pretty darned good.

 

I agree with you, this is one fine piece of machinery.

 

I may well be with the majority here... I have never had a problem with any gear - ever.

 

I agree that its a fine piece of machinery...GM outdone itself in everyway possible when they developed the C5-C6 corvettes, but ive never had a manual tranny that gave me as much trouble about reverse as mine. You really look like an idiot when your in the front of a parking lot fiddling around with reverse and can't hit it. Its just a pain.

 

if reverse works when you are able to get it into reverse then i would check the linkage. it may be possible that the clamp is loose and allowing it to slip just enough to prevent it from going all the way over into reverse.

i had a similar problem after installing an aftermarket shifter. the problem didn't occur right away but eventually it became such a problem i almost threw the shifter out. turned out to be the linkage clamp.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...42&postcount=6



the clamp is that southmost hex bolt. the one on the bottom edge of the pic.