jazzyfunkykool

Do any of you guys have trouble engaging 1st gear from a stop? Often times, the shifter doesn't engage 1st properly, and when I engage the clutch, I get a horrible grinding sound. Weirdly, it doesn't do it "as much" when I go to 2nd, then 1st, (with the clutch fully depressed.)

Another workaround is slightly engaging the clutch whereby I can fully engage first, then proceed to move forward.

I've shown this to my service advisor twice and he's said that this is normal for GT3s, but something is not sitting right with me. I've had the car less than a year, it's under warranty, and put less than 2500 miles on it (1/2 track miles) and this problem continues to persist.

Any ideas? I did read where a fellow member had to have his entire 1st gear and synchro replaced, but my problem doesn't seem to be as drastic. Is this just the early signs of wear on the synchro or gear?

I've driven several 7/3s and none have had this issue, but have yet to compare it to another 6/3.

dan212

This isn't entirely normal. But 1st can be balky at times - especially cold. I was told to push the lever slightly into 2nd before 1st at a stop light when possible. It does make a difference.

Don't like the grinding when you engage. Thats ugly. Are you sure you've gotten it pushed fully? If so, pester your service manager more. The gearbox should feel like a springfield rifle bolt compared to other cars. I have 52K miles - mostly track - on my GT3 and my gears are smoother.

If you double clutch will it go into 1st? I do that when rolling, but if works for you at at a stop, the synchro's don't sound happy.

samdeshi

I guess it is useful to change the gearshift bracket to 997. Because,996 gearshift bracket stiffness is poor.
I lost 1st gear sometimes, but it was improved after replacing.

The exchange method is the following.

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Basic maintenance of 6GT3 for Beginners

serickson

Yes, last year I had this issue. I bled my clutch over the winter it seems to have helped but I will wait for more track time. It still is not perfect. When this problem happens I found the best solution was to go from third to second to first at a stop. Double clutching only helped sometimes. If I still have issues I will try and adjust the shift linkage since a few years back I installed the EVO Swift Shift Kit and I am wondering if I just need to adjust the linkage better. I have seen other posts that advise changing gear oil this made no differnce. I have also seen other users had issues with syncro's but this would be my last resort only after exhausting my other options.

samdeshi

I guess the root cause of horrible grinding sound is that the gear does not mesh completely at the 1st position. Therefore if gearshift lever can push and pull cable exactly, this trouble will be improved.

And we can not adjust the linkage better, because shiftlever position is free.

JohnnyGT3

have you ground it into second at the track at all? I had a similar issue and it felt like it wanted to pop out of gear to me. End result was replacing 1st and second gears.. under warranty thankfully back then. Until the car is fully warmed up, it seems hard to get it into 1st and 2cnd gear. Is the car fully warmed up when this happens?

SH || NC

- check shifter alignment with factory tool
- last time you had a fluid change?
- street / track miles on clutch and pressure plate?
- does it go into gear fine with the motor off?

Q&A

LWFW ?

GTgears

Change your gear oil. You have enough track miles alone to warrant it. Might not solve your problem but you are due for an oil change...

GBoxguys

Sounds like you have a dying 1st gear synchronizer. The reason that you don't notice it as much when shifting into it after first shifting into 2nd is that you are using the 2nd gear synchronizer to match up the shaft speed, which then lets the 1st gear engage easier.

I would have this taken care of as it is only going to get worse as time goes on, and potentially more costly. Figure a gearbox rebuild to be somewhere in the relm of about $3500.00 give or take.

I hope that this is helpful.

jazzyfunkykool

Thanks for all the info guys! You are reinforcing what I have suspected. However, I have taken it to 2 Porsche dealerships and both have said this is normal for the GT3. If there is an issue, I want it fixed, and I want it fixed under the warranty I purchased, but what do I do if 2/3 of the dealerships in Houston are saying there is no problem?

To answer some of the other questions: Yes, it goes into first no problem with the car off. I have trained myself to go to 2nd, then 1st when approaching a stop and there are no grinding sounds and 95% of the time there are no issues engaging 1st when doing this. However, as GBoxGuys noted, this seems to me to be the definition of a synchro issue.

The grinding sound absolutely happen as a result of 1st not being properly engaged, the problem is that without letting up on the clutch ever so slightly, or doing the 2nd to 1st dance, I cannot ram the shifter in 1st anymore while at a stop.

All fluids, including gear, engine oil, brake and transmission were changed less than 3k miles ago. This car was a sponsored track car by Momentum Porsche so in the words of the service tech who handled it, it's the "most over maintained GT3 he's ever seen."

jazzyfunkykool

On another note, I too suspected the "car not being warmed up," but it's Houston and these issues happen after hard driving and/or close to 100 degree heat/humidity days.

jazzyfunkykool

Q&A, no LWFW, but the clutch and pressure plates were replaced 10k miles ago by Porsche.

Q&A

I have the same issue but only recent after having installed a LWFW. This came with a brand new clutch, pressure plate and a fresh set of synchro's. I have it sometimes and therefore not always. I thinks it is because there are so much more vibrations not being stabilized like before. The rattling noise must be caused by something ;-) It just engages sometimes less smooth.

But the reason i had this all done, was a worn out 2nd gear synchro. It started to grind (90.000 km)

.

GTgears

I reiterate my suggestion. 3000 miles on the gear oil may not seem like much but according to you 1250 of those miles were on the track. Treat every hour you spend on the track as 1000 addition miles to stress on the gear oil. Assuming 80mph average track speeds that is 15,625 plus another 1750 street miles for a total of effectively 17k+ miles on your gear oil.

Search my user name for other posts. You'll quickly figure out what I do for a living. You find my comments where I tell you that Porsche's service interval for gear oil is a joke and that my professional opinion is 15k service intervals with accelerated time for track.

The fact that it only happens when hot only collaborates my inclination that your gear oil is tired. Furthermore, if they put something like Redline in there to help give is smoother shifting with the steel synchros, one of the downsides of redline is that when it gets hot it gets too slippery and doesn't provide enough friction.

So take or disregard my advice, but a gear oil change in pretty cheap on the scale of things. If I am wrong then you've changed oil that needed to be changed anyway and removed a variable from the equation.

If I am right and you don't change the oil and you keep tracking your car you will end up exactly where that gbox guy is pushing you, with a $3500 rebuild on your hands. And when it comes to 1st or 2nd gear issues half the time Porsche warranties it and half the time they claim owner abuse and make you eat the ticket. And the real kicker is your gearbox has got to be apart before they give you the answer of which call they are going to make. They won't agree to warranty it before disassembly. They will tell you that they will take it apart to check it for the warranty, and if they say that your driving style caused it you've got your **** in sling because they've got your gearbox in pieces in their facility and not much option other than to pay them to put it back together.