I need to get the WC T5 rebuilt that is currently in the RS. Reverse appears to be on the way out, at least the syncros and I would rather not wait until the entire trans takes a dump for obvious costs and since it is Donna's daily driver. I would appreciate all your suggestions for a shop that you know that has done work on T5s before, I am on a bit of a tight time restriction as I have this week off for vacation, and it would be great to be able to get it done in that time frame. TIA!

 

Reverse gear is not synchronized in the T5.
If it 'grinds' when you try to put it into reverse, you only need to give the stick a quick jog into any foward gear - this stops everything from rotating inside the transmission, and will allow reverse gear to easily engage.
Clutch pedal down->forward gear->keep the pedal down->reverse gear. Real easy.

 

It may be the clutch that is not releasing.

 

Going into the forward gear, in this case 5th and then sliding the shifter into R has been working for a long time, however it even at a full stop with the clutch petal all the way to the floor board still causes things to grind going into R. Don, do you have any tips to check the full engagement of the clutch? Thank you both for your suggestions
I should have also mentioned that the grinding is not only limited to R but it is the gear with the most consistent problem.

 

If you can, measure the 'throw' of the rod from the slave cylinder. The spec for it is .58". If that is good, it will rule out a hydraulic problem.

 

Don, do you have any tips to check the full engagement of the clutch? What he said

 

The 'throw' that I need to measure is now much the rod actually moves the fork once the pedal is engaged? Or the amount the rod moves prior to actually engaging on the fork? Also is there anything to adjust when it comes to the rod? Or if the amount of throw is off does that mean a new clutch master cylinder is needed? Thanks

 

The rod end should be seated in the end of the fork, and have very little slack. It's all self-adjusting...like a front brake caliper.