Recently my car has had a problem going into reverse. It will shift into drive, and neutral, but it will not shift into reverse. When I try shifting into reverse the car just stays in neutral. I was wondering what the problem might be, if it is the transmission going bad, or if there is something wrong with the clutch, or possibly something else. I need to get my car back and running properly.
Thanks

-chris

 

i had messed with trying to switch out my shifter, and i had a similar problem... i would put it into reverse, but it would not 'catch', and the car would sit in neutral. mine was because i did not install it properly, but yours coould be loose/old bushings or something... try to put it where reverse SHOULD be, then pull it slowly towards D, or up a bit... basically try to 'find' R... move the shifter around... hopefuly it's something small like that, because I think if your gearbox was messed up, you would hear it catching R but not engaging properly or something...

 

Just got my 95 E320 wagon back from the transmission shop a few weeks ago for that EXACT problem. One day it would not go into reverse no matter what you did with the shifter. If the car was running and you put it in revese, the drive train would lock up, like it was in park. If you left the selector in R and turned off the motor, then you would suddenly be in neutral. All my forward gears worked flawlessly. Shop owner said all the reverse springs and clutch had "just come apart in there". He rebuilt the whole thing with all new clutches throughout for $1100, I was tickled pink! I first hoped it was a shifter problem, but no dice. It now shifts like its got a slight shift kit in it, which I like. HTH.

 

alright, I will take it to a shop to get the problem diagnosed. Thanks for your input it helps so much.

chris