The reverse gear is not working but all other gears work fine.

MARJIE68

MEMBER
1998 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA
130,000 MILES

Is it the gear shift or the transmission going out? It was making a kind of grinding noise when going in reverse and would sometimes pop out of reverse for awhile before it went out. Otherwise it drives fine but it wont go in reverse.

Thursday, October 20th, 2011 AT 3:11 PM

1 Reply

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

There are a couple of things that can cause this. First would be a failing clutch.

Here are a number of guides that will help with this:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/clutch-doesnt-work-sometimes-or-not-at-all

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/clutch-symptoms

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-replace-a-clutch

Normally you will get grinding in first as well, however, that is not required.

The next possible cause if the shifter is out of adjustment. So, I am attaching the info below on how to adjust this and make sure it is not the issue.

The last thing that others have reported is the reverse gear housing has plastic teeth and they strip and break causing no reverse.

I have not seen this but others say it repaired this issue, so it is worth noting.

Please run through this and let us know what other questions you have. Thanks

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