Two weeks ago I was driving my .2 manual (just under 4k on it) on my usual Sunday morning farm road route outside of Houston, and had an issue. After a couple of hours of driving, and nothing prior to indicate a problem, I went to downshift from 6th and when approaching a turnoff and couldn't find a gear, any gear. I coasted to stop and sat at idle, and tried to find first, but nothing. I worked the clutch a few times, which felt normal, and sat for a few seconds, and tried again. It reluctantly went into first, a I shifted up through the gears onto the highway, with pretty notchy shifts along the way. My exit was just 3 miles away, and when I went to downshift, same thing. I was 80-90 miles from home, and it happened virtually every time I was running at speed in a higher gear for a period of time. I stopped for lunch on the way back, and it shifted pretty much normally starting out afterwards, until it was warmed up and running in 6th for awhile. I parked it when I got home, and tried a short drive that evening, which wasn't far or faster than 50mph. I never got above 4th gear, and it felt more or less normal, though my mind was telling me it was notchier than it should be.

Two days later I brought it to the dealer. They tested it and said they couldn't get it to duplicate the issue after a few test drives. The next day I picked it up, and 5 miles from the dealership it did the exact same thing exiting the freeway and downshifting, so I turned around and went back to the dealer, and couldn't find any gears downshifting at the exit. Same exact thing everytime. Repeated my last route with their shop manager, and it didn't fail but came close, with a few very hard downshifts that he saw I was struggling to make.

Almost two weeks later and 100+ miles of test drives they performed, they told me that Porsche told them to adjust the shift cables, which they did, and test drove the car. They told me they think they fixed it, and asked me to pick it up. I picked it up and first drove with a different guy, and it seemed to be okay in the sense that it didn't completely crap out like before. I took it home, and on the way I had one episode of downshifting from 4th and not being able to get 3rd, but tried again and it shifted in, but I still don't think it feels right.

I'm really not sure what to think at this point. I baby this gearbox; no hard launches and never the slightest whiff of smell out of the clutch. I have noticed, like many, that there's a lot of gear lever movement in some of the gears, particularly 4th. I have no idea if that's related, but I didn't have that issue in my GT4.

I talked to the gearbox expert on our IMSA team at work, and his first thought was a clutch engagement issue. Since the clutch seems to feel okay and it appears to be heat related he thought it could be something with the pressure plate.

I'm surprised that they didn't start by draining the gearbox oil and bleeding the clutch, but they said they have to follow the steps Porsche provides. I plan on a long drive this weekend and I'll record it with the Precision Track App with my camera recording the gear lever. When I asked if the shift cables were out of adjustment I never got a clear answer, only that they were adjusted. I don't feel confident that there's not more going on here.

If anyone has had a similar issue I'd love to hear about it.


Here's a video clip: https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...wvTFd-1280.mp4

 

On my manual the only issue that I'm noticing is rapidly modulating pressure when the clutch is in and the car is cold. Fells like the throw out bearing is whirring.

 

No issues here with any kind of shifting. Sorry to hear of your problems.

 

Sometimes my shifter is notchy when its cold, but it smooths out once it warms up.

Good luck finding a solution. Once you are able to replicate the issue, Im sure Porsche will make it right.

 

You are in Houston. What dealership are you taking it too? If its not Porsche of North Houston, then I would suggest you make them the place you take your Porsche. There is not a better service department in the country.

 

I had a nasty 2nd gear pop out issue on my 997.2 GT3 that the dealer could not fix in multiple visits. A fellow 997.2 GT3RS owner at the local track also had the same issue which took 3 or 4 attempts to correct. Agree with the OP that some gearbox issues may difficult to replicate on the fly (during a test drive with a tech or service manager).

Good luck and hope you get the issue resolved.

 

so far, at 5000 miles or so, no issues. Smooth as silk......

 

how fast are you cruising in 6th?

 

I put 12,000 mi. on my 6 speed .2 GT3 including several trips the the Smokies. I never had an issue. Hope you get this resolved.

 

Around 80mph. I put 100 miles on it yesterday and it did the same thing 4 different times. I thought I recorded the whole drive with the Porsche app and had the camera aimed at the shift lever, only to get home and find that it hadn't recorded. I have a better handle on when it happens though. Each time it was after driving in 6th for an extended time, downshifting to 5th (which it did without protest) and then to 4th where it won't engage. Coast down to idle, and can't find any gears, then reluctantly into 1st, and something not sounding right in the rear end at this point. It doesn't happen every time but these are the repeatable conditions that seem to cause it to show up.

I did notice a few things though. Lots of movement of the gear lever in 4th and 6th gear when getting on/off throttle, but the movement isn't 100% consistent, sometimes after shifting through the gears there's less movement of the lever than others. Also a pronounced clicking noise from the back of the car when getting on/off throttle, and it will do this in any gear, even neutral. I can't say for certain that it didn't do this before the issue cropped up, but I think I would have noticed it.

My do one more drive and make sure it gets recorded, then have roadside assistance bring it to a different dealer. Given the state of the world this is extremely petty stuff, but a distraction that I need right now!

 

Recently I had issues with unable to put it into ANY gear when the engine was running. I could put the car into gear when the engine is off:
https://rennlist.com/forums/991-gt3-...engine-on.html

Mine was a case of a pressure plate finger was broken, here was the fix: https://rennlist.com/forums/991-gt3-...en-at-8-a.html

Good luck, hopefully you get it resolved soon.

 

I saw both of those threads and they sound very similar to my issue. I'm not sure how it's possible to damage a pressure plate without any corresponding wear to the clutch material itself! I tried to point the dealer in that direction from the beginning, and never for a second believed that their "fix" of adjusting the cables was the actual issue. I was hopeful however, and my brief test drive when I picked up the car after repair had a couple of shifts that felt "off", but it never failed to find a gear completely. My thought at the time was to turn around and leave the car with them, but as several have suggested offline, this isn't the best dealer to be working on it, so no point in beating that horse. I'd really like to get the issue on video before I proceed, so that's the next step.

 

I have had linkage issues in the past not often but same MO as you described.

Ian

 

the only time Ive seen shifter movement in 4th is if I intentionally lug the motor which I would otherwise never do.
service departments vary, so choose a very good one
good luck.

 

Sorry to hear about this.

Please report back what they find and solution