Something really bad happened...but what?
 

I was driving home from work today, on the interstate to be precise. I was in 5th gear and I reached down to the shift knob and realized it was free to move all the way to the left and right...not staying in position. Right about this time I smelled what I thought to be clutch? I got the car home in what felt like 3rd gear...

Clutch...pressure plate? What could this and how much is this gonna cost?

Eek.

Please help, any insight is appreciated.


Thanks much,
Chris Hackett

Hey -

I had this same problem with my 944. Turned out to simply be a plastic bushing that wore out from use. I don't know if they updated this on the Boxster but I imagine it's possible that it wasn't. As for the burning smell, I'm not too sure about that one ... maybe someone else will chime in.

did you check the shift linkage attached to the shifter? there are 2 cables. one that is moved by forwards and backwards motion (such as shifting from 1st to 2nd). The other is for side to side motion (selecting between the 1st and 2nd tier, or 3rd and 4th, etc..). Maybe the linkage is broken or disconnected? This would explain why you could move the shifter side to side and why you could only get into 3rd

If you pop up the leather surrounding your shifter and everything looks fine there, raise the car safely from the back (ramps would be the best) and look at the back end of the tranny, just ahead of the muffler.

Near the top you will find the transmission cables that come from the stick shift area you just checked.

The plastic clips are notorious for going out... both of mine are shot and I've got them zip tied in place (works well, by the way!).

Shift linkage was the first thing that popped into my mind when this happened as well...I plan on getting it towed up to the shop today.

If it is just shift linkage...or the plastics...what kind of price tag do you think I'll be looking at?



As always, thanks for the response!

If you watch the Top Gear/Tiff review of the Boxster before it was released they had this same problem. It was a plastic bushing that takes a few minutes to replace. But the burning smell could indicate something worse.

The linkage connecting to the shifter:
http://dcauto.gotdns.com/illustration/index/858259324
Numbers 10 and 11 run 8-9 bucks. No biggie. if it is the linkage you can buy an Evoms billet linkage for about 110 bucks, but its not gonna break nearly as easily.

The burning clutch thing is an issue. But it may be somehow connected to the shift linkage/clutch positions etc. You can only know for sure once things get looked at. Hope all goes well
:cheers: