I've had this problem for a pretty long time but I'm afraid its getting a little worse.

Its my 97 Ex 5 speed. The reverse gear can often be kinda hard to get into. Ill have the clutch in and push the stick into reverse but itll act as if there were no gear there.

To get it to go into reverse I can let the clutch up a little to get the gears spinning. If I'm careful I can find that sweet spot without grinding the gear or moving the wheels. Maybe there's a certain gear position they don't like to shift into reverse. All the other gears act fine.

Is this a problem that could get worse or is there anything I can do about it besides transmission surgery/swap?

 

how much play is there when you push the clutch pedal to when it starts engaging the clutch ? should be very little play ... u can use a 12mm open end wrench to crack loose the lock nut and turn the push rod at the mc with your fingers away from the firewall to minimize the play then tighten the lock nut

 

Its not the clutch itself, its just engaging reverse. I did find that on saabs the way the gears work that putting it into first will synchronize the gears, allowing the car to be shifted into reverse. I think this just may be similar with some hondas.

Although I couldn't find any mention of this in any Honda forums.

 

There is a direct correlation between clutch free play and being able to get it to go into the gears however it would be the same for all gears if there was an issue.

For any honda that ive had sometimes ive had to put it into first before going into reverse. This is normal to me.

 

Ok. So I guess its the gear set up. Thanks

 

Both Hondas I have owned(92 Accord, 91 CRX) have been like this; its a typical thing with most manuals because there's the "idler" gear, basically the gear that makes the rotation of the input shaft to a backward motion, so it's a tad trickier; typically if you put it into one of the gears on the lower end of the shift sequence(2/4) it will slide right into reverse, with a bit more force if needed, sometimes even going into 5th first works, too.

 

Ok. Thanks for the tips

 

I think it's more related to the fact that reverse isn't synchronized.

Shifting into 1st uses the 1st-gear synchro to stop the mainshaft spinning. That allows you to engage the unsynchronized reverse. It's especially tough if your clutch is dragging slightly.

Some point around 2000 Saab had a brake on reverse. Kinda like a simplified synchro but only worked to stop things - not synchronize them while everything is moving.

 

awesome thanks for the info , Jim