Clack

After a great sunday drive, and drive to work on monday, I had a strange issue with shifting into 5th. The car shifted cleanly but reved high. It felt as though a shift into 5th was actually down shifting. After pulling the shifter out of gear and reshifting into 5th it ran smoothly. This happened 2 or 3 times. What would cause such an issue? Would this be caused by the shifter, the linkage or is this caused by a deeper transmission problem? Or is this an even bigger issue of the operator being an idiot? Anyone ever had this problem? Please forgive the dumb question. Im not a mechanic and im still learning about 911s

ivangene

wow - that weird

so I know the shifter assy cups wears out, I know its easy to rebuild back to stock with stock parts, I know adjusting is simple, but not neccesarily easy and sometimes takes a couple tries to get right, and I know once set they hold pretty well... (although I just re-adjusted all my parts)

so without driving it I cant say if the linkage is worn to the point of causing a miss shift, that would be excessive.. but maybe? - i dont know much RE the insides of the transmission so you will have to get those answered from someone else....

my advise would be if everything seems OK - drive it and be very careful, watch, listen and feel...maybe think about making a few adjustments and refreshing the parts (they are pretty cheap)

ofishbein

Maybe I'm missing something, but it sounds to me like a simple mis-shift from fourth to third - then "reshifting" put it in fifth. 915s can take some getting used to.

ivangene

+1 which is why I said "my advise would be if everything seems OK - drive it and be very careful, watch, listen and feel..."

whalebird

There are several very inexpensive and easily replaced bushings in the shifter/linkage. These cars are getting old and need these parts replaced. I would get that done if nothing else and see what happens...chances are you need them anyway.

g-50cab

If it grinds going into 5th - then usually it's bad synchros/dog teeth.

If you have trouble getting to a gear - especially one that's worked in the past - USUALLY it's either bushings - or adjustment

rusnak

I would think that if you're not crunching gears, then you have a worn shift linkage bushing, as described above.

Clack

Drove it to work today. Its definately downshifts on occasion when the shifter is put into the 5th gear position on the shifter. When it occurs, simply taking it out of gear and reshifting fixes the issue for the moment. I think I may order the shifter bushing just because. I appreciate the input.

ivangene

so let me get this right,.... the shifter is in position #5 but your trans is in 3rd gear - scary, your coupler could be severly worn I guess? - weird that its self repairing

whalebird

Bushings... I bet dollars to donuts. There are two beneath the shifter itself, and two in the coupler under the cover (found on the tunnel) between the seats.
The weltmeister coupler bushings (black urethane)are very nice and easily replaced. The ball-socket and rod bushing under the shifter is equally as affordable and take only a few minutes to change.
You may be able to do this yourself with modest mechanical ability, otherwise find a good Porsche shop in your area and have them do the work.

ivangene

Like WB said....its a simple job - most likely if you have not done it before it will take a few tries to get the adjustments right on the coupler (and even if you have done it before it can take a couple tries)

If not, your local P-car fix-it place can hook you up... it wont be a huge bill......unless you keep doing the mis-shift!

fpb111

Pull the access plate on the tunnel behind/between the seats and make sure that the allen screw is tight. Also snug the pinch bolt. Don't lay into either with a 10' extension just make sure they are both tight.
If you decide to replace the coupling bushings. Spray the spline/coupling area with white paint. That will give you a starting point when you reassemble and adjust.

Ed Hughes

I'd bet the coupler bushings are the culprit. But, it could be all of the above.

theiceman

i think the shifter ( coupler ) may need some adjusting for sure if he is catching 3rd instead of 5th

rusnak

If it's balky, then I would check the cone shaped screw. If it's constant, then the splines on the coupler, or the clamp itself can be bad. I welded my clamp to the bolt on one side to get more pinching power out of the bolt.