?IDEAS? Reverse has stopped working in my '95 J30

[formthreemaster]

Good evening guys,

I'm a long time viewer of this forum, beginning when I researched prior to purchasing my beloved '95 J30 in 2002, and I'm hoping I could get some insight regarding a most inconvenient issue. About three months ago I started to have an issue when shifting into reverse. About every fifth time I'd shift into reverse nothing would happen. The shifter would move into the reverse slot and the reverse lights would appear in the rear but the engine would not engage and simply remained in neutral. I would return the shifter to 'Park', move back down to reverse and all was well. That occured for a week or so then returned to normal. At that time I had my transmission fluid changed and nothing was amiss. However, about a month ago the problem returned and a week ago it worsened to where the same issue would happen every other time I tried to reverse. Finally, earlier this week my J30 ceased to engage into reverse.
Mechanically (and nearly cosmetically), the car is perfect. I purchased it 2002 with 52k miles and thanks to living downtown, a quarter mile from work, it still only has 95k miles. I took it to a couple of shops and both immediately said they wouldn't open the transmission and one insisted that I need to replace the transmission. I'm really doubting that quick diagnosis for a few reasons...
1) the shifter definately slides into the reverse gate but upon looking closer I noticed that the top shifter button is not "popping all the way back up" like it does for all forward gears,
2) all forward gears work perfect...absolutely no slippage
3) the reverse lights come on when I'm shifted into reverse
4) I found out (by having someone park directly in front of me on the street a few nights ago ) that if I put the car in reverse and push it backward (again its just like it's in neutral) for a while, the reverse will, in fact, engage....leaving me quickly running back inside!
While I'm quite mechanically inclined I plead ignorance regarding automatic transmissions. That being said, this seems to me to be some sort of 'linkage' issue with the shifter as it attempts to engage the reverse gear. Is this a possibility? I truly love and pamper my J30 and need to fix the situation ASAP. However, before I start looking for a local transmission shop to check it out I want to see if anyone could provide any insight regarding this weird issue. Any insight would be most appreciated while I have to look for open-ended parking spots. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

[yodawill2000]

Sound like a prob with the Inhibitor switch maybe ??
Here's a thread about all the probs it can cause.

transmission-problems-due-to-neutral-sa ... 51731.html

[driverdriver]

This is a new one. I have heard of the shifter not moving into rear (broken band) but not this.

[xxsuperstreetxx]

I have the exact same problem. My j30 will not engage in reverse after the first try. It is strange because it usually works the first time after it is cold but usually does not engage later. reverse lights come on and everything, and it will usually engage when rolling down a slight incline... anybody know what the problem is? BTW it is a 1993 infiniti j30.

[J30tChumpCar]

All I can say is the external linkage and shifter are super simple and if everything else is working it is neither.

[Mikey_ZX]

Could be burnt clutch plates in the reverse clutch pack inside your transmission, a failing torque converter, like asserted above, the brake band is failing and another possibility is that the servo accumulator that engages the brake band has failed also, maybe the o-rings have failed preventing the servo accumulator to move up and down properly to engage the brake band. If its electrical the transmission light should show on your cluster. Had to rebuild my transmission and I had no reverse or no drive, car felt like in neutral. With your situation, my guess would be the torque converter is failing. Ultimately, the transmission has to be dropped, and even if you replace the torque converter, I would still open the transmission and check if everything engages properly, all you need is an air compressor, air chuck and reference to the service manual to check if everything is engaging properly. When I opened the trans, the bushing on the reverse clutch pack was really worn, however everything was in tact and worked properly. While you have the trans down you could adjust the break band as well, just inspect to see if the clutch plates and the brake band have friction material left on them, it's pretty obvious if the friction plates are wearing when you start to see metal instead of the friction material. Very important, when checking the brake band there is a little small strut that you don't want to lose, that actually connects to the the servo accumulator pin, and engages the brake band.