HELP! Massive transmission failure at 22,000 miles? Anyone seen this before?
 

Hi guys/girls,

My Boxster S (2003, 22K miles) had been showing some
trouble engaging 2nd gear for a few weeks when cold.
Once the syncros warmed the problem went away.
Other gears were just fine.

Today as I was down shifting from 3rd the 2nd gear
at moderate RPMs the gear box made a loud sound
and popped. I could not get 2nd gear to stay in.

Then I was unhappily surprised to find out that I can
not engage 1st gear!!!

So I had to get home with a "3rd gear an up" only car.
I called the dealer and Porsche roadside assistance.

The car is certified so I am hoping this is covered.
Seems like massive destruction.

Symptoms:
1. First gear not possible (shifter will not go there at
all)
2. 2nd gear pops every time.

I'm worried about my baby. Has anyone seen this
or heard of this before?

This is the same Getrag as in the 911.

Thanks,
M :(

I've read reports of the 6sp failing before, it starts with poor shifting into second gear when cold then reports of it popping out of second. The gearbox often has to be replaced as I don't think Porsche offers any replacement parts.

I bought a CPO 2000S just short of 2 years ago and noticed some difficulty that first winter with shifts into second. It wasn't too bad so I ignored it as I had worse problems with a 2001 Miata 6 speed just prior to this.

Then the second winter I noticed a lot of difficulty getting into second when cold and it started popping out of second on ocassion. It slowly got to a point where I almost felt I had to hold it in second until it warmed up. Sometimes I'd get a stretch where everyday for a little while I'd have grinding and popping problems and other times everything worked wonderfully.

Since my warranty was about to expire, I took it into the local dealer here in northern virginia (HBL) for a CEL (MAF!) and AOS. I told them about all the remaining gremlins in the car not expecting much but they told me they noticed the same problem I did even though it was the summer and it occured much less often than it had all winter. I set up an appointment for next week and they're replacing the whole transmission under warranty... whew... pretty close as I have about 1 month of warranty left.

No catastrophic failure but I have noticed it getting progressively worse over the last two years even now in the warmest months when it was the least problematic time initially. I'm SOOO glad I went with a CPO car - first RMS, then an O2 sensor, the MAF and AOS and now the whole trans. Hopefully my 40k engine holds out for a good long time and I'll be all set! :)

Thanks for the replies.
I will have the car towed and see what they say at the dealer. I too have had growing difficulty in shifting into 2nd. I suspect I will need a new transmission. Man, am I glad I went with a CPO car... Glad to hear CPO warranty is paying for it.

BTW, I used to go to HBL when I lived in NoVa up until 2 years ago. Nice dealer.

You are lucky. I had a similar problem, started with sticky 2nd gear then 2nd gear went out completely. The decision to repair under warranty or not is left to the regional service manager, and they can be great guys or dicks. My car was under factory warranty still, but the regional manager blamed it on user error and abuse, which was total BS. It cost me about $4K to replace the tranny. There are no rebuild parts of the 6 speed, but the 5 speed can be rebuilt. I thought long and hard about buying the gear set from a 5 speed and puttting it in my 6 speed. I know of someone who said that he did this. His gear ratio is off, his tranny is weaker, so no track or AX use, but he paid about 1/4 what i paid for the repair.

Porsche switched trans suppliers in 2005. I assume they had some issues?

This could be misadjusted shifter cables, you know.

So, what did the dealer say?

I had a funny issue with 2nd gear (hard to get into) when I bought the car (2002 S with 12,000 miles). The transmission was replaced before I took delivery of the car. 10,000 miles later she shifts as smooth as silk. :D

Dealer diagnosis is that the transmission is failed. Porsche requires them to open it up and make a repair/replace assessment. They can only get to it 2 weeks from now so I will be out of a Porsche for 3 weeks... Good thing it is CPO.