Alfnado

Maybe I’ve just never paid attention to it but I have some play in each elegant and neutral in my shifter. Side to side play. Is this normal?

Ignore the chatter in the video, we are on a road trip.

Video

Bruce In Philly

2009 C2S 175K miles

Yes and no. I have the Numeric shifter with the stock cables. I get play. If I jiggle the shifter, it clinks back and forth.

From examining the shifter super close up, it has no play (for the most part) so the play is coming from somewhere else. I suspect it is coming from whithin the transmission. Another place it could be coming from is the connection of the cables to the transmission levers... but the play is pretty great and I am not sure how such a small connection could have that much play.

It is a common misconception that the shifter is where all the clicking and H pattern is located. It is not. That is all inside the transmission. The Numeric shifter, or Porsche one, is a floppy, loose thing. Further, the cables are not cables, but flexible rods where you are not only pulling on them, but pushing too.

I am not enamored with our Aisin (997.2) Japanese transmissions as many reviewers are. 1st gear jam, jiggly play, 2nd gear crunch.... etc. Sorry folks, this is not a world-class sports transmission. Just ain't one.

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

Alfnado

Bruce, you are always so damn helpful. So I guess the short of it is don’t worry as long as it’s shifting right?

Thank you!

PhillyNate

Bruce I would never on my best day dispute your knowledge/info but I thought these were Getrag units?

Carreralicious

Bruce is right. The manual transmission in our 997s are made from Aisin. I’m def in the minority group though cause I’m ok with the stock shifter in my 997. It’s not hard for me to shift, butter smooth in fact, except for the occasional balk you get when at a stop and trying to put it in 1st. That is annoying but I get around it by just throwing into 2nd or 4th and then it goes right in. Doesn’t happen often though. Otherwise, I don’t really care for a shifter that feels like a rifle bolt action with no wiggle movement at all. I tried a car with the B&M short shifter and hated it. Tried a 997 with the factory short shifter and that was ok cause I like butter smooth throws, but not so much better than the stock unit that I’d bother to change it.

Chalkboss

https://californiamotorsports.net/pa...specifications

Petza914

I am completely happy with the OEM SSK in both my 997s. I do have a pair of new Numeric cables I bought cheap from someone when they sold their car in my parts cabinet that I'll install into my car whenever either car snaps the stock cables but so far at 109k on one and 60k on the other the stock cables are holding up fine. I have them wire tied into their slots under the car so they can't move around or pop out which can result in extra shifter slop.

frybear

Hm...I have the numeric, installed last Sunday, and I don't feel any play or slop in neutral or maybe just a slight tad. I'd have to drive it more to see about the gears issue. Haven't had the car since Monday so hopefully it's back from paint today.

Alfnado

Yeah, I’m thinking now there is more play than usual and I’m not sure where it’s coming from. Does the video work for people?

Bruce In Philly

A few years ago, Numeric had a problem with their little ball bearings in the shifter.... they were disintigrating. They had a bad batch. Maybe this happened to your unit. Try making a video of the jiggle and play and contact Numeric... provide them the video. See what they have to say. I know they remedied the issue, but maybe it resurfaced.

BTW, I did this... and they determined my shifter was fine. Keep in mind, the metal parts of the Numeric provide more feel over the Porsche plastic parts and therefore you have more awareness off what is really going on in there.

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

MrMoose

I'm not familiar with the Aisin, but on my 987.2 with Numeric cables and Function First Shift Right kit there's very little play in the shifter and cables, it's all basically in the inputs at the Getrag 6-speed.

Go under the car and watch/feel the linkage while you have somebody wiggle the shifter within the play. You should be able to figure out where the majority of the movement is. If it's like the Getrag you can also grab the left/right input to the transmission and try to move it to see how much internal play there is.

Bruce In Philly

Excellent approach.

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

Alfnado

Alright, spoke to Numeric. If you watch the video I posted, there’s a silver cone shaped piece attached to the shift lever that fits into the black piece with the Numeric logo. That cone shaped piece has a T25 on the other end of it hidden by the shifter. So if you partially disassemble the shifter, you can get access to that T25.

Per Numeric, there were some assembly issues some time ago. Their instructions are to remove that T25, add lock tight, reinstall and crank on it (within reason). Also, be careful not to lose the little spacers on the shift lever bolt. I’m a dummy and lost one and cannot for the life of me find it in the car because of course. So I’m hoping they will sell me another one. Hope this helps anyone else down the road.

Jim48

2006 C2S - original owner, now 74,100 miles. At 73,800, the shift cable broke and I was stuck in 3rd gear. Had it replaced along with getting a B&M sport shifter. Vast improvement with the sport shifter. I have to agree with you on the Aisin transmission. With the B&M sport shifter, the sloppiness is gone, but for at least 10 years, I have been getting noises when shifting into 4th or 5th -like the synchronizers are not working. Will soon switch transmission fluid to Red Line MTL; my friend Greg Forde, who did the work, thinks that the regular fluid is a bit too thick and makes it sound like the synchronizers are not working. In any case, it's a cheap way to find out.

Petza914

Mobillube PTX is the best fluid for these transmissions. Many people have tried their other favorites from other cars and they just down work as well. I use Driven lubricants in all systems of my cars and speaking directly with them when I provided the fluid spec for the 997 transmission, they told me they were working on something that would be compatible, but didn't have anything at the time.and to stock with the PTX, so there's something specific about what these trans need and the 75/90 gear oil you normally would use doesn't have it. I have Driven fluids in my 928ntrwns, my other 928 with a C5 Corvette transmission in it (Redline in that one caused a problem too), in the transfer case of my Cayenne Turbo, and in the Cayenne's differentials.....but not in the 997.

You can certainly experiment if you want, but a lot of people have proven the PTX is the best.