01 Boxster Base: Grinds on 3rd gear shift over 5K RPM

[thstone]

You should be able to shift at any RPM up to redline in each gear without any grinding.

With that said, there could be any number of issues causing the symptoms that you describe.

Be sure that you're getting the clutch all of the way in and not hammering the gear shift. But you shouldn't have to baby it or shift extra slowly either.

With that being said, it sounds like your 3rd gear synchro is being problematic.

Start with the three items that Crooster mentioned: Check your front motor mount, check the clutch hydraulics, and change the transaxle oil (using the expensive factory oil for the refill). The only other thing I would add is to have your mechanic check the shift cable adjustment.

If nothing comes up amiss, then its most likely the synchro. You can either pull the trans and have it repaired or swap in a used trans.

It is generally cheaper to swap in a replacement as they are typically available for around $500 and the parts + labor to repair your existing trans is likely to be more than that. (00 01 02 03 04 Porsche Boxster 2 7L 2 7 5 Speed Manual Transmission 19 037 Miles | eBay

I had the exact same problem with my 3rd gear synchro and swapped the trans myself after buying a used trans from another member here on the Forum. Should take a typical DIY'er 8-10 hours. Its not technically difficult but rather just a lot of stuff to remove and re-install.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

[jdlmodelt]

I guess I'm the only one in this group that doesn't speed shift. Are you telling me you don't take your foot off the throttle when you depress the clutch pedal to change gears? No wonder clutches wear down in 50k miles.

I do enjoy driving mine hard from time to time but I still don't speed shift. I bought mine to last me a while.

[Porsche9]

I just had a similar problem shifting from 1st to 2nd. It ended up being the motor mount that caused the problem. The rubber goes bad on these things with age. Start with the easy stuff the other guys described first. The syncro is the last thing on the list of possibles with the gear oil change (should do this anyways if it has not been done in the last few years) easily telling you if this is the issue. Good luck.

[shadrach74]

Originally Posted by SJEFFB986

Yes, 5k rpms sounds way to high between 2nd and 3rd gear gears! 3,500 maybe 4,000 rpms is ideal! My .02 cents.

Why is 5000 way too high and why is 3500 to 4000 ideal?

Originally Posted by jdlmodelt

I guess I'm the only one in this group that doesn't speed shift. Are you telling me you don't take your foot off the throttle when you depress the clutch pedal to change gears? No wonder clutches wear down in 50k miles.

I do enjoy driving mine hard from time to time but I still don't speed shift. I bought mine to last me a while.

No one said anything about speed shifting... The OP was clearly talking about executing an up shift from second to third above 5000 RPM.

[SJEFFB986]

Originally Posted by shadrach74

Why is 5000 way too high and why is 3500 to 4000 ideal?



No one said anything about speed shifting... The OP was clearly talking about executing an up shift from second to third above 5000 RPM.

Ok! Maybe I better try letting the engine rev to 5,000 rpm's before shifting from 2 to 3rd! I just didn't want to push it too hard..but it looks like these 2.5's can handle it by the many posts I'm reading.

[JayG]

Originally Posted by SJEFFB986

Ok! Maybe I better try letting the engine rev to 5,000 rpm's before shifting from 2 to 3rd! I just didn't want to push it too hard..but it looks like these 2.5's can handle it by the many posts I'm reading.

it can handle that and much more

Conventional wisdom is that you SHOULD give it some high rev driving form time to time, its good for the engine