Shifting issue - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

seningen · 02-26-2017, 10:33 AM

Was flogging my 2000 Boxster S around COTA this weekend.
A slightly prepared drive to the track car.
A proverbial blunt pocket knife in a sharpshooters contest.

I was wheeling hard and still loosing 30+ seconds a lap.

On to my question/issue:

At the start of one of the sessions yesterday -- I went to grab 4th gear
and the shifter would not budge to the even gears -- in fact i had
either 3rd or neutral. It acted like it had a hard stop at the 1/2 way mark.

I figured i had run out of good luck with the car == packed up and limped to
my buddies garage.

Jacked it up -- checked the shift linkage and it seemed intact.
Popped them off -- both the tranny and shifter seemed to operate
properly once independent. Then popped the cables back on
and everything seemed to work fine -- drove back to the track
finished the day -- drove home -- out to dinner -- back to the
track and did 2 more sessions.

On my way home today I couldn't get into 4th gear again -- this time
the shifter didn't seem to have any restrictions. I pulled over, jacked
it up and it seems I could maneuver the selectors, but I didn't have
anything to pop them back off. I even managed to get it in reverse at one
point and I it seems I was either had only 1st or i think I could
get only 3rd gears but no neutral this time.

Again I limped to the shop, but I just left it there and took one of my
other cars that happened to be there and drove home.

Bottom line -- anyone else every come across this?

The fulcrum bolts seem to be fine. Popping them on and off bought me
4 more sessions and a drive to/from the track.

Would like to have an idea of what I might be up against before I toss
parts at an obvious intermittent issue.

thanks,

Mike

paulofto · 02-27-2017, 09:00 AM

I had a similar issue back last spring. The 2 snap on ball connectors at the tranny end of the cables can sometimes loosen or pop clean off but another issue is where the cable sleeve is fixed to the tranny housing before the cables exit to the two shift levers. This mounting sometimes pops off and makes the gears not engage but can pop back on after flogging the shifter.

When it happened to me I drove, in 3rd gear, to my local indie and he diagnosed it on the spot. Up on the lift he showed me the issue and did a quick snap back in and ensured it was secure.

I haven't had an issue since but I did get new improved cable security clips from TUNERS here:

TRS Shift Cable Security Clips – 986 Boxster | TUNERS MALL (TM) | PORSCHE(R) PARTS & MOTORSPORTS EQUIPMENT

and along with new shifter end ball connectors from the dealership the whole shifter feels tighter and more precise.

rastta · 02-28-2017, 09:22 AM

I had something similar happen to me with 1-2 shift. Turns out the shifter fork had cracked. Then after continuing to shift it - it snapped. When they opened the trans, they 3-4 fork was pretty worn as well. You don't want to know what it cost to fix.

seningen · 02-28-2017, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rastta

I had something similar happen to me with 1-2 shift. Turns out the shifter fork had cracked. Then after continuing to shift it - it snapped. When they opened the trans, they 3-4 fork was pretty worn as well. You don't want to know what it cost to fix.

If that's the case -- at 108K miles -- I'll be calling itsnotanova :-) \<\<\FIXED

Mike