Shawn S

I took a 6-Speed C6 out for a spin last week.
I don’t know the full history of it, but the car was a “dealer buyback” and had about 2,500 miles on it.
I loved the car and am seriously considering buying one in the near future.
The salesman was pretty cool and he let me get on it and have some fun.

One time at about 70MPH going from 4th to 5th I accidentally went too far right and into REVERSE for a split second and made that horrible grinding sound.
Now I’ve owned many stick shift cars and have been driving for over 20-years so I certainly know what I’m doing. I just wasn’t familiar enough with the gate.
Every car I’ve ever driven has some kind of lockout or maneuver that you have to do with the shifter to get into reverse.
On my Acura CL-S, reverse is next to 6th gear down and to the right.
Once moving forward, there is a physical barrier that moves into place that blocks out reverse gear even if you try.

I can’t believe GM wouldn’t have something like that.
Was there something wrong with this car or is that just the way it is?

Thanks,
Shawn S

StanNH

There is a lock-out. Something was wrong.

redvetteC6

Wow, all I know is that I doubt I could ever "accidentally" miss fifth. I have to push it over and up to get in R. I will however, occassionally put in fifth trying to it into reverse. Fifth is an overdrive for me, so when I go to fifth it's not a fast a shift as the rest, FWIW.

anothercrisis

My mn6 has a lockout. I think that car has a problem.

Jim

Shawn S

Yes….Must have been something wrong with that car.
I guess that’s why it was for sale USED with such low mileage.
I found this text in the online manual:


REVERSE (R): To back up, press down the clutch
pedal and shift into REVERSE (R). Just apply pressure
to get the lever past FIFTH (5) and SIXTH (6) into
REVERSE (R). Let up on the clutch pedal slowly while
pressing the accelerator pedal.

Your six-speed manual transmission has a feature that
allows you to safely shift into REVERSE (R) while
the vehicle is rolling at less than 3 mph (5 km/h).
You will be locked out if you try to shift into REVERSE (R)
while your vehicle is moving faster than 3 mph (5 km/h).
If you have turned your ignition off the shifter must be
shifted to REVERSE (R), enabling the vehicle to
be turned off. Otherwise, the vehicle will remain in
accessory mode.

cmb13

I too have hit 5th when trying for reverse. Funny thing is the car is strong enough to pull from 5th!

mlongo99

I've also done that and was surprised that the car went foreward and didn't stall. 5th and reverse are so close together that it requires the lockout to function properly. If it weren't there I would accidently end up in reverse all the time.

Zig

i too have done this, twice, with the same results. Mine was purchased new with 4 miles on it.

RKvette

I wonder if the CAGS elimator allows this?

Good info to know, about the lockout. I was zippin' along in fourth last weekend and was paranoid about NO lockout. I gingerly went to fifth, and found myself in third. I'll be more confident on the move to the right now, since there is no worry about reverse.

Rich

mlongo99

When I installed the CAGS eliminator, I saw that there is a secong plug on that side of the tranny. I assume it is for the reverse lockout solenoid. I wondered weather the CAGS eliminator had any effect on reverse lockout when I installed it and it doesn't.

need-for-speed

From what I've always been told (going back to learning on my Granfather's '62 Biscayne w/ "3 on the tree"), the grinding that you heard IS the lockout. There is no "gate" that prevents you from entering that slot. The grinding is what prevents you and it is not the actual gears that you hear grinding. From what I know, it behaved as it was supposed to.

Shawn S

Well, if that’s true I’m not impressed.
Like I mentioned, my Acura has a motorized bar that moves into place to physically block the shifter from going in that direction.
The gate is real close on this car, closer then the Vette so it needs it.

I guess GM spent too much money making the shifter go from 1-4 to save gas and didn’t care if you grind reverse once and a while.
I suppose after you’ve driven it for a while you get used to the gate which is why more people aren’t noticing this more often.

Shawn S

Zig

aaahhhhh... whew... if this is true then excellent. that there noise sure lets you know in a hurry.... you feel the hairs on your neck stand up..... good to know it's not the gears but rather an "alarm" of sorts saying "hey, stupid, this is a six speed not seven !!"

p-md

Mine will not allow me to go into the reverse gate if I am moving forward. I think that is how it is intended.

mlongo99

The gears are always meshed together, it's just that only one set at a time connects the driveline. The grinding is the dogs trying to lock into a gear (the side of it, not the teeth). It's not a feature but inherent in this type of transmission design. Either way something takes a beating, but I'd definetely rather wear out the dog teeth than the actual gear teeth.

RWSjr

If you have a module to eliminate the 1-4 shift, will that take away the reverse lockout? The two are seperate I thought. If there isn't a rev. lockout, can you add one?

carjon

There was another post somewhere (maybe Tech section) about someone wanting to fool the vehicle into thinking it was in reverse when he shut it off. The answer was there were 2 wires (??) from transmission, 1 to sense reverse and 1 to prevent shifing into reverse when underway. Maybe there was damage to 1 of the wires or maybe there were "mods" done. Dealer should be able to check function of reverse lockout.
By the way the advice was not to fool with either wire because you could end up in reverse when you didn't want to.