Gerry Kokoszka

As another project is on my hoist and I wanted to change the rest of my spark plugs as 1 was bad, I put a block of wood on the engine case and jacked up the car to put the rear on jack stands.

On a test drive after changing plugs, the engine ran fine. The shift lever won't go back as far as it previously did so it won't fully engage 2, 4, and 6 gears. I get a little grind if I let up the clutch pedal when in those gears. R, 1, 3, and 5 work fine as they did before. I inspected my Golden rod linkage from FD Motorsports and called Darin to sersee if he has ever heard of anything like this. He hadn't. The linkage isn't loose and the trans fluid doesn't have any unusual debris. I removed the eccentric bushing, spring and locking bushing from the front transmission cover to see if there was any debris that may have moved forward to prevent the shift lever from going rearward and the shift rod from going forward to engage 2, 4, and 6. No debris found. I even used a magnet and shop vacuum to try and remove any loose debris. No change.

I did a search and found 1 other person (irule) who had the same incident. He said he changed the transmission mount to resolve. My transmission mount is the original but I have the firmer RS mount but haven't installed it yet. I also sent irule a PM asking if he did anything else when the mount and fluid were replaced.

I have to admit I am slightly baffled by this incident. I am considering loosening up the engine and transmission mounts to remove any tension possibly created by jacking up the vehicle and putting the rear of the car on jack stands.

Has anybody else experienced this rather bizarre incident? Any suggestions?

Gerry Kokoszka

jstyer

Happened to me... I never did figure out why it happened. I'd recommend disconnect the shift rod from the tranny, and attempting to shift into the gears by pulling directly on the transmission shifting shaft.

I replaced my tranny mount, and changed gear oil, and the problem hasn't resurfaced. But I'm still skeptical that it is indeed something internal.

IainM

I've read you mustn't jack the engine case
This might be why
Most likely is old engine/tranny mounts couldn't handle the reverse stress

Gerry Kokoszka

I tried that too. I couldn't move the shift rod any better , i.e. more into 2, 4,and 6 gears by hand. I would think there is more leverage using the with the shift rod and lever than by hand.

Thanks for the reply.

Leander

If you don't jack the engine case, how the heck do you get it onto the axle stands?

NYC993

You can get an idea if your motor mounts are sagging by looking at the tail pipes.

As far as lever not moving far enough, that can be adjusted by lengthening the front shift rod. I had an issue where my tranny would pop out of the 1st grar after installing golden rod. I had to shorten the front fork a bit so lever would better engage the gear.

Gerry Kokoszka

By the way I installed the RS engine mounts in the past. Maybe 5 years ago.

jstyer

Jacking the engine case is absolutely acceptable... No harm there. I hope you don't have to open the tranny, but if you do, please post back with what you find!

Gerry Kokoszka

This is difficult to describe but I will try again. With or without the shift lever and Goldenrod linkage attached to the transmission, the rod coming out of the transmission does not move the same amount /distance in 2, 4, and 6 as it does in R, 1,3, and 5. There is something inside/internal to the transmission binding preventing the rod the shifter bolts to from moving its normal distance and travel to fully engage those gears.

Thanks for all replies so far. This is a Great Community of enthusiasts!

MartinC2S

Do you remember if the car was in gear when you lifted it?

I for one never pay attention to that when I jack the car by the engine but maybe it's something to be aware of in the future and make sure to put the car in neutral.

Gerry Kokoszka

It was in gear 1.

nine9six

Gerry,
To be clear, the throw of the shift rod coming out of the transmission does not move the same distance in 2, 4, and 6 as it does in R, 1, 3, and 5, yes?

I don't have your knowledge, skills, or abilities in things Porsche, but this sounds potentially internal from your description.

Where exactly are you actuating the shift movement from? No binding anywhere, or hitting anything in the tunnel? I'm sure you already checked...

jstyer

Nine9Six, he's saying he's actuated the transmission shift shaft directly. Not the gearshift rod. So that would rule out a linkage issue.

Gerry Kokoszka

Paul you are correct. The movement of the shift rod coming out of the transmission is less in gears 2, 4, and 6 which are not being fully engaged than gears R , 1,3,and 5 which are fully engaged. Something inside the transmission is preventing the shift rod from making the full movement.

I am having hard time understanding how putting the rear of the car on jack stands could cause this to happen.

Thanks for the reply-good to hear from you,
Gerry

Gerry Kokoszka

With the help a friend I tried dropping the rear of the engine by loosening but not removing the engine carrier to motor mount bolts. No change. I also loosened the bolt from the trans tension damper and also the damper to the trans case bolt and tried raising the nose of the trans slightly with a floor jack. No change.

I tried looking at the sides of the trans mount to see what the rubber in the center looked like but there are large washers on both sides blocking the visual inspection. There is no room to replace (press out and in) the mount with trans in the car

I am about out of things to try. Please forward any suggestions. I am facing the reality the trans has to come out to see what is going on inside.