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2000 ZF6 reverse issue

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Old Dec 17, 2025 | 10:10 AM
  #1  
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2000 ZF6 reverse issue

Howdy,
Rebuilt a top loader 4sp back in the 90’s and that was my limited tranny rebuilt experience till recently when I lost a few teeth on the input shaft and 4th gear on the countershaft of my 2000 ZF6. About 2wks before that she started to whine (did a fluid change) then one day she made some awful noises on the way home. Ordered parts, did a full rebuild, went together perfect (or so I thought). Finished the re-install fri night, went for a test drive on sat, shifts smooth & perfect, no noises, I was happy. Pulled her back in the shop, had life stuff to do. Went back sun morn, put it in reverse and realized I didn’t test reverse on sat. 1-6 work perfect but let the clutch out in reverse and ya get a small grindin noise. Not as loud as a gear scrape, but she does not back up at all. Shifter moves as far forward & backwards as it does in the other gears so it should be all the way in & low does exactly what it’s suppose to do. Shut the trk off, put it in reverse, start and ease the clutch out, same situation.

Nope, no left over parts.

If any builders here have any experience with this situation or ideas before I tear it back out I’d be much obliged to hear em.

Thankya much!
 
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Old Dec 17, 2025 | 10:29 AM
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From: Bahstun
reverse gear cant be accessed unless you take it apart

Maybe lucky and the issue is in the tower
 
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Old Dec 18, 2025 | 09:03 AM
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Could be an issue in the shifter... In my experience with other transmissions it doesn't take much wear/damage to keep you from getting all the way into certain gears. There are two plastic bushings inside the shifter tower. I saw them available to replace back a few years ago when I did my stick swap. You can unbolt the shifter tower flip it upside down and tap the shifter out of the bottom and the bushings will come with it. Maybe one of them cracked.
 
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Old Dec 18, 2025 | 12:35 PM
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I thought about that a so I compared it to the other truck for any excess free play in the shifter and felt none. If anything the 2000 shifter feels tighter than the’99. And was thinkin if it was in the tower it should effect all gears in the up position. But now that you’ve mentioned it I’ll pull the tower and physically check it.

Thankya much.
 
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Old Dec 19, 2025 | 07:57 AM
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How deep did you go? Syncro rings and everything? If so, I'm wondering if something didn't get back together correctly on the reverse syncro. I'm just guessing here, virtually zero experience inside of a gearbox here outside of book knowledge.
ZF-6 exploded view .PDF:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/a...7&d=1631871525
 
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Old Dec 19, 2025 | 03:17 PM
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Input shaft, fourth gear on the counter shaft, needle & tapered roller bearings and races, synchros, most everything.

Sure appreciate the breakdown, I reckon that’s bout to come in handy

Thankya much.
 
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