samwes

I am rebuilding a T5 transmission out of a 1987 V8 Mustang. I got it all back together and found it would shift into every gear except reverse. Took it back apart and discovered that if a disconnect the spring on the reverse fork it will go into reverse but when re-connected it will not. Anyone have any insight as to what is the problem?
Thanks.

dawson1112

Did you remove the reverse idler gear at any time? If so did you make sure it was facing the correct direction when it was reinstalled? If the trans is out of the car, rotate the input shaft while selecting reverse, will it go into reverse then? Sometimes to put it in reverse, the gears need to be rotating.

samwes

dawson1112,
Thank you very much for your suggestions. The reverse idler gear was not removed. The transmission is out of the car but rotating the input shaft did not help. I did discover that the 5th/reverse rod was binding where it sits in the front of the case. I reamed out that hole slightly. The shift action appears to be better. I need to re-assemble everything and see what happens.
samwes.