Unable to find any info I figured would start a new thread.

For about 4 months now I have been having a problem occasionally engaging into reverse.

When trying to shift into reverse it is as if something is blocking the shifter and the car stays in neutral. I have to really muscle it and after several attempts it usually goes in. One time I actually had to Flintstone it when parallel parking, pretty embarrassing haha.

2003 350z - Track edition - manual

Anyone else have such issues?

Thanks in advance...

 

Any other gears give you a problem?
How many miles?
Ever service the fluids?

 

 

Are you pushing down on the shift **** before shifting it into reverse?

 

Fresh oil change 1,500 miles ago and they topped off all the fluids. No other problems whatsoever. I have ~72,000 miles. And yes, I push down on the shift ****. Funny thing is when a friend moved my car he said he did not push down on the shift **** to engage in reverse and it slipped right it.

 

How long have you had the car? How long have you noticed it for? You would never find reverse without pushing down on the shifter, whether he did it and didn't realize it who knows.

Likely what it is the gear just isn't meshing, your reverse gear is a straight cut gear so it doesn't mesh as smoothly. Sometimes when you disengage the clutch the gear will stop spinning just in the right spot so that the other gear won't mesh with it, hence you can't get the shifter over into reverse. So, you need to spin the gear again so it stops in a different spot, engage the clutch just for a moment while the shifter sits in neutral and the gear will spin and odds are stop in a different orientation and allow the shifter to fall into reverse.

The only other thing I can think of is your transmission was abused, and I mean badly and a shift fork is bent... but I highly doubt it. Try what I mentioned above next time it happens.