Can't shift into reverse/5th

[clickman]

Was the shifter really floppy after it happened? I had that happen in my '01 after a few too many hard pushes into reverse.

I found the left shift cable had come off right at the shifter. The cheesy little black retainer had broken allowing the end assembly to slip off. See pics. You may be able to see this just by pulling up the shifter boot.

At the time I took off the console (using the great B&M shifter installation instructions) and pushed the female piece back on. I assumed there was a retainer but couldn't find it. I didn't find it until a couple weeks ago when I replaced the shifter with the 9x7 short shifter.

If this has happened to you, here are your options:
1. Push it back on like I did without the retainer and shift carefully (normally) into reverse. Mine worked that way for years.
2. You may be able to replace the retainer, if you can get one from Porsche, but the shifter would have to be disassembled to do it.
2. Replace the shifter, likely very sloppy anyways, with the 9x7 normal shifter or short shifter. The normal one is pretty cheap, and I got my short shifter for under $300.