Okay I'm working on my 2002 ep3 5 speed transmission. The transmission works great. I was just replacing a noisy input shaft bearing and when I bolted everything back together I'm locked out of 5th and reverse.I already installed the transmission on the car like a dummy . I didn't really know how to test the reverse by hand. So my question is...

how do you test out 5th gear and Reverse with the shifting mechanism?

I can't tell from the videos? Do you lift all the way up on the shifter mechanism for Fifth and reverse before you turn it left or right? Also does anyone have any ideas what I possibly did wrong to be locked out of 5th and reverse? I took off the shifter mechanism and tried to move the fifth reverse shifter fork with a screwdriver.it's definitely Stuck in Neutral I must have jammed it in there somehow. Maybe I put the shift gear in upside down I'm really not sure. The other two shift forks move just fine with a screwdriver and I drove the car .I have first through 4th.... just no reverse and no fifth gear. I really want to know how to test it out since I'm going to have to take it all apart and test it by hand before I bolt it back on the car. I appreciate your help and I have watched a lot of videos. I just can't really tell what they're doing to get it in 5th and reverse. It almost looks like they're lifting all the way up on this shifter mechanism but I'm not really sure. Here's a picture of how I put it back together and also the 5th gear Synchro sleeve did slide off the top they it come off past the bearing but it slid off the synchro and I had a hard time getting it back on but it finally slid back on. Do these only go on one way? So if I got it on I'm good? That's the only other thing maybe I put that on wrong... but I slid it back on and it looked exactly like this before I put the case together. This picture was before I took everything apart of how the car looked in neutral before I messed everything up. I didn't take a picture of the gear stack after I did all the work unfortunately.

 

Do 1-4th drive and move the car or is it locked up solid?

It's entirely possible you knocked it into 5th putting the case on and now the shift mechanism is locked out of the 5th/R gate. This would be the most likely case if it's locked up solid when you select any other gear.

If that's the case you should be able to pull the shift linkage off the top of the case and flip the lever out of 5th. You should see all three gates in alignment when you look down the hole for the shift mechanism.

 

1st - 4th works. It will drive perfectly fine I just have no fifth gear or reverse . The reverse/5 fork is stuck in neutral when you pull off the shift mechanism. It won't budge with a screwdriver. I'm going to take it off and redo it but I need to verify 5th and reverse work with the mechanism by hand when I'm done. Can you tell me how the shift mechanism gets into fifth and reverse by hand cuz I can't tell from the videos? It looks like you pull it all the way up and then move it left or right to get it in fifth and reverse? Sometimes it looks like they're doing something different so I can't really tell. So is this correct for shifting it by hand? To get it in first and second you don't pull up on it at all you just move the lever left and right. To get it in third and fourth you move the lever up one notch and move it left or right to get it in third and fourth. Then for 5th or reverse do you just lift it all the way up I guess that would be the third notch and then move it right and left?

 

You can get the shifter over to the gate for 5/R you just can't go front to back into either?

The shift mechanism gets lifted to the highest position to select 5/R.

 

Thank you. Yes the 5th / Reverse shift gate is stuck in neutral it will not move at all. I have even try to move it with a screwdriver with the mechanism removed.. it's jammed.

 

Everything seemed right before I put the case on and I know I did the snap ring right... it seated into place just fine after I tapped it on the ground. It's going to be interesting to take it apart and see what the heck I did. LOL

 

I figured it out. This time I had the transmission and the and the subframe removed in less than 2 hours. One of the ball detent springs for the 5th and reverse shifter squished the ball into the bolt and jammed the fork. I'm not really sure why. I did not over torque it and I used a new crush washer. The only thing I can think is maybe I had the shifter fork in there wrong and it was at the wrong angle. Or pressed up closer to the hole than it should have been. I took the case off and moved all the forks up and down several times and made sure they were in there right. I put everything back together and all the gears work now and reverse works. I verified by the differential spins the opposite way when it's in reverse. Thanks for your help. Now I just got to put it back on the car on my next day off. I just got to wait for this new detent spring/bolt. I verified by putting a different spring and detent from another hole into the 5th... it doesn't smash now....I don't know what was up with that.