B2000 transmission problem

Hoping someone can help me out here, the previous owner of my truck installed a new clutch but when he put it back together it won't go into reverse I knew this ahead of time and figured should be an easy fix. Does anyone have a copy of the factory service manual for a 86-87 B2000? I've been trying to locate one on ebay but no luck or should I just pick up a chiltons/haynes manual?

Before you go to the expense of a manual, which in this case I don't think it is going to help you anyway, let me ask a question or tow, (oops, I ment two) and offer a couple of ideas. . .

Does the vehicle drive forward in all five gears?

Does it shift smoothly through all five?

What exactly happens when you try to put it in reverse?

A clutch replacement normally does not involve anything internal to the transmission.

I don't know your level of expertise so maybe this is overkill for you. . .bear with me.

5th gear and reverse share the same actuator inside the tunnel.

Have you been under the truck to look at the transmission?

Can you tell whether someone has been inside it?

Normally aftermarket manuals provide no help for transmission internal problems.

You may only have to take the shifter out and re-install it correctly. It's secured to the transmission tunnel with four 12mm head bolts.

It drives and shifts fine 1-5 when I try to put it in reverse its like hitting a wall it wont even go in reverse. My level of expertise isn't expert but I do most of my own repairs so I'm comfortable wrenching on an engine. I didn't look under the truck yet but someone did mention to me reverse is external from the trans so I'm hoping its an easy fix. Was hoping someone had a factory service manual maybe with some diagrams or a good explanation the steps I should take.

Whatever you were told by that person is wrong.

I have already told you the simple thing to check.

The reverse fork and 5th gear fork are inside the main transmission, and they share the same actuation rod.

The shifter has a ball with a pin on it that goes into a socket.

You take it out, and look into the hole to see if all the parts that it would intersect are in correct alignment.

Internal to the transmission, when you push the shifter to the right to attempt to engage reverse, there is a spring that should compress from the shifter input. Do you feel that resistance when you attempt to place the shifter into reverse?

There are three receivers on three rods inside the transmission. {1-2} {3-4} {5-R} If the shifter was pulled without it being in neutral, there is a really good chance that one of the rods is not centered correctly, probably the one that drives 5th gear.

You might be able to rachet it back if you pull the shifter out of the top of the transmission and verify things.

Anything beyond this will probably require transmission removal. I have heard you can pull the tunnel back to work on the actuators, but I have a lot of experience and it isn't something I would even go near.

have you tried just slamming it into reverse. I once I had my 3rd gear do that while driving once was like hitting a wall put it in 4th and slammed it forward back into 3rd and it aligned back up. also try rolling backward while shifting into reverse

i dont think its a good idea to slam it into gear.... its not going into gear because theres something wrong.... slamming it will only worsen the problem.....

Thanks MazdaTweaker I'll definitely try that out hope it works if not I'll just have a pro fix it for me thats the only thing really wrong with the truck so I can't complain.

Hi folks. I have the same issue with my truck 89 B2200 yesterday it decided that reverse was not going to work, I pop it into reverse and it pops right out of course with a little grinding. I just got this truck from my buddy and I know the truck very well took me 10 years to weasel it out of him. I actually did the clutch in it like 5 years ago but it has always had an issue with reverse, this I knew. Yes I am 'almost' expert level. From reading the replies here I 'might' get lucky by popping the shifter out and double checking what I can see ? I am just trying to avoid replacing the tranny cause there a bitch easier to pull the motor and tranny in one shot. It did until yesterday work in reverse if I held the shifter in place. All forward gears work fine 1st through 5th, even speed shifts just fine. So my question is am I screwed? Dont bother farting with it and just replace the tranny? Thanx

I got the same problem, i removed the shifter not in neutral, how do i fix this, is there a possible youtube video?
What exactly did you do gregfarz78

I haven't been inside a mazda gearbox in about 20 years but went through the one in my b2000 about 1995 when it seized in 5th gear. That gearbox really wasn't really hard at least not compared to many I've been in. Here is what I wish I could remember and I hope someone on this forumn knows, Is the reverse Idler straight cut or helical?Is the reverse idler symetrical?Yes I know this isn't the absolute right way to do this but if it is straight cut as a lot of reverse idlers are the teeth will start to bend causing reverse to no longer stay engaged if it is symetrical many times you can disassemble the transmission far enough to get to the reverse idler flip it so the straight untouched unworn surfaces are now the contact point and if your shift fork can be slid just a little to give a little more engagement, If it is not symetrical see if a reverse idler is available at a reasonable price. I've done it and seen it work for years.If I remember right that transmission doesn't even require a gasket set just anarobic sealer between the case components, if it's junk now you got nothing to lose by trying other than a little time.