CanyonBlaster

Tried search. only one thread and it was closed....

I am at my wits end. my car has a very annoying issue with 1st gear from a stop. it doesn't engage and/or pops and grinds horribly approx 1/3 of the time. It is safety issue on the street. I almost got rear ended yesterday at a traffic light due to my "false start"....
It is also obviously a total buzz kill towards enjoying driving the car.

We just swapped the B&M for a Cup car shifter (I alredy had cup cables) and I and tech REALLY hoped that would cure this issue. NO luck. it is same or possibly even worse.

Anyone have any ideas? I will HAVE to fix this issue, at any cost. Car only has 21K miles so I am hoping I don't have to pull the tranny...

MetalSolid

Try double de-clutching -- if this works then you have a syncro problem. If not, it could be a (cheaper to fix) motor mount or shifter problem.

CanyonBlaster

car has brand new cup shifter (problem was same with B&M).
Car has "torque" brand motorsport motor mounts (pic attached).

sorry but what is double de-clutching?

MetalSolid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_de-clutching

When shfiting down one gear, you basically, press clutch pedal -- shift into neutral -- release clutch pedal -- blip throttle -- press clutch pedal -- shift into next lower gear -- release clutch pedal.

IPguy

Sounds to me like the shift fork is not moving enough to fully engage, I would have some one take a look at the adjustment of the cables, my 2 cents, its not a shifter problem

SH || NC

^^+1

GTgears

"pops and grinds horribly" suggests to me that whatever the root problem is/was you've probably also got damage to your 1st gear dog teeth and are going to need to service the box.

996FLT6

U may want to inquire with previous owner whether hard 1st gear launches was ever done. Looking at it's been a trackwhore that wouldn't cause 1st gear issues since it's never used. Sounds like more and more a tranny issue then shifter/cable. Mike

AllanJ

Hey Matt,

If the dog teeth are damaged, what are the potential fixes with 1st gear being stuck on the main shaft? Easy fix? $$$ fix?

Cheers,

GTgears

We used to subcontract repairs to someone, but then this started happening:


What we decided the issue was is that the EB welding that was used to install the new dog teeth was compromising the temper of the heat treat on the gear. After eating our hat a few times on it, we stopped offering it as a "solution".

California Motorsports offers TIG welded repairs that don't seem to have the same temper issues. However, they will only "warranty" the work for 993 gearboxes. I've never asked why but I assume it is because they only consider it strong enough for the lower powered cars. So this may or may not be a viable solution for you.

I would suggest you talk to Bernie at MB Euromotors up there in Vancouver. He may have a similar fix using a local machinist that would avoid shipping the gear down to the States. Plus, the gearbox has to come apart no matter what and he's an excellent gearbox guy.

AllanJ

Thanks. I've just started talking to Bernie about it and we'll see what the damage is when it's opened up. I'll see you next Saturday.

Cheers,

FFaust

OP, does the grinding happen if you hold the clutch in for 1 or 2 seconds before slipping it into 1st gear?

serickson

I have a similar issue getting into first gear, not all the time. I found double clutching helps. Recently I found while holding the clutch down and moving the shifter from third to second then first works very well. I have had the gear pop out but found that it was not fully engaged because I did not want to put too much pressure trying to get it into gear. Try going from third to second then first.

ninerguru

How old is your clutch? When was it last bled? Can the engine stall when in 5th gear and you release the clutch? Is it possible that the clutch is not fully disengaging and the tranny gears are still moving internally?

serickson

35,000 miles original clutch. Not sure about 5th gear never tried at a stop.