Sudden shifter problem... then it went away...?

[elgyqc]

This morning when I tried to move my 2000 Boxster S I was unable to put it any gear except reverse. The lever felt blocked in neutral. I put the car on my Quckjacks and had a look underneath, nothing seemed amiss. I got in the car and was able to shift into all gears with no problem!? Came back 30 minutes later and again couldn't select any gears but reverse. After fiddling a bit all the gears came back again.
I am assuming I will have to take the console off to troubleshoot and I have started to think about replacing the shifter... maybe with the 987 version. Presumably I need the 987 6 speed shifter.

[JFP in PA]

More likely the cable ends at the transmission............

[newBgeek]

This just happened to me a couple months ago. I posted about it here. https://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/87785-6-speed-manual-cant-shift-past-2nd.html

There is a metal sleeve on your cable end that can slide out and get jammed when you put the car in reverse. Simple fix is to slide it back in and use a zip tie to block it from sliding out again.

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[elgyqc]

Thanks for the suggestion newBgeek, but that was not my problem. When I removed the console I found that sleeve of the retainer on the right was in the retracted position.



I figure what was happening was that the retainer was catching on the lip of the frame. If I understand right, the tongue on the sleeve rides on the lip so the retainer does not catch. I released the sleeve...



... and no problem on a test drive.
I know I have already been in there a couple of years ago, so it was me who forgot to release the sleeve. Strange that the problem didn't happen before.

I have a line on a shifter from a Caymen 6 speed that I am thinking about buying.

[Newsguy]

The biggest improvement I’ve made to mine is a new shifter.
I didn’t realize how poor the action was on the original.
I’m not going to mention which I purchased as their customer service was a disappointment but it’s a great change for the better. You will be amazed.

[elgyqc]

After spending a couple of hours scouring the internet for a 987 shifter I was ready to order one from the UK to avoid the new import tarifs from the US when I found one a 20 minute drive from my place, for about $100 less.
When I compared the 2 shifters side by side I appreciated all the looseness in the original, the new one is very tight, like new.
Got it installed today using my homemade shifter holder...



(There are grooves on the bottom that fit into the shifter frame to position it.)
It isn't as precise as the plastic ones that you can buy but I made it to prevent the lever from flopping around during the installation.
A test drive proved that the new shifter worked as it should, I don't see a big improvement but I didn't really expect one, the transmission is getting a bit old... I still have some adjusting to do and the next test drive will be long enough to warm up the transition.