Lost power to Rear wheels 2003 - 5 spd

[bguzziman]

I recently bought a low mileage base boxster and the car currently has 20,000 miles on it.

The week before, I just upgraded the shifter to 2010 GT3 shifter and it was working beautifully. I also added headers and bypass pipes/evo cold air. The car had new found power, but I should not have been pushing the power limits of this tranny. Since the upgrade I had taken the car up in the lower gears but never pushed off the line and always rolled on and never power shifted this thing. The one owner car was bought off a woman in her early 50's and she never redlined the car for the last 300 hrs before I got it.

I was cruising around last night and was not pushing the car hard,
driving mellow, I was gently drving and went to shift from 1st to 2nd and It seems that just as I started pulling the shifter down it lost drive power to the rear end and then the engine revved freely like in neutral. I then heard a minor thump
thump(that wasnt' there before just after this happend) the car then rolled about 100 ft where i parked it. The motor was still running just fine and idled in.

It still seems to shift positively into each gear with normal feel and
resistance but remains in neutral. I can't believe that the shorter GT3 shifter is the cause. The clutch also feels normal still.

It felt like I blew a driveshaft but I don't have one!! I did not
hear anything else, no oil leaked from the car

Flatbedded to repair house and want to know what could be wrong.

Thanks for input
Bruce

[Jake Raby]

Could have snapped a CV joint.. sounds like it.

[Boxtaboy]

Def do what Jake says and check the CV joints, but given that the latest thing you did was change the shifter, why not check your shift cables. Could be an easy fix. Check both locations (near the shifter and also under the car). There are shift cables in the back portion of the car near the tranny where they must sit within their clips. If they pop out of these clips, you may not be able to get into gear, which means no power to the wheels.

[landrovered]

X2 check to see that the shift cables are adjusted properly

[bguzziman]

The CV joint sounds plausible, and correspond with the minor thump thump as I rolled off. But if one CV went, wouldn't the other still have power unless the diff just spun on the broken side - I understand that these cars did not have a limited slip diff so thats starting to make sense.

Will probably find out this afternoon, and let you guys know, thanks for the quick feedback I will mention the CV joints to the mechanic. Its at the same place where all these parts were recently added on including the shifter. Of course he will check the Shifter because he did that install as well, but I'd be surprised if its that because it still felt like it goes into the gears just as it did before with same resistance and feel.

Thanks guys, at the very least I am breathing a bit easier. I am dropping the key off at lunch.............
Bruce

[landrovered]

To confirm, yes if you have an open diff and a broken CV then you will lose drive.

[bguzziman]

Thanks guys.

CV shaft on one side(drivers side) is disconnected from Transaxle. You guys are good.

Question is Why?

Will give you the full story once I know, but it appears that the bolts fell out and/or sheared off. I know I was making more power with the recent mods, but can't believe that would do it - who knows.....

I myself was working on the vehicle recently and I swear that if any of those bolts were missing I would have noticed.

Good thing this happened now, because I was scheduled to go to the track for DE day next Thursday.

Are there better bolts available that I should be using?

Thanks

[landrovered]

On one side of the transaxle the rotation is trying to tighten the bolts, the other side it is trying to loosen them.

They may have been torqued to factory spec but if no loctite was applied they can come out over time. IMO, the bolts got loose and then got enough room to move and then sheared a few of them when it finally let go.

use the factory bolts from Suncoast or Pelican and Loctite and a torque wrench are your friends.

[Jake Raby]

If the CV bolts become loose at all, they will snap under torque very quickly.. I think you'll find snapped bolts upon closer evaluation..

I am not good, I have just broken about everything possible in my life and remember the symptoms.. I had this happen to me with a 914 when I was 13 years old!

[Tranlm]

Sounds like the CV joint. Wait....am I too late?!?!?

Originally Posted by bguzziman

I recently bought a low mileage base boxster and the car currently has 20,000 miles on it.

The week before, I just upgraded the shifter to 2010 GT3 shifter and it was working beautifully. I also added headers and bypass pipes/evo cold air. The car had new found power, but I should not have been pushing the power limits of this tranny. Since the upgrade I had taken the car up in the lower gears but never pushed off the line and always rolled on and never power shifted this thing. The one owner car was bought off a woman in her early 50's and she never redlined the car for the last 300 hrs before I got it.

I was cruising around last night and was not pushing the car hard,
driving mellow, I was gently drving and went to shift from 1st to 2nd and It seems that just as I started pulling the shifter down it lost drive power to the rear end and then the engine revved freely like in neutral. I then heard a minor thump
thump(that wasnt' there before just after this happend) the car then rolled about 100 ft where i parked it. The motor was still running just fine and idled in.

It still seems to shift positively into each gear with normal feel and
resistance but remains in neutral. I can't believe that the shorter GT3 shifter is the cause. The clutch also feels normal still.

It felt like I blew a driveshaft but I don't have one!! I did not
hear anything else, no oil leaked from the car

Flatbedded to repair house and want to know what could be wrong.

Thanks for input
Bruce

[extanker]

Originally Posted by Tranlm

Sounds like the CV joint. Wait....am I too late?!?!?

yeah too late...it was the bolts that tighten themselves

[bguzziman]

This is it, I don't believe it but all six bolts seemingly unscrewed themselves and the driveshaft slipped out. It Was the drivers side. No snapped bolts.

Guess good news is no multiple thousand $ repair, nothing else was harmed other than losing bolts and some washers. He will be using blue loctite when the bolts get here.

Does this seem to make sense?

How can they all be there the week (and untouched for 8 years) before and then every single one of them fall out within a week after the garage worked on it.

He confirmed that they did not touch the bolts before and had no reason too when installing my exhaust.

It just doesnt seem to be statistically possible without some kind of intervention.
Car was garaged or with me so WTF?

Has anyone lost any of these on either side of the tranny?

Thanks
Bruce

[extanker]

i,ll guess somewhere in its history the bolts where taken out for some type of repair and not tightened right

[Tranlm]

+1 on that. I replaced a CV shaft before and didn't tighten the bolts correctly. Was driving on the freeway when it went and done popped right out. Good thing engine and car weren't damaged.

Originally Posted by extanker

i,ll guess somewhere in its history the bolts where taken out for some type of repair and not tightened right

[landrovered]

Originally Posted by extanker

yeah too late...it was the bolts that tighten themselves

I guess you don't do too much with drivetrains do you? Your poking fun proves your lack of knowledge. I have been working on 4x4s for 30 years and learned the effects of rotation while I was still in high school. Laugh all you want.

[Paul]

Properly torqued CV bolts do not need locktite. In over 35 years of installing these, I've never had one come loose.

[landrovered]

If you are comfortable without it than more power to you but I am using loctite, I have seen too much stuff come loose and I use a torque wrench all the time.

[Lil bastard]

CV Joint Cap bolts should never be re-used, always replace with fresh.

These bolts rely on stretching and being under tension - that's how they remain tight. Once that happens, you should not use them again. They lose a good bit of their elasticity in the first use and if re-used, will work loose in the future.

Besides, anyone unwilling to spring for all of $12 to replace them probably shouldn't be driving a Porsche anyway.

Cheers!

[Lil bastard]

You also should not use Locktite unless specifically instructed to do so in the manual.

All torque specs assume a dry thread unless otherwise stated. 50% of the torque applied is to overcome the friction of the threads. If these are wet or 'lubed' in anyway, including 'uncured' Locktite, you'll over-torque them and risk snapping one off or stripping it.

If you use new bolts and torque properly, Locktite will hurt more than it helps!

Cheers!

[landrovered]

Bastard,

There is green threadlocker residue on every bolt I have removed under the rear of my car. That was either put there by the factory or the race shop that prepares IMSA, grand am and cup cars that did the engine conversion on my car. You are telling me I should ignore this fact as well as my own experience because it is a TTY female hex head bolt holding a rotating part. Bull****************.