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Manual shifter does not return from Reverse to Neutral
Hi everyone! I've just picked up a 987 Boxster S manual with 72k miles. I'm experiencing an issue with the gear shifter. When I go to take the car OUT of reverse, it doesn't spring back to netrual. It kind of gets stuck somewhere between reverse and netural. I found that if I move the shifter all the way to the right (Between 5-6 gears), I can then move it back to neutral. Might this be worn shifter bushings, binding cables, or something else? How would I diagnose it? Thanks in advance!
To diagnose I would do something along the lines disconnecting the cables at the gear box. Try to move the shifter around, does it bind, get stuck, or feel normal? Then manually engage the different gears on the gear box, does it spring back to normal? That should help you isolate where the problem may lie. You can then do the same thing by disconnecting the cables from the shifter. You should, at that point, be able to tell if the problem is in the shifter, cables, or gear box.
To add some detail to @old man neri response:
The restoring force to take you out of reverse totally comes from the transaxle. If you disconnect the shift cable at the transaxle at the drivers side location, you should be able to manipulate the "lever" (the part with a ball that engages the socket on the shift cable). If you are looking at the lever, 12 o'clock is neutral. It should fairly easily move to 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock. Reverse is at 10 o'clock. If you move it to 10 o'clock and release it, it should snap back to 11 o'clock. If it doesn't do this, you are probably looking at a problem with the transaxle. But if it snaps back OK, the problem is probably binding somewhere in your linkage. The video below may help.
Thanks for the help @harveyf and @old man neri . I got the car up on the ramps and before I even had a chance to pop the shifter cable off the gearbox, I noticed that BOTH of the shifter cables had come unseated (or more likely, not properly returned after work by the previous owner) from the cable retaining bracket on the gearbox. I clicked them both back into their retaining brackets and the problem was solved! So for anyone searching this in the future, if you find that your shifter does not return back to the central neutral position after engaging reverse, take a look to see if your cables have come loose from their brackets! 5 minute fix once I got a good look at it. Thanks!
It also looks like your clutch line is not in its bracket either. Green part should go where yellow is. Before you snap it in do a quick check for abrasion from rubbing. If the coating is gone just slap a bit of fluid flim or something on there to mitigate the possibility of corrosion
Last edited by old man neri; Mar 17, 2024 at 07:16 AM.
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Manual shifter does not return from Reverse to Neutral
