Stuck in Reverse!

[JackHopkins]

hello all i was wondering if i can get any advice. i have been driving my van this arvo everything was going well, i came back to park my car, reversed it in fine and then i went to put the car back into first and the gearbox wouldnt let me. Its a m20 behind a 202 and it now wont come out of reverse and its neutral range. any advice and help would be great cheers

[hxbunny]

Sounds like the shifter has jumped out of the reverse gate without dissengaging the reverse gear.

Cheers Mark

[RodneyHZ253]

Mate very common just put it back to reverse and take it out of reverse by comming back to the natural before you shift accross with the selector , if you kind of cut a corner going back into neutral the selector for reverse drops back into reverse when it clears the gate

[Vombil]

Yeah as Rodney says. I think I used to carry a screwdriver and flick the gates around a bit. They are a crummy box. Get a supra 5 speed!!!!

[wbute]

Shift it slowly out of reverse. Do not make the mistake of giving it a bootful while its stuck in 1st and reverse at the same time. Heard of it happening a while ago. Not a good result.
How did holden sell so many cars with that terrible shifter is beyond me lol.

[L31 Sandman]

This happened to a friend of mine way back in the way back days. His car would only go backwards as he thought he couldn't a forward gear so he he drove home in reverse and parked it. He thought his box was stuffed and being an apprentice he had no money so he had to save! anyway 2 weeks later, he released the hand brake mechanism and presto he now had forward gears. His brother inlaw who was the last one to work on the car adjusted the hand brake cable so it actuallly worked but did not tell my mate who always thought his hand brake just did not work! True story from 27 years ago.

[sandman 78]

l had the same problem with a hj sandman years ago l had to pull out the console get a screw driver push the clutch in and ease the selector should go back in to neutrel then l suggest piss the box off and get some thing alot better than what you got good luck what ever you do

[buickzz]

I had the same problem and also fixed it as others have discussed here. My mechanic said it was as shifter problem. The mechanism had worn or spread apart. He took it away and worked on it. Problem solved. M20-21s seem to have a bad name but I don't recall any issues when I had one from new. Some of them may be just getting old and worn and require attention?

[wbute]

Its wear in the shifter its self. When you go out of the reverse gate the gear lever moves but the selector stays where it was. If you then stick it in first you are now in two gears at once. There are washers and bushes that become loose over time allowing this to happen. But if you get excited when you pull it out of reverse it will happen anyway.
Seems holden converted what was basically a column shift setup to floor shift, and they were on a tight budget.
Finding second gear in an aussie 4 speed when it was cold was an issue from new from what I have heard. It will go in, but it clearly doesn't want to. Perhaps thats why most aussie 4 speeds blew up. I skip second and go for 3rd when its cold.
You can see why everyone went for a smooth shifting 5 speed conversion in the day.
How come no one ever made a quality after market shifter for the Aussie 4 speed? Reckon there would have been a big market for one in the 70's/80's.

[HK1837]

Thee were a few good aftermarket shifters. Speco to name one. Jack, you can buy a new shifter from Rares.

Remember Jack Brabham and Stirling Moss in the Blues Union A9X 4 door getting hit up the bum on the start line? 1977 I think it was. This is what happened to that car I was told, as it was a road car with an M21 in it ie it got stuck in reverse on the start line!