No reverse or second - 1996 Hyundai Accent

Because 2nd and third gears use a different clutch pack than first and reverse. It sounds like the 2nd and third clutches are gone.

First thing tomorrow, take it back to the shop that rebuilt it!!

broken shifter cable

when engaging into reverse, there are two actions coming into play, reverse band and high reverse clutch. so it seems really dramatic, but its not nearly as dramatic as say shifting into second. if you have a billet servo that is

this problem is a common failure associated with your shift solenoinds inside your tranny. of course a shop is not gonna tell you this because by the time you wanna get it repaired it is usually too late and have already cause damage to your clutch pack and internal parts, thats the main reason why a shop wont mess with just replacing your shift solenoid (aka valve bodie)

sounds mechanical. No reverse and no lower gears. If it were an electrical or computer control issue would default to second gear and still have reverse. Sorry, but I think you will have to pull the tranny on this one.
Good luck.

My 1995 Ford pick-up did that to. You should give it about 10 seconds from pressing the clutch to going into reverse.Dealer said not to put it in reverse to quick.give 10 seconds.

it is safty in the tranny have it scan

Firstly is it slow for reverse, reverse clutch also engages in 3rd gear however reverse has a boosted circuit (more psi) therefore will engage rev but not 3rd but it is a little slow for reverse.
They do have a tendancy to pop a ball out of the High and reverse clutch giving this symptom.

Hi ray_c_brown, This pause is determined by a time lag test, and you can check this yourself with a stop watch.Engagement time in "D" range should be a maximum of 1.2 seconds and the engagement time for reverse should be a maximum of 1.5 seconds. So with your vehicle warmed up and assuming curb idle speed is correct set the park brake,make sure ac is off (air cond) shift transfer case to 2H or if it is a NP249 transfer case leave in 4H,put your vehicle into neutral and set your stop watch shift to Drive and record time repeat this a couple of times and do the same with reverse,as you said the delay is with reverse so if it takes longer than 1.5 seconds here are a few things it could be:shift cable adjustment,low line pressure,worn direct clutch, first/reverse brake worn or a worn or damaged overdrive clutch.Hope this helps you good luck :)