My 5 speed has been difficult to get OUT of reverse, especially on cold mornings backing out of a drive. There is no grinding of gears,,,just a stubborn stick shift that takes quite a bit of effort to get unstuck. Once the truck is driven 4-5 miles going in and out of reverse is better,, but still not always like it should. This all seem to come on fast and shifting through the other gears is fine.
The clutch pedal bracket has not been replaced but it still looks fine, no cracks, no visible flexing.
Any ideas where else to look?....thanks

The stock clutch bracket will always break. If it's not black and it's just normal steel...it's stock. Yer just not seeing where it's cracked. Pull it and physically inspect it. The only other areas would be the master, the slave, or yer clutch/throwout bearing/transmission. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Just for the fun of it, change your tranny fluid. The viscosity gets really high when it is super cold outside. Not sure exactly where you are in PA but in mid upstate NY it is under 10 degrees......Had a similar problem with an old chevy years ago.

I was going to ask what trans fluid are you running. At the shop, we put 75w-90 in the trans, and 80w-90 in the rear diffs for just this reason. It still lubricates adequatly, but helps keep it loose on cold mornings. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I had a similar problem with a 5 speed in a Toyota mini I had. Especially when it was cold. I switched to Redline synthetic in the tranny and it solved the problem. Be sure you get the stuff for the manual transmission that is GL-4 rated. The synchros are supposed to work better with it.

Redline

Amsoil makes a similar product and there must be other manufacturers with synthetics.

Thanks to all that responded. This truck only has 56K on it but maybe I'll go ahead and change the tranny fluid. It's just strikes me strange that it's been cold in my area for 3 months and truck is parked in a garage where the temperature rarely dips much below freezing, but this problem just recently pops up in the last few weeks. I'll take a second peek at the clutch braket again, it was my first thought when this problem started, but my instincts tell me the problem could be elsewhere.
There is no problem going through the other gears, and the times it does get stuck in reverse IT IS REALLY STUCK. I'm saying it will go into reverse nice,,I back out of garage and try to get into first but the shifter feels like it hit a brick wall,,there is no movement.
I've tried to continue going in reverse a few feet just to see if I could unlock the frozen stick but it won't unless I put a lot more force on it.

THAT describes a syncro problem. Could be the tranny has a bad one for the reverse engagement/disengagement. Not sure what your tranny uses but syncros typically are of a brass alloy and if you have a scored one or one with worn teeth..........When you drain the fluid, take a real close look for metal........

Ok,,,I'd go with the syncro problem theory, but isn't the same syncro used for 'engagement' of reverse gear and disengagement ? I've never had problem getting into reverse, always coming out of it.
But then you have think,,hmmm,,,when I put it in reverse the rotation of the shaft and syncro might be working in my favor. Then when I back out of the garage the the shaft is forced to turn the opposite way and maybe the syncro does not work as well coming out of reverse...Does any of this make sence? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I'm no expert on truck tranny's,,but I do know motorcycle transmissions, and their gears need to spin a little for proper dog/slot engagement.
Heck,,,maybe just changing to a synthetic fluid will help it.

Synchros are like brakes or clutches- they provide some friction to get the two different pieces spinning the same speed before the teeth engage to prevent grinding. I'm no tranny expert, but it doesn't sound like a synchro problem to me.

As others have mentioned, I would be looking at the clutch first. Have someone watch the clutch master and firewall when the pedal is pressed. If there is excessive movement, then the pedal bracket may be cracked.
Also make sure you don't have a floor mat or something in the way of getting the pedal all the way down.


The FSM has a good procedure for checking clutch disengagement and pedal height:

http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/1993/clutch/2checkand.pdf
5. INSPECT CLUTCH RELEASE POINT
(a) Pull the parking brake lever and install wheel stopû
per.
(b) Start the engine and idle the engine.
(e) Without depressing the clutch pedal, slowly shift
the shift lever into reverse position until the gears
contact. [LIGHTLY GRINDING]
(d) Gradually depress the clutch pedal and measure the
stroke distance from the point the gear noise stops
(release point) up to the full stroke end position.
The release point should be about 1" off the floor, but you can adjust it a bit for personal preference.

Anyway, if the gears never stop grinding, then the clutch isn't fully disengaging/releasing.