# Won't go Backwards

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/wont-go-backwards/100825>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** ford\
**Created:** [March 6, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wont-go-backwards/100825 "2017-03-06T01:21:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jmcarc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/278dde/32.png) [@jmcarc](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jmcarc)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wont-go-backwards/100825/1 "2017-03-06T01:21:16Z")

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My 1982 Ford Granada with only 110,000 miles, won’t go into reverse. I can put the lever in the “R” position, rev the engine, but the car won’t go backwards. It’s like revving it in neutral. It will go forward in “D”. Before I call my transmission guy, is this a serious, costly problem?

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**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wont-go-backwards/100825/2 "2017-03-06T01:26:42Z")

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Don’t know. Can’t tell from here.  
Hopefully it’ll just be a linkage issue, relatively inexpensive.

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**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2017, 1:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wont-go-backwards/100825/3 "2017-03-06T01:27:31Z")

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Have your transmission guy drop the valve body out of the transmission, and see if an O-ring on the spool valve for reverse has failed.

Tester

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**Author:** ![pete\_peters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/46a35a/32.png) [@pete\_peters](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pete_peters)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wont-go-backwards/100825/4 "2017-03-06T15:40:30Z")

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You didn’t say anything about fluid level. Is fluid full? Is it red and not burned?

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**Author:** ![jmcarc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/278dde/32.png) [@jmcarc](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jmcarc)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wont-go-backwards/100825/5 "2017-03-06T19:39:02Z")

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I checked it recently. It looked okay.

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**Author:** ![JoeMario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JoeMario](https://community.cartalk.com/u/JoeMario)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wont-go-backwards/100825/6 "2017-03-06T21:58:11Z")

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With that age vehicle, the seals in the transmission could be hardened enough to be causing it. If so, it can be expensive. Hopefully it’s one of the more simple suggestions mentioned above.