Reluctant to engage reverse gear

Engage first gear, then shift into reverse....works for me, no more noise...

 

Make sure to press down also.

 

Dave's right; this is common procedure.

Also, you might want to try Red Line trans lube. A friend just changed over, and he reports smoother shifting, and no more crunching 2nd gear when cold.

 

On my 308, before I shifted into Reverse, I would shift into 2nd, then 4th, and then reverse. Worked like a charm, every time. Make sure you're pressing down firmly (to get a few millimeters of vertical travel) when selecting reverse.

--Mike

 

What about the shift gate plate or the linkage? I remember that was a problem on the 308's shifter linkage getting a little slop in them resulting in striking the gate.

 

No.

If all is well there will be no clunking.

The clunk is caused by the gearbox input shaft/internals still turning. This is due to either..... vehicle movement, a dragging clutch/spigot bearing or a high drag in the box or it's oil.

When very cold (first ten minutes), you may get some oil drag, but when warmed up it should never clunk if the correct oil is fitted.

Obviously, if you push the lever within milliseconds of pressing the clutch, the inertia of the box will still be in effect, but one second of waiting should be enough to let it stop.

The shift gate will make no difference at all.

 

This was also a problem for me when I had a 328,I also shifted to first then reverse engaged with no crunching.

 

try pressing the clutch and waiting 5 seconds before selecting. This will tell you if you have drag.