Rapter

Hi,

First Porsche... love it! C4s that I am driving all winter.

The cold weather is really starting to set in during the over-night and morning hours. The car reads anywhere between 2 to 10 degrees C.

I find that the gear box is extremely hesitant to shift into any gear.

The specific problem I am having is shifting from 1st to 2nd under 2500rpm (I would not shift at a higher rpm until the engine is warmed up anyways) when the box is cold.

The symptom is that the selector will not go into gear... at all ... and I am stuck between gears for an abnormal amount of time until I apply a lot of pressure to force a gear in. For example:
-45 seconds warm up idle time
-traveling at 25km/h in 1st
-shift to 2nd at about 25000rpm
-transmission gets stuck between neutral and 2nd
-50/50 chance the 2nd engages
-to get into 2nd strong force is required to engage gear
-getting back into 1st when rolling to a stop is also an impossible

-1st to 3rd is usually really attainable

Porsche has asked me to idle the car for 2-3mins instead of 45 seconds as I ah e been doing.

What are your experiences with cold weather and the manual?

How do you speed up the box temperature?

The shifting resolves itself in about 5-8mins of normal driving.

spiderv6

I have a .1 and cold shifting is always a bit trickier, and always needs a bit more of a forceful nudge into 1st or 2nd.....I can't say I've ever had the car refuse to go into gear.

As you say, after a few minutes of warming up it is just fine.

Your experience sounds pretty normal to me. Nothing unusual.

PCA1983

I had similar experiences with my 991.1 manual C2S. My transmission was replaced (very soon after I bought it under CPO) for a bad 2nd gear synchro. Brand new transmission was balky going into 2nd hear when cold. Coldest start was about 55-58°F or about 13-14°C. We live in central FL but spend 5+ warm months in Chicago. It was easier cold-shifting at 3000+ rpm than 2000-2500. Up to 4200 rpm for short and light accelerations in lower gears should be fine for these 911s, to get that 1-2 shift when cold. I had mine for a couple years after that transmission replacement and that's the way I dealt with the problem you are having.

SoCal C2S

This was one of the more common issues in the 997.1 series, which I had until I switch the fluid to Mobil 1 PTX. Not sure what they put into the manual trans in the 991 series, but it certainly fixed my issues.

LexVan

That's not very cold. How many miles on the car?

You could always old-school-double clutch for the first several miles.

Rapter

17000km are currently on the dial.

I asked my neighbour who has a 991.1 well used and he is not feeling these issues with his yet. He said the weather is not cold enough yet.

I suspect something is wrong... perhaps I have to leave the car with the dealer for an evening.

I hate other people driving my manual car... I am going to dread this.

GrantG

+1, this works well and is the kindest to the equipment.

PacPaliPorsche

The 1-2 shift in my .1 MT is ALWAYS "notchy" the first several minutes every day. Have to really, really baby it to avoid any "crunchy" sounds at all. After the first several minutes, it's smooth.

I've mentioned to service dept so they note it in my records, but they don't to anything to fix ("could not reproduce customer issue") which is BS. Better to have it noted for any claims down the road.

stout

I find 25000 rpm shifts problematic...

Just kidding. Both of my 991.2s have had a slightly notchy pull back to second gear when cold. I just treat them gently and it's gone after a shift or two.

Rapter

Does a longer idle warm up help ?

stout

No idea there...I was taught by Bruce Anderson: Do not idle to warm a Porsche up. As soon as it settles into a smooth idle (which is right away unless something is wrong), I drive off. No heavy loads and no more than 3000-3500 rpm until it's up to operating temps.

And I doubt idling the engine will get much in the way of heat into the transmission, but I could be wrong there. My take? I drive it gingerly when cold, and am light with the transmission always, but especially on the first couple of shifts up to 2nd. Ferraris are famous for being tricky to get into third when they're cold; but they can be driven that way for many, many miles with no issues. From what you describe above, I do have to wonder if something is wrong with your transmission and/or if anyone has abused it. You might try some gentle revs via heel/toe when the clutch is in for your shifts, but I am concerned about the condition of your synchros.

Rapter

I am 50/50 on if this is a synchro issue or not. I would prefer that the synchros are ok... but one can not tell.

The only item that leads me to believe the synchros may be ok is the reluctance to return to 1st gear when coming to a slow stop from neutral. This leads me to believe that it may be fluid related maybe? Who downshifts into first repeatedly and abusively ?

Id this was a synchro issue the difficulty in shifting would be independent of temperature no?

TAch Miami

Rapter

What happens in the warmer weather with the thinner oil? Does the oil still provide the lubrications and protection the box needs ?

PCA1983

My broken 2nd gear synchro was easy to diagnose. When warmed up, stop and push in the clutch. With mine, i could put it in 6 forward gears and in reverse while warmed up and stopped. But no way would it go into 2nd. Moving and warmed up, 2nd gear was still rough and balky at slower speeds. The issue when stopped was the clincher, when I told my service advisor.