rod j

Last Friday I test drove a 97 Turbo with 24k miles. This is the first time I had driven or ridden in a 993 Turbo. During the drive I noticed a significant amount of what I think was audible transmission whine. I could feel the same vibration from the shifter. The vibration was most noticable in third gear (I could see the shifter vibrating). Also it seemed very easy to "grind" going into third gear. Since I don't have a point of reference for "normal", I'm not sure if I'm seeing normal behavior or signs of problems or abuse. What do you think?

ScottMellor

Definitely Not Normal.

ca993twin

rod j,

Scott is correct, there should be no vibration or gear grinding from the TT gearbox. As for gear whine... mine seems to whine a bit under acceleration. The previous owner swapped out the front transaxle because of gear whine... I'm not sure he nailed it. Or... maybe mine is normal? My car is a 1996 with 53,000 miles.

Are you thinking of purchasing a TT? Be sure to drive another example. Gearbox work tends to get expensive, and would cause me concern as to possible abuse (although its hard to see how third gear could get damaged; first gear is the ususal suspect).

PorschePhD

Oh no.....The biggest problem with the tranny is just this. The original design of the input shaft was a bit soft and would twist causing the gear to ride a bit off its mark. the result was a whine and a destroyed transmission in time. The only fix was to replace the input shaft and the gear set. In 1997 along with many other upgrades the tranny input shaft was hardened a bit and would resist the twist problem a little better. Any aggressive launch will bend the shaft and require a rebuild. You are looking at about 5500.00 to do this. There are upgrades, but the aggressive launch will take any of them out as long as you are AWD. The power gets transferred right through the tranny. Don't ask me how I know <img border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" title="" src="graemlins/cussing.gif" /> The way to test the tranny is to roll down the street 20MPH and push the car back up into first gear....While you are rolling the car will sound like a straight cut Ford tranny and whine. If you accelerate in 1st gear and clutch in or lug down you will hear it. Any whine at all will indicate this condition. This a real problem. We fix a ton of these...Not a good situation and I bet there are 70% of the 993TT owners with this. So far I haven't bent my new TT..Time will tell

Hunter '97 tt

Guess I'm one of the 70%. I was going to post this same question. My '97 whines in 2nd and 3rd gear, mostly under acceleration. The shifter seems to vibrate to the touch, noticeably. My mechanic is a 20 year guy with the Dealer and he couldn't advise me on the problem. Worse, my car has 13k miles and not many of them by me...
Tough call, but when will I know it's time to spend the $$$ on the input shaft and gear set. Ouch.

PorschePhD

First make sure the issue in not present in the first gear test. It may not be a huge problem if you don't hear it in first. If it is in the upper gears and not in first then the problem may be somewhere else. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />

Hunter '97 tt

I will run the first gear test this weekend.
I spoke with my mechanic this morning who said he made some inquiries and then he mentioned a gear set and 10+ hours labor. Could you please tell me what is involved. Thanks.

SLVR

That must be quite a mechanic, dismantle the engine and drop it. Disassemble the gear box and then reverse the whole thing in ten hours....
Maybe I am over estimating the time for the engine drop but seems like it should be more...

Hunter '97 tt

Interesting development on this thread. Tested the transmission with the 20 mph 1st gear test. Negative. Still had whine in 2nd - 4th gears with noticeable vibration through the shifter.

My mechanic spoke with the District Service Manager who said, "raise the gear shift 1mm".
Well, it worked. The vibration is gone. Apparently, the shifter sitting against the stop can create a whine or vibration. Easy fix that I would suggest before anything else.

John H. in DC Area

Glad to hear that fixed it, Mark. You just saved yourself lots of $$$$.

viperbob

John,

Where did you get your short shift kit for the Turbo??

Thanks

John H. in DC Area

Bob, I purchased it from FVD and my shop installed it. It's the kit specifically for the C4 and TT series cars. Not sure precisely what, but I was told some minor extra work is necessary for it to be installed.

I'm happy with it, though it's still not as short and notch-like as I prefer.

PiB993

I'm getting gear whine/vibration in 5th and 6th usually after I've sat at freeway speeds for a few moments to minutes. What was really odd is on my last drive it continued to whine/vibrate when I went out of 6th and into neutral! I hesitate to call it a "whine" it's not like a straight cut gear noise more of a "buzz" that is also clearly felt through the shifter ****. Soooo then I found this thread. Worried about this $$$$ business related to transmissions and this phenomena.

ca993twin

Relax. It very unlikely to be anything other than worn/buzzing shift linkage parts. There is a "tunnel cover" under the car that is a long, skinny piece that covers all the linkage. With the car up in the air, remove the cover and examine the linkage parts. I can't tell you what to look for, but hopefully its just a worn cup/ball socket, or something like that. You might want to make an appointment with FD Motorsports and have them install one of their amazing short-shift-kits with their golden rod. A huge improvement.

PiB993

Okay. Thanks. Appreciate the info!