Boxster Shifter does not stop at neutral - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

rene525d · 12-28-2011, 12:03 PM

Recently I have noticed that all of a sudden, I felt something weird when changing gears. This morning i decided on confirming what the problem really was and here it is....

When say I am in 1st gear, then shift to second, if i try to put the shifter to neutral it just stays on the left between 1st and 2nd gear and does not go to the middle position. The same happens if I am in 5th or 6th gear, if i put the shifter up from 6th, instead of going to the default neutral position, it remains engaged on the right between 5th and 6th. Needless to say this makes it a pain to shift and can result in over-revving if i am not careful. Any ideas what the problem might be? I hope i explained myself clear.

blue2000s · 12-28-2011, 12:09 PM

I'm sure someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but normally, there's a spring in the transmission that returns the side to side lever to center. If the spring is broken, and it does happen, you loose that action.

I suspect this is your problem since you indicated that you can get the correct gears when you move the shifter to the correct position. If you couldn't get 1, 2, 5, 6 gears, the problem would be the connection between the shift rod and the bracket on the transmission.

thstone · 12-28-2011, 12:13 PM

Something is awry with the shifter bushings/mechanism. Pull up the shifter boot and take a look.

Use this DIY as a guide for the inspection: Pelican Technical Article: Installing a Boxster Short Shift Kit (SSK) and Replacing Boxster Shift Bushings - 986 / 987

rene525d · 12-28-2011, 12:23 PM

Yes i can engage all gears correctly, so it must be some sort of spring that is not returning the stick to center as you pointed out. I will pull the shifter out and have a look. Cheers.

blue2000s · 12-28-2011, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rene525d

Yes i can engage all gears correctly, so it must be some sort of spring that is not returning the stick to center as you pointed out. I will pull the shifter out and have a look. Cheers.

That spring is in the transmission, unfortunately.

rene525d · 12-28-2011, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blue2000s

That spring is in the transmission, unfortunately.

Hmmm... i will be doing a clutch job soon, so I will tell my indy to check for it then as i definitely do not have the know how to do such a job. I suppose that it can be accessed by just dropping the transmission right, or does it need to be taken apart as well?

BTW its a 2004 boxster S