02’ Shifter Wear/Doesn’t Move Freely
 

The 02’ 986 I just bought is nearly perfect, only exception is that the shifter doesn’t move as freely as I’d like. If shifts okay but is a little stiff and doesn’t move freely when in neutral. I expected it to be a little smoother but have read about the fact it may not be. Also it doesn’t look great under the boot and only has about 70k miles on it.

Any thought on causes or is this just the way they are? I test drove and ‘05 first that was smoother. Considering the 997 standard drop in as a fix.

not sure what the issue is, but i dropped in the porsche short shifter and it completely transformed the driving experience .best mod for the money

The shifter looks fine in your picture. That black stuff is from the inside of the leather shift boot, it always looks nasty but is nothing. Is there any slop in the metal side piece that goes into the white part on the side? If the pivots on the north and south ends of the shifter are free of play and there's no slop in the side part, it may not be the shifter. It could be the shift cables binding or something with the linkage pivots on the transmission.

I go with simplest things first.
coins and other ummm "crap" can get under the shifter where you can't see.
Make sure nothing like that is causing your problem by creating some manner of bind.

When I bought mine it was like shifting a wet noodle.
Perhaps the worst feature on the car.
Replaced it with a cheap short throw shifter.
Not a difficult job to remove the shifter and console to check for a possible cause of binding or replace with a different shifter.

Disconnecting the cables at the shifter then test the movement of the shifter with cables detached would be my next step.
Very easy to do.
Shift cable attachment points at the transmission is an easy check.

grease everything up, linkage and such, make sure the shifter isnt binding, perhaps replace with a decent aftermarket shifter (or the 997) and sadly, accept that the 986 has notchy shifting. I did all this, even had it checked out at the shop and am told its fine.
I drive other cars, like the Z4 or my buddy's WRX (even a late model camaro SS) and the shifter is smooth, almost disconnected like your moving air. my friends drive my car and comment that feel the clunk and have to be deliberate in shifts. Anyone else have additional comments on making the shifter smoother?

Thanks for all the ideas and input. I’ll try cleaning/piling it first and tear the console apart this weekend. If it still isn’t great I’ll probably just spring for the 997. Hard driving a car that looks so good and shifts so poorly.

A friend has a BMW Z3 I have driven it.
It is smooth but almost to what I call the wet noodle stage or feel.
I prefer a notchy more positive feel.
My original 2000S shifter was wet noodle. No feel for where the gears were.
It now has Bens short shifter kit.
Much better. 30% shorter throw. A little notchy almost a gated feel.
A little stiff tell the transmission is fully warmed up but then just how I like it.
I think the shifter kit was under $150.00 shipped.

Just been going through this with my '01 Boxster S I bought three years ago. The shift quality has never been great - super stiff when cold, then imprecise and ropey. I just installed a 987 shift box and had the transmission fluid changed (went with the pricey stuff from Porsche) and I'd say with all this it's better - but certainly not great. Nature of the beast I guess.

More info, when in neutral if I move the shifter left and right it just sticks there and does not return to center. Should these shifters return to center or stick as described?

So the north south black linkage moves fine, the issue is with the blue cable controlling left to right. It seems to be binding and is stiff. Maybe they are supposed to be like that I don’t know. Haven’t been able to jack it up yet.

It should return to center.
I don't know of any standard transmission that doesn't.

Now that you have everything exposed disconnect the cable that seems to be causing the issue and see how the shifter acts.
If it feels good then you know something with the disconnected cable is the issue.
Perhaps at the transmission end.
If the shifter is still stiff you know the shifter is the issue.

If I remember correctly the cables are simple to disconnect.

So I disconnected the blue cable and the shifter moved smoothly. Next step is to jack it up this weekend and look at the trans end.

Anyone else run across something similar?

I have not had the issue but have read about issues of this type.
Look at the hardware connecting the cable to the transmission.
People have had issues with cable connections at the transmission.
Perhaps it just needs cleaned up and some oil on it.
If you don't see a problem with the hardware disconnect the cable at the transmission end and see if it moves freely.
There could be a bind in the cable its self.

Success!!! After jacking it up this morning (had to buy new low profile jack and 3 ton stands) and trying different things I pinpointed the problem. I systematically popped off the neutral cable and the downward linkage from the pivot point in the picture. Was able to rule out the cable and the internal transmission spring from being the problem. The bracket in picture pivots on a single bushing to move the neutral cable. That pivot point was very stiff and was corroded inside when I took it apart. Some steel wool, 1000 grit, and CLP got the job done. Put it back together and it moves 75% better and returns to neutral from 1/2 but not from 5/R. I’ll try adjusting the cable threads to get it centered. So if you are having similar problems take that bracket off and clean the bushing. Was easy to remove and clean, plus save a lot of money!

Looks like some grease wouldn't hurt it:D
Looks like your getting the issue resolved.

I had the same. Cleaned and greased up at the gearbox end. Improvement but not right still. Changed cable pack sorted it.

Did you change the cables yourself? I’ve watched some videos and searched this forum, just not sure I want to try that myself.

I definitely put some moly in the rights spots!

No I had my indy do them. From memory it was about 2 hours labour.