Bad in Reverse, worried about Transmission
 

Hi all, I have a 2004 MT that's got about 9 months of warranty left on the drive train, I've only had the car for about 4 months, and I've only put miles 15014 to 15908 on it.

I am a little worried, however.

1) Most '04 transmission problems seem to happen around 30k, and my car is low mileage. I'm worried the transmission is going to fail when I'm out of warranty.

2) I am a bad driver. I don't know what a transmission should feel like because I've only driven pieces of crap before. I can't detect what might be obvious trouble to other people. I've only been driving 6 years and I've got no racing experience.

3) About one in five times, my car won't go fully into reverse. I push the shifter down and pull it all the way back into R, it seems in, the shifter stays back, then I let off the clutch and get on the gas to hear a nasty "WHIRRRRR" noise that sounds ominously like grinding gears and my car gets no reverse drive. I have to take it out "of gear", put it back, and hope it works this time (and it's never done that twice in a row). Meanwhile, I'm just trying to get back on the brake in time not to roll into anything downhill.

Is my problem with reverse an indication of a bad transmission? Should I be doing something to get this warrantied?

normal.


next time try going into 1st or 3rd then going into reverse. you are not pulling it far enough into reverse, you're just on the edge of it, which is why it's grinding.

+1

sometimes it takes me several tries to fully get it in reverse.

Sometimes I have to gently pull back on the shifter while also SLOWLY letting up on the clutch pedal to align the synchros/gears for reverse. I don't exactly have the best of transmissions out here, either.

Mine does it all the time when its cold. I changed fluids and it mostly went away.

RX-8's are just a pain to get in reverse :dunno:

I have an '07 too.

Switching to synthetic (royal purple or redline) helps a LOT. The problem is the reverse gear doesn't have a synchro, so if you just happen to be on the edge of a gear tooth, it won't go in. Shifting into first and second fixes it 90% of the time, however my 100% fix is just letting off the clutch smoothly while dropping it into gear. Have fun!

Your problem IS NOT reverse. Your problem is that you're shifting into 6th thinking you got R. :p

Don't worry. I do sometimes. Nasty grinding sound and all. My transmission seems to work fine, and when I recently did a transmission oil change, I didn't notice an obscene amount of metal particulates in the waste oil. In fact, it was pretty clean...

+1

me too.

btw, my original transmission would grind into reverse quite a bit more than my new one does. The new one slides in with far less fuss. It might just be that the new tranny has all the shift fork revision/fixes.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I know for a fact I'm not putting it into 6th, but I buy the lack of syncro. So 1st, then 2nd (with clutch depressed, obviously), then R? I'll try it.

Are there any tests I can do to make sure that my transmission isn't on the verge of failing, however? I really don't want to replace a tranny at 20k mi just after it goes out of warranty.

Well, if your tranny is failing, you'll know it. Synchros won't be working properly, and gears are gonna make a hellish noise while driving.

If you wanna be sure you got "R", push the shifter all the way to the right, THEN push down, before moving south. You'll feel there's a little extra notch the shifter will fall into if you push down after you move the shifter all the way right.

+1

however I still have this issue pop up when it's cold out...helps but not a cure

Normal. I've done it a few times myself. Not frequently though. The noise is scary enough that I now always double check to make SURE I'm in reverse

It has happened to me a few times on the first cold start of the day. I dont know what causes it but I have gotten to the point where I can now feel when the shifter has gone over into "reverse" but it will grind. As mentioned above, I have found the easiest way to avoid it is to just shift into like first then third then reverse. That has worked 100% of the time for me.

I have an 07 with about 1300 miles on it

So, I FINALLY figured out what causes this for me. The fact is that my shifter has three positions for reverse.

1) Anywhere clearly not in gear - the shifter pops back to N if you don't hold it, there's no click or anything to indicate you might be in gear

2) Not in gear, but seems like it - the shifter "pops" and feels like it's gone into R, it stays in that position if you let go, feels like any other gear on any other car but don't believe its LIES!

3) In gear - there's a little click if you continue to push about 1cm further, feels like forcing it sometimes, like you shouldn't do it. Now it's in gear.

Do you guys all have this? That's why I kept missing the gear and it's not like any other transmission I've had.

I have an interesting twist on this. The only time this ever seems to happen to me is when I'm getting ready to back out of my parking spot at work, which is on a slight uphill grade. I wouldn't think that the grade would have anything to do with engaging reverse, but it happens enough that I've become convinced that it's not a coincidence. My car is a 2007. Any insights?

very normal personally i take mine in and out of reverse 2 or 3 times to b sure it's in there

if you try to put it in gear, it doesn't go in all the way, you put it in neutral and let out the clutch, and then it goes in - this is normal

otherwise you have a major repair coming soon, you'll know it's that time when you lose reverse completely

It took me a month or 2 to figure that out. It seems that its more prone to grind when the car is cold. Now I shift in reverse twice just to make sure.

i find it pretty easy to go in reverse if you shift a little early while moving about a 1/2 mile per hour so the gears sink in good . me 2 cts.

mabe it just my style but it works for me .maybe the speed is lower than a 1/2 mph but i/m still moving a little forward close to a stop when i shift then engauge back!

yeah i have done that too ^^^^ it does work

Thanks guys for the answer .. it happened a few times in the last 2 weeks to me ..

Mine is more like 2 types of reverse...

1) not in gear. I pull back, it stays, but there's a definite empty feeling. It doesnt feel like it's locked in gear... it feels too smooth.

2) in gear. yay! I did it!

i get this often...you just learn to feel the false gear and then all i do is let off the clutch a tad and it slips right into reverse with little effort...try it. a +