Why are 1st and 2nd gears so harsh - please help

[Houston C4S]

Please don't take this as a personal affront but it sounds like operator error to me.

May I make a few suggestions?

One, I know the manual says not to exceed 4K rpm until warm, but to me that is still too fast when all the bits inside are cold and not at their proper size. Remember there are steel, aluminum, etc. parts in there and each expands at a different rate and all are designed to be operated at a specific temperature. And at that temperature is when all are at the proper size.

So if it were me (and I do this), I would cool it, so to speak, on the 4K rpm bit at first. Instead, consider 2K rpm until the temp needle is well up into the operating range. Gradually increase the engine speed over the next few miles.

The oil is both warmed and cooled by the heat exchanger on the engine and its temperature will lag behind that of the coolant. Give it time to heat up as well.

Remember too, it isn't just the engine you are warming up here. You have a transmission and differential, too.



Secondly, it sounds (as was suggested earlier) as though you are not properly matching the throttle let-off with the declutching process and perhaps engaging the clutch too rapidly afterwards. Not many folks out there anymore understand from a mechanical point of view what happens during this process. If you have never worked on or even looked at the mechanical bits that are involved here, it's hard to understand.

So my suggestion here is to find someone who really knows how to shift smoothly and let them drive your car from cold. If they don't have a problem...

That's why I remain amazed at the wannbe drag racers out there in Boxsterland. Boys and girls, these are not drag cars and you are putting a lot of stress on them by doing the 0-60 thang that they just are not designed to do. Can they do it? Sure. Are they at their finest doing that? No. That's what curvy roads are for. Few cars can touch a well driven Boxster in its element.

Anyway, if you are indeed doing the shifting properly and there is a mechanical problem, I would look for a reason for the clutch to disengage too slowly. And it sounds like your shop has done that by looking at the throwout (release) bearing (and hopefully the related operating components like the master/slave cylinder, etc.).

I hope this helps.

All the best,

- Mark

[racer_d]

If you haven't already done so, you might consider replacing the transmission gear oil. Not sure how old it is, but the newer it is, the smoother the car will shift. I would guess that its actually a gear synchro that is wearing out. Then again, they do wear out, so I wouldn't be suprised. Out of curiosity, how many miles are on the car? How many of those have you put on (ie, did you buy it used or new? do you know how the previous owner may have treated the car?)

To test if a bad synchro, try "double de-clutching" - this is when you would shift from 1st into neutral, let out the clutch, then put in the clutch again and shift into 2nd. More often then not, you won't get a "crunch" when using this method because all the internal parts are moving at the same speed. A grind when shifting comes from 2 parts traveling at different speeds, coming together. The job of the syncrho (synchronizer) is to get the two parts to rotate at the same speed.


I also believe that ALL manual transmission boxsters contain some notchiness in the 1-2 shift. That is likely why the dealer says its "within spec" or "seems ok". You might try to find other manual trans boxsters and test drive them for comparison. I know my 2000 Boxster had a notchiness (although it was 1000% smoother tham my old 911 transmission, so I hardly noticed it)

Be slow and deliberate in all your shifts. I've never driven a Porsche that responded well to rushing a shift.

[pbanders]

Originally Posted by Houston C4S

Anyway, if you are indeed doing the shifting properly and there is a mechanical problem, I would look for a reason for the clutch to disengage too slowly. And it sounds like your shop has done that by looking at the throwout (release) bearing (and hopefully the related operating components like the master/slave cylinder, etc.).

Does the Boxster clutch have a delay valve? My '98 M3 had one of these until I got rid of it, it's a restricted orifice in the clutch hydraulic line that slows the rate of clutch release, supposedly, to make clutch engagement smoother for city driving. I found it made it worse, and also led to bluing of my flywheel and early replacement.

If it's got one, get rid of it.