i just got back from open track day at willow springs last night and now my car wont go into reverse! what could have happened? i had previous 3rd gear syncro problems but idk if thats a reason. btw i own a 94 prelude s (f22a1)

 

i think its something with the shift forks getting slightly out of place...on my old tranny it happened every now and then if i really was putting it to work...it also happened on my bros old car

both trannys here did have syncro problems...so i guess its a common trait

the best you can do is play around shifting and eventually it'll work after a day or two

it sucks

 

thanks i hope it does lemme go into it sooner or later. cuz last night it wouldnt let me in at all. but now it kinda lets me in.

 

this happened to my buddy's 5th gen, try not to force it in too much cuz eventually, he bent the shift fork and he was screwed.

 

i've seen this problem posted a few years ago and helped them. i have a 94 h22 and had the same problem too in my first year or so. all you have to do is grind it. push it into reverse and level that gas and clutch. keep pushing/grinding to get it in using different methods . it should work in a few tries. you may feel sorry for the tranny but it will fix it. the cause of the problem for me was going in reverse when you're still rolling backwards. if you go reverse and go to neutral, but you want to go back to reverse--STOP BEFORE YOU DO SO. if you don't then you will hear a grind and this problem may occur.

 

Don't grind your gears. Either fix it correctly when you find out what is wrong, or deal with your problem. Don't wear your gears out, though.

Check your fluid level. That is the first thing I'd do.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1GPlusSH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Don't grind your gears. Either fix it correctly when you find out what is wrong, or deal with your problem. Don't wear your gears out, though.

Check your fluid level. That is the first thing I'd do.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Unfortunately, the only way to fix this without opening up the transmission is to wait for a miracle, or grind away. The problem happens when the idler gear gets stuck and cannot mesh with the reverse gears on the mainshaft and countershaft.

Low fluid may lead to a problem like this, but adding fluid will certainly not fix it.

 

So you agree he needs to check the transmission fluid....

If it's only low fluid causing this, he needs to fill it up.
If what you're saying has happened, he still needs to check his fluid.

 

Can you put it into reverse with the car off?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by honda_andy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">this happened to my buddy's 5th gen, try not to force it in too much cuz eventually, he bent the shift fork and he was screwed.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Have you seen the shift forks before? I'd LOVE to see you try and bend one via a cable wire (how our cars are shifted).

As you mentioned, this problem usually occurs after a hard 3rd gear miss and grind. I had the same problem and I tore into my transmission and surprisingly, nothing looked wrong. I re-assembled it and put it back in and it worked fine. If I had to do it over I would just go ahead and grind it as some others have mentioned. Because when this happens, your transmission is already on its way out anyways and a few more grinds trying to fix reverse isn't going to make much of a difference.

Also, bb4ever, how are you saying the idler gear gets stuck? It slides up and down on a shaft and either meshes or doesn't. It is common for it not to mesh perfectly, which is usually when you slowly ease off the clutch and it will fall in, or you just go to 1st and try again and it moved the gears enough to let it mesh this time. Everyone has felt this if they own a Prelude.

 

It seems like some key players have posted in this thred, and although my problem isn't exactly the same maybe some of you could shed some insight... https://honda-tech.com/zeropost...09827

I had your problem of not getting into reverse before simply by, what I think was stopping at an awkward spot in the tranny. All I had to do was move the car a little bit by hand and it went into gear MUCH easier.

 

well i just replaced the tranny fluid and im full on it, so its not low on tranny fluid, so i put it on a hill and put it in reverse and got it in reverse so now it semi goes into reverse and works so im just gonna deal with the problem, seeing as i dont have much money at all

 

yea the grind is the only way to do it...matt and myself both beat the titty out of ours when they got stuck...f h series trannys

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4bidden &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Also, bb4ever, how are you saying the idler gear gets stuck? It slides up and down on a shaft and either meshes or doesn't. It is common for it not to mesh perfectly, which is usually when you slowly ease off the clutch and it will fall in, or you just go to 1st and try again and it moved the gears enough to let it mesh this time. Everyone has felt this if they own a Prelude.

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i have been under the impression that the reason reverse won't engage has something to do with the linkage and all to move the idler gear, hence me labeling that situation "stuck"

that isnt to say that its stuck to the shaft it rides on, but something that moves it is stuck.....

 

yep happend to me one night at the track

it was "stuck" for about a week
my parking lot was on a slant at the time so i kept turning the car around and letting it roll back into a space so i could pull out.

just kept working it through 1st, 2nd, and reverse tryint to get it to allign.....let the clutch out a bit....i guess i was using the grind method and didn't know it.......eventually it went it and got better after about another week

 

yeah mine slowly went back to normal, thanks for everything

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1994hondaprelude_dude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah mine slowly went back to normal, thanks for everything</TD></TR></TABLE>

Cool cause I wouldn't suggest letting a problem like this linger. You don't want to go around bending your forks.