jakeflyer

RED LINE/Zimmerman------ Consumer Report

Today I had the 911SC fixed at Red Line in Long Beach California. Marc is the owner and he worked on our car. As you may know Peter Zimmerman started Red Line and Marc bought it after Pete was injured (I think I got this story straight).

Red Line is a triple A place/5 star for the glitz set. It is what God intended a Porsche repair shop to be. There is no name on the building and the address is secret. Peter gave me the secret pass word to get admitted. The building is 1940s Long Beach with no nice tile, or large windows with a free espresso machine, or massive desks with plush leather chairs. You are not met by Gucci shoes and a Cardin tie. However there are race cars and cool engines to gaggle at. Elderly Porsche and Ferrari banners along with a pallet of rebuilt 356 heads shows real class. It is, as they say, an honest facility with a ------ pay attention here---Honest Owner.

Marc is a young guy maybe 30s or so. He just got a write up in the local PCA publication so I don’t have to tell you about him being involved in racing, a Ferrari mechanic or any of that stuff. What is important is that he replaced the shifter rod seal in the nose of the tranny w/o pulling the engine. He mentioned a couple of things in the shifter which I asked him to fix. Then he suggested we change from the synthetic gear oil and use standard fossil oil. ---Listen up----- the new stuff is super slick and the syncros do not brake on each other to slow the dogs for engagement. The old stuff has some drag and makes the shift less notchey and saves the dogs. So, at my request, he kindly put the car back on the lift and changed the gear oil.

WE then spent 30 minutes going over the car with it on the lift with him pointing out things to be aware of and things that we should fix and how to do it. I think that once he understood that we were listening to him and understood him--- it was a flood of information.

Marc fixed what we were unable to fix (shifter included—we attempted it). But, the education by it self was worth the modest bill. We drove home in a TOTALLY different machine, in the shifting department.

Congratulations Pete, You put the shop into excellent hands and I appreciate the secret pass word.

Peter Zimmermann

Marc is older than you think! But you're right, he's forgotten more than many mechanics ever knew about P-cars. About the Kendall gear oil, we started using Three Star dino oil back in the late '70s. The story back then was that Kendall had been used by long-distance truckers in their semis, and the oil was tripling the usable life of their transmissions.

It didn't take long for us to also realize how well 356s and 901s shifted after getting their first dose of the stuff.

This brings up an interesting point that I began to investigate about 6 months ago. I'm starting to hear about gear teeth failure, something we wouldn't see at the shop, even at 300K miles, on 915 transmissions. I'm not talking dog teeth, I'm talking about the large, primary gear teeth, which are starting to show root wear - actual failure of the hardened surfaces.

I've never seen this type of wear in transmissions that used Kendall gear oil long term, so the main point of my research is focusing on two areas; (1) Is the oil used in the failing transmissions not up to the job, or (2) have these cars been purchased by a group of owners who tend to overdrive their cars, especially in 1st, 2nd & 3rd speeds?

If the problem is caused by #2 we can't do much about that, but if the problem is a lubrication issue, well, that is certainly worth looking into. I'm sure that there will be more on this later!

Anyway, Barry, thanks for the report! It's always good to hear that Marc is doing OK, and our cars continue to benefit from his expertise.

Amber Gramps

You are late to the party. I got the secret handshake a year or so ago. The shop is unreal. I was swarn to silence about the 917 you have to pass by as you first walk in the shop. It's got to be the coolest place I've ever seen. The one time Marc didn't answer the phone was because he was pit crewing for Farrari....Likely excuse. And what did I get done there??? I got a new G50 and option code 220 rear end....OK, so I got the Kendall and the LSD add. Awsome change for pennies on the dollar.

Ed Hughes

My vote is for the #2 scenario, or the "run" on short shifters everyone thinks will make a 915 into a new trans, but you never know.....could be the lack of 911 "Sages" around nowadays, and more DIY'ers that aren't doing the proper things or using proper fluids? Or, heaven forbid, the failure of the tried and true fluids being used by many....

Peter Zimmermann

Ed: I also was leaning toward #2, but had not given the short-shifter enough credit for being a possible cause - for that, thank you!

Regarding the oil, the transmissions that I have seen first hand, with gear failure, have not been run on Kendall - that is the only "known" at this point.

Ed Hughes

I hope the problems aren't running Swepco!

I just changed mine a couple of weeks ago, a few minute particles on the magnet, but nothing alarming.

rusnak

I wouldn't be all that surprised if people aren't changing their gear oil before it has gone bad.

jakeflyer

---------- Ed Hughes---------------------------------

We were running Sweptco but the change to Kendall seems to have helped the syncro units to work better. I have an unopened gal of 201 that I bought for $47 last year. If you want it for $20 it is yours. You can get it in Huntington Beach or I can have my son take it with him and you can pick it up in Carlsbad.

Ed Hughes

Thanks for the offer, I'm Ok for a while. Just changed the fluid, and with the left overs from a gallon each time, I've now got enough for my next change. Thanks, though.

ajmarton

At what point should you do a fluid change? I have a 89 911 with 52k miles. Not sure if it was ever changed prior to my purchase.

Ed Hughes

You get one guess as to whether you need to change your trans fluid. If you get it wrong, you lose the rights of ownership....

Amber Gramps

aj, I got my car at 57,000 miles and itneeded it. It had a brand new clutch and all was well when it was good and hot. When it was cold it didn't like first at all. Now, it doesn't care how cold it is, just get the tranny moving and it is as smooth as it could be. The LDSA stinks something awful....use gloves and clothes you are going to throw out anyway. (Marc at Red Line used two pair.) It's that bad, but worth it if you have LSD.

jakeflyer

------------------------Zimmerman-----------------Sir

A buddy recently did the tranny on his Toy truck. The hard surface on the gears had worn off and bearings etc were fine. over 300,000. An interesting observation about the wear you are tracking. Do you think that the increased HP over the last 25 years could have a higher wear impact? Additives to lubes has altered due to enviro laws---- are there additives that may assist in reduced wear?

And lastly, what are the various processes to made gears hard, case, nitride, ?? and what works best

gab997

I am running 84 Carrera/ 915 at the track, what changed when you went with the Kendall? Also, where is the best place to get the Kendall?

Peter Zimmermann

Barry, I'm certainly not ignoring your post. I'm currently involved with trying to figure out how to get an oil analysis done with almost no residual product available. I'm in contact with a friend about this, will e-mail him later today.

Contamination or incorrect viscosity seem to be primary culprits, although the first I can't quite reason through - the 915 is essentially a sealed unit except for a small breather on the top of the diff housing.

Gear wear because of hp/torque would explain the gear wear in 3.2 Carrera 915s, especially if Porsche blew their calculations regarding the durability of 915s. I still haven't seen the same problem in like-mileage SC transmissions...