Boxster S 2000 Shift Cables – semi-Solved

[Kdon]

Originally Posted by Danimal

I finally got back in there and played with the cables. I stretched the black cable about 1/4" to match how much I had to pull the blue cable to fit. It solved about 80% of the issue and now all shifts engage with a much firmer "thunk" and less guess work. I'm guessing my cables are worn and stretched or the newer version of the cables are slightly shorter than my originals. Maybe that's why the alignment tool on the 997/987 shifter doesn't quite work for me.

I may make a few micro adjustments while I've got the console open, but I'm pretty happy for now.

anyone else with this issue concur on this solution or different shifter cable configurations solving it?
I have identical issue it would appear. PO had rennline short shifter, i put in 997 assembly , used centering tool and sure enough the one cable seems too short to fit in the threads with the centering tool, so pulled it to sit into the threads properly. Shifting got a little better because PO didnt used alignment tool, but still having issues. Doesnt like going into 3rd cold, and takes until the car is warm to self center when in neutral.
I am hesitant to cut up any stock parts and would prefer solving it with new fresh parts if that is the proper solution.

cheers

[madtown986]

Originally Posted by Kdon

anyone else with this issue concur on this solution or different shifter cable configurations solving it?
I have identical issue it would appear. PO had rennline short shifter, i put in 997 assembly , used centering tool and sure enough the one cable seems too short to fit in the threads with the centering tool, so pulled it to sit into the threads properly. Shifting got a little better because PO didnt used alignment tool, but still having issues. Doesnt like going into 3rd cold, and takes until the car is warm to self center when in neutral.
I am hesitant to cut up any stock parts and would prefer solving it with new fresh parts if that is the proper solution.

cheers

All I can say is 2nd and 3rd are a little clumsy for me too until things are warmed up. It's ok but not great after that. I installed a Numeric Racing shifter and it's still that way. Better than it was, but I'm still not 100% happy with it. I am going to install their cables next.

I think I am just spoiled because my past manual cars were the Mazda RX8 and Honda S2000. My 2004 RX8 was shifting perfection. They really nailed it. Everything since has felt lacking.

[Danimal]

Let us know how those numeric cables work out. If they fix it, I would happily pay the cost!

[Kdon]

Originally Posted by mark near chciago

As more information - I have tried to cure this problem for at least a year. I have several cars to drive so I am not all that diligent. The steps I took included putting in a 987 shifter (no change). What I did notice is that using the alignment tool the blue cable was about a 1/4 inch short of what it needed to be. I then checked for improper cable routing, damaged shift arms, frame damage, etc. I could not find anything. I just pulled the cable forward until it would latch and drove it that way until the wife went out of town a few weeks ago. Of course I did not do anything until the night before she was to come back. That night I pulled the console in 5 minutes. Played with the shift arms by the tranny. They naturally seek neutral so it is easy to position those. I said the " hell with it" and took my old 986 shifter and modified the adjuster by using a Dremel to hog out the ridge that catches the cable end. That took a whole 5 minutes also. Tossed it back in the car and used a tiny hose clamp on the end. I later moved the hose clamp further up the adjuster and basically the clamp is holding it all together.

Problems - none so far but after having P-cars for 30years this is the first time that the "factory" part installed correctly does not fit properly. Coupled with the problem with my rear speaker cable I seriously wonder how well the cars were assembled in Finland. Maybe quality was a big reason why P moved production/assembly out of Finland? More notes on the shift cables - I noticed that the part number for the cable progresses each model year - is something going on that I do not know? My cable is 986.424.042-05 and my car is a MY2000. For MY2001 it is -06, for MY2002 it is -07 and the latest one MY2004 is -08. Only the -08 version is available so they all must supersede to the -08 version. Have the lengths changed? It would not be beyond my belief that P recognized that the length was wrong and corrected it in future versions without notifying owners of the older versions.

Here is a photo of what my linkage now looks like:

I gave this a try. I Dremeled out the back end but left enough material and then tapped it with M8x1.0 threads of the shift cables end. Once I replace my torn CV boot I'll take it for a spin to see if it helped. Thx for sharing your experience.