Marlon Targa 86

So,

I have a 1986 Targa with 43K on it. Had a PPI at a Porsche dealership before I bought it. The transmission feels like it's shifting really smoothly in all gears.

Yesterday I had something weird happen. I had been driving on the freeway for about 30 mins going about 75-ish. When I tried to downshift from 5th into 4th, this really loud, "high speed" grinding happened (kinda sounded like a drill or something). So I immediately backed off and went into 3rd instead. It sounded as I was trying to shift in reverse or 2nd gear at 70 miles an hour. When I tried again going from 3rd into 4th, the same grinding happened.. I got to my destination avoiding 4th gear altogether, cuz all the other gears shifted smoothly.

Then this morning I drove the car on the freeway again and everything was fine. Shifting beautifully as usual. No grinding at all. And in neutral I can easily shift in all gears.

Any ideas what happened?

Marlon

theiceman

sounds like yiu might have been catching reverse,, although this shouldn't happen with ease.

cal44

Thats a tough one Marlon. The problem is the tech would have one heck of a time finding something if it wasn't doing it when he checks it out. I hate trouble shooting when it only does it once. You may need to keep driving it until it happens again...........
I know that doesn't sound very comforting but I would like to read other responses.

theiceman

i would certainly take the boot off the shifter and make sure the fifth - reverse lockout is working ,, verify the coupler and other bushings and do the shifter adjustment first ..

TA911-64

Agree with theiceman. I was thinking the same thing, yet it iS a tough one if nothing obvious is apparant.
Tom

Marlon Targa 86

The only thing I remember happening previous to this incident (I'd say like 4 to 5 times in a timespan of 3 months), was when I tried shifting into 4th was that it felt before I got into gear I had pull the shifter a little harder to get past what felt like something obstructing it sliding into the gear. Almost like a little clip or pin. So when I pulled harder it "clicked" past it. And I could hear a "click" as the shifter got past it and slid into 4th gear. Mind you, no grinding or synchros blcking it.

I realize this is also pretty vague but I figured it might be part of the puzzle.

Marlon

theiceman

okay you've had your courtesy help .....now lets see your ride .... and welcome to rennlist ... a few minor rules on this forum,,

rule one .. new guys have to show pics of their ride ....
rule two .. no self portraits or wives or dogs in the avatar.... ( this is NOT the 944 forum )
rule three .. have fun and welcome aboard ..

cal44

yaaaaa........what iceman said. Lets sum pix

TA911-64

Marlon,
Your last thread is possibly the biggest part of the puzzle. If your shifter can move side to side at ALL (beyond normal movement) it may be loose in it's seat. I had this problem on my '86 and it caused that same need to "pull" the shifter back with a resistant obstacle in the way. I'll send pictures of my repair.
My shifter actually came loose! I tried (with success!!) epoxy and it's been fine ever since.
Tom

TA911-64

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TA911-64

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TA911-64

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ricster

I would change the gear fluid too. Just make sure its not synthetic gear lube as the 915 hates it.

TA911-64

Marlon,
In the last picture you can see the shifter has an a locking guide attached near the bottom that interacts with those two metal tabs on the housing base. This is your lockout design for 5th/reverse. (there's a spring loaded part at the centered circle that's also part of the mix). If your shifter shaft can turn in it's base at all, these parts can't "meet" properly (due to alignment issues) that's possibly the obstruction you were feeling. This is exactly what happened to me. My suggestion is to grab your whole shifter with 2 hands (high and low) and try to turn it in the seat. If it moves at all I'd say this is your issue.
Tom

Marlon Targa 86

Hey Tom,

That does look/feel like the issue I had. I'm taking the car in pretty soon anyway, so I'll have Mark at 200NorthMotorWorks take a peek at it.

Like I said, low mileage on the tranny, shifts like butter in all gears... seems like it 's something like a loose shifter and/or lockout might be the problem.

Thanks everybody!

Marlon