Keep shifting into Reverse instead of 5th?
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 64
Likes: 0
From: Charlotte, NC
Keep shifting into Reverse instead of 5th? This sounds like a newb Manual driver thing, but I'm not the only one who's done this. My buddy Mike, who has been driving stick for a decade and a Z/28 for 7 years, even managed to do it twice when he first drove my car. You can still go into 5th but you have to be really slow and gentle or else you'll hear the grinding of Satan when it accidentally goes into reverse.
Now, I asked my mechanic (GM mech) about it to see if maybe the lockout was broken but he said if the lockout wasn't on right you'd get a warning light for it and I haven't yet. I know it has to be the lockout though because it should be physically impossible to shift it into reverse above 5mph.
Is it the lockout? If so I guess it's because a short-shift kit was taken off by the previous owner and the stock shifter reinstalled before I bought it. The previous owner is a GM mechanic (not my personal mechanic though) so he shouldn't have effed it up.
Does this all really matter if I'm about to buy a short shift kit anyways in about a month? I was thinking the hurst billet plus or pro 5.0 but I'm not sure. Any recommendations would be nice too!
Now, I asked my mechanic (GM mech) about it to see if maybe the lockout was broken but he said if the lockout wasn't on right you'd get a warning light for it and I haven't yet. I know it has to be the lockout though because it should be physically impossible to shift it into reverse above 5mph.
Is it the lockout? If so I guess it's because a short-shift kit was taken off by the previous owner and the stock shifter reinstalled before I bought it. The previous owner is a GM mechanic (not my personal mechanic though) so he shouldn't have effed it up.
Does this all really matter if I'm about to buy a short shift kit anyways in about a month? I was thinking the hurst billet plus or pro 5.0 but I'm not sure. Any recommendations would be nice too!
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 587
Likes: 12
From: Connecticut SE shore
It doesn't sound like a newbie thing to me. That shouldn't be possible. I've never done it on two different cars. It takes a bit of extra effort to push the shifter further right to slide into reverse.
I swapped a T56 into one of my cars. I drove it before I wired the lock out solenoid, it did exactly what you describe. Sounds like your lock out solenoid might be bad. If a GM tech or anyone else for whatever reason wanted to get rid of the solenoid it can be tuned out so the light doesn't come on.
The shifter and lock out solenoid don't really have anything to do with each other on a T56. The whole lock out mechanism is inside the trans, it can't be seen with the shifter off (if I remember correctly) I put a Hurst billet plus on mine and it had no effect on the lock out.
The shifter and lock out solenoid don't really have anything to do with each other on a T56. The whole lock out mechanism is inside the trans, it can't be seen with the shifter off (if I remember correctly) I put a Hurst billet plus on mine and it had no effect on the lock out.
What everyone else has said. I have found it's absolutely impossible to shift into reverse, even if you try to force it. Remember that the check engine light will only come on if it detects something is wrong. It's possible that the solenoid broke in such a way that hte computer won't detect it, or that it's been tuned out of the computer.
I'd swap it before you accidentally blow up the trans lol.
I'd swap it before you accidentally blow up the trans lol.
An easy way to check if the lockout solenoid is working is to try to put it in reverse with the key off, it shouldn't be able to go into reverse. Not until you turn on the car, should power go to the solenoid, retracting it, allowing you to go into reverse.
And if it does go into reverse, does that mean the reverse lockout solenoid needs replacing?
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