REVERSE GEAR HOW CAN I TELL IF MY MECHANIC DIDNT INSTALL A NEW CLUTCH ? STILL HAVE SAME PROBLEM WITH REVERSE POPING OUT OF GEAR, AFTER NEW CLUTCH WAS INSTALLED,WHY?

Press harder on the clutch so you will avoid an unexpected contact of the gears

Return your vehicle to the mechanic for an opportunity to repair it correctly.

old post but 88s are so rare , so here we go. the answer.
ok its a manual transmission, (i had 2 that year,) the xj and the Comanche PU truck , a pair. (drove the snarf out of them)
the post is weak sorry, but you didnt tell the full story,.
huh?
is engine running? fails to shift parked engine off>?????
cant start engine in 1st gear??? (pickone or reverse) with clutch depressed to floor and car moves doing so?) or stalls.....?
that is a bad clutch.
it will start in neutral, with a bad clutch. so..... that be key fact there.

or is this a post that means, car starts ok in gear
but cant shift moving, only a moving car issues ?
we cant guess any of that, it must be stated.

my 88s both had crapppy" Peugot trans", and worse a coaxal
throw out bearing , that took me 10 long hours (4wd)
to replace, my new JK jeep its only 1hrs work on slave.

the first clue (bad) is the clutch master cylinder fluid drops lower
day by day or every week, oops. that be the first clue.

"from 1st" is my only clue.
surely you can better that. do tell.. please.

the only abuse is from the dealer-please go to a trans mechanic that has xperienc or send issue to magicmechanic online-hes in florida and a mastertech on any make or model

its worn by the sound of it ,either the linkage needs a new joint or a bit of a repair but i suspect the gear selector inside the gearbox is worn the fork type thing is worn and its not moving the gear over ,ask a local mechanic to have a look for you as he will soon the problem in seconds but you may need another gearbox from scrapyard but a mechanic might be able to see a problem with the linkage that i cannot see from a here in spain

needs a new clutch ,its grabbing and not clearing properly ,do not use force to change gear as these vehicle dont like it the syncros break ,stop engine put in gear clutch down then start engine Cannot really answer the wear in the gearbox question without a drive though but from what you descibe i would say clutch but it could the syncros but not on all gears ,normally second goes then thrid and fourth then finally first .best bet is to get a local mechanic to have a drive and then post what he says on here by answering my reply then i will get it .

Hello Russ, your mechanic is completely right.

4R100 or 4R70W?

Geartrain
Power is transmitted from the torque converter to the geartrain components through the input shaft and forward clutch cylinder.

• By holding or driving certain members of the gearset, four forward ratios and one reverse ratio are obtained and transmitted to the output shaft. The ratios are as follows:

GEAR RATIO 1ST 2.71 to 1 2ND 1.54 to 1 3RD 1.00 to 1 4TH 0.71 to 1 REVERSE 2.18 to 1
Input Shaft
The input shaft is supported by two bushings in the stator support. End positioning of the input shaft is controlled by the splines in the converter turbine and the overdrive planet assembly.
Output Shaft
The output shaft is supported by two bushings in the case and by the slip-yoke and bushing in the extension housing. End positioning is controlled by the parking pawl gear and snap ring or shoulder and by the reverse ring gear hub and snap ring.
Overdrive System
The overdrive planetary system consists of the overdrive planet assembly, overdrive sun gear, overdrive ring gear, coast clutch cylinder, overdrive one-way clutch assembly and the center shaft, as shown in the following illustration. The overdrive planet assembly is splined to the input shaft. The overdrive sun gear is centered by a bushing on the input shaft and held in place laterally by needle bearings on the reactor support and the overdrive planet assembly. The overdrive sun gear is splined to the coast clutch cylinder, which in turn is splined to the overdrive one-way clutch inner race.
The outer race of the one-way clutch is splined to the overdrive ring gear, which is splined to the center shaft. The center shaft is centered by the forward planetary assembly and is laterally held by needle bearings on the center support and the overdrive planet assembly. The center shaft is splined into the forward clutch cylinder.
Two friction clutches are assembled in the overdrive planet assembly. The coast clutch is splined between the coast clutch cylinder and the overdrive ring gear. The coast clutch is activated to perform engine braking in MANUAL 1, MANUAL 2 and third gear with the transmission control switch engaged.
The overdrive clutch is splined between the case and the coast clutch cylinder. The overdrive clutch holds the coast clutch cylinder and, in turn, the overdrive sun gear, to permit the planet assembly to overdrive the ring gear.
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Forward Drive System
The forward drive system consists of the forward clutch cylinder, intermediate brake drum, intermediate one-way clutch, input shell, forward ring gear, forward ring gear hub, forward/reverse sun gear and the forward planetary carrier and forward planetary gears.
The forward clutch cylinder is splined on the center shaft. The forward ring gear is piloted on the forward ring gear hub. Thrust bearings on the forward planet assembly and forward clutch cylinder hold the forward ring gear hub in place.
The intermediate brake drum is radially supported by bushings on the center support and is laterally controlled by thrust washers on the forward clutch cylinder and center support. The intermediate brake drum has the inner race of the intermediate one-way clutch press-fitted on its pilot. The intermediate one-way clutch's outer race is splined to the intermediate friction clutch, which is splined to the case. The intermediate brake drum has lugs that are slotted into the input shell to form a mechanical connection. The input shell is splined into the forward/reverse sun gear. The forward/reverse sun gear is common to two planetary gearsets. The forward planet is splined to the output shaft and is laterally positioned by needle bearings on the sun gear and on the forward clutch cylinder, as shown in the following illustration.
Two friction clutch assemblies, the direct clutch and the forward clutch, are shown with the forward planetary assembly. The direct clutch assembly splines the forward clutch cylinder to the intermediate brake drum. The forward clutch assembly splines the forward clutch cylinder to the forward ring gear. The forward clutch is activated during all forward gears. While in third or fourth gear, both the direct and forward clutches are applied to hold the forward planetary assembly and enable it to act as a solid shaft.
In second gear, the intermediate clutch assembly holds the forward/reverse sun gears. It is applied, along with the intermediate one-way clutch, to hold the intermediate brake drum, input shell and forward/reverse sun gear. In higher gears, the one-way clutch overruns.
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Low and Reverse Drive System
The reverse planetary assembly consists of the reverse planetary carrier, reverse planet gears, the reverse ring gear, the reverse ring gear hub, the reverse clutch hub and the low-reverse one-way clutch assembly.
The reverse ring gear hub is splined to the output shaft and to the reverse ring gear. The reverse ring gear hub is laterally held by a needle bearing on the inner race of the low-reverse one-way clutch and a snap ring on the output shaft. The reverse planet assembly is splined to the low-reverse clutch hub. The low-reverse clutch hub is connected by the reverse clutch to the case. The inner race of the one-way clutch is bolted to the case.
The reverse clutch assembly is activated in REVERSE gear and in MANUAL 1. The reverse clutch bypasses the reverse one-way clutch during coast and MANUAL 1. The reverse clutch holds the reverse planet assembly in REVERSE gear to enable the sun gear to drive the reverse ring gear in the opposite direction.
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Apply Components
The following information describes the operation of the three 4R100 one-way clutches.
One-Way Clutch—Overdrive
The overdrive one-way clutch, shown in the following illustration, transmits engine torque from the overdrive sun gear to the overdrive ring gear in first, second and third gear range. The overdrive one-way clutch transmits power when the sprags are engaged between the inner and outer races. The inner race is splined to the coast clutch cylinder, which in turn is splined to the overdrive sun gear. The outer race is splined to the overdrive ring gear.
The overdrive one-way clutch engages whenever the overdrive planetary system attempts to drive the overdrive sun gear clockwise when the overdrive ring gear has a counterclockwise torque from the vehicle. When torqued counterclockwise, the overdrive one-way clutch engages and acts as a wedge to lock the sun gear and the ring gear together. During coast, the overdrive one-way clutch enables the ring gear to overrun or spin at a faster rate than the sun gear.
The overdrive one-way clutch overruns when in overdrive (fourth gear). In overdrive, the coast clutch cylinder is held by the overdrive one-way clutch, which in turn holds the overdrive sun gear. This causes the overdrive planet assembly to walk around the sun gear and overdrive the overdrive ring gear. The inner race of the overdrive one-way clutch is thus held stationary while the outer race is allowed to overrun clockwise.
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This is almost certainly the case. The gears selector on the gearbox is worked by rods connected to the gear lever and minor mispositioning (often when you have had a clutch change) will cause this issue. Reverse always seems to be affected most by this issue. You might be aboe to fix it yourself, but without a little knowledge you could of course make it worse. I wouldn't spend out on a SAAB dealership to fix this though, a confident and competent local mechanic will probably sort it out for you at a much reduced cost.

Sounds like a stripped reverse gear. And for the second gear probally need a new gear (1st 2nd) and the syncros with a new hub. If too much metal from the gears has already made it's way around in the bearings through the transmission oil you might be looking at a new transmission. The Golf 3 generation had many problems with reverse gears. Sorry to be the one to tell you.