Hey folks,

I have an nb2 6 speed (MSM), and although 1-6 are all pretty smooth to get into when warm, I can’t push the shift **** sideways to get it into the reverse gate. Some time’s it’s okay and there isn't too much resistance, but 9/10 times it feels like something is mechanically binding and that I'm going to bend something. Note, this isn’t pulling the gear lever down into reverse gear, the problem is literally just overcoming the reverse gate lockout by moving the lever to the right.

Has this happened to anyone? The issue arose when I changed to ford motorcraft. I’ve since swapped back to Amsoil MTG.

It really feels like something is not lubricated, and or mechanically binding.

 

Bent shift rod/fork?

 

Would that be intermittent? There are times that it does feel smooth... Sliding vertically (in and out of reverse) feels as expected and doesnt bind. Just the depressing of the reverse gate and spring. Almost like imagine like if you had a solonoid, and you push down on the plunger of the solonoid at an angle and the plunger is scraping. That's what it feels like. This makes me think it's not the rod or fork, but rather some spring loaded pin slider that's binding. I'm just not sure I can see in the transmission breakdown where it could be... https://parts.mazdausa.com/a/Mazda_2...10-1720AA.html

I'm almost considering just overfilling the NB transmission to the top of the turret, running it just a bit to get lube into whatever is binding, then drain to the fill level.

 

Lucky for you, 6th/reverse is easily accessible in the rear tail housing. Tear it down and see what’s binding.

You’ve linked a parts diagram, that’s what you use to order parts, not tear down the trans. There’s a 6-speed manual floating around the internets somewhere, find it and download, that’ll help you a lot.

 

Strangely enough, this morning with the car cold, the reverse gate felt good… Really making me think its a lubrication/thermal expansion thing

The “reverse detent” on the 6 speeds, is that from some ball + spring as the 6 speeds don’t have dedicated spring detent assemblies like the 5 speed?

 

Try this.

A friend and old time Corvette driver/racer told me there's a universal fix for that. I smiled and "Sure there is". He told me if I was having trouble getting into Reverse, to put it in Second, let the clutch out a bit, then go into Reverse. That's worked pretty well for me as I was having the same problems as you getting my NB2 6-speed into Reverse with a stock shifter.

 

Hmmm, I have the same **** eating smirk reading this that you probably had when your heard it from your friend haha. Thanks, I'll try this out later today. Did this help with the push the past detent, or the actually slotting into the reverse gear?

 

Can you get it into 5th?

 

I've heard the same, although I was told 4th, I think it just helps move the internals around enough so next time you try reverse, it's "happier".

If this is simply just difficulty getting it into reverse, I also put it partially in reverse, then slowly release the clutch with a little pressure on the shifter. About where the clutch starts to drag, it pops into reverse.