kpd122

Hey All,

'09 C2 6-speed, 22k miles - new to me about two months ago. My first P-car and loving every minute of it so far.

A few weeks after purchase, I started noticing some issues shifting from 1st to 2nd gear when cold. It feels a little notchy, maybe even a little grinding? 3rd down to 2nd gear doesn't have any issues, and once warm, it all feels fine.

Engine mounts have been done, and a fluid exchange to PTX is on the list next. In addition to that, I was also wondering about shift cable alignment as another cheap and easy thing to check. I see some info on adjusting them with the green shifter alignment tool, but I can't figure out if it's applicable to the 997.2 - most suppliers specify the alignment tool fitment for .1 cars only. As far as I can tell, the shifter assy is the same for both cars, so I'd think it would work. Suncoast is the only place that says it works with all years 997. Just looking for confirmation before I order one.

Any other input beyond this is appreciated as well.

Thanks!

BillB128

This is a common issue with the 997.2 manual transmission.
The PTX might help a little but probably won't solve the issue all together.
I've got 37K on my 997.2 and have had this issue since new. The issue is
noticeable during colder weather and before the car is fully warm. Once the
car is warmed up fully, you should be good to go.

I just treat this idiosyncrasy as a reminder to take my time while things are
warming up and never rush the 1st to 2nd gear shift until the car is up to temp(oil temp not water temp).

I did install a Numeric Racing shifter this spring and the more I drive the car, the more I enjoy the mod.
It's very direct and removes almost all play from the shifter set-up, and I did not replace the cables.
With that said, it doesn't do anything for the 1-2 shift in cold weather.

Hope this helps,
Bill

Xios

Same with my car with similar milage. I changed to PTX with no effect.

I would also recommend the numeric shifter and cables. You would still need to slow shift when cold but it makes a huge difference (IMHO) in shift feel.

Petza914

1st and 2nd gear synchros are made from a different material than the other gears and why they feel different. Do the PTX fluid and shift slowly in those when cold.

Bruce In Philly

2009 C2S 179K miles

Aligning your shifter is a bit controversial, some say it "transformed" their shifting, others like me say it does nothing. Adjusting the cables, changing the length of each at the shifter, is to get the stick to stand straight up (insert joke here). Porsche sells a little plastic jig to help you do this alignment. It is not necessary if it looks like yours is straight when in neutral.

The shifter is a floppy device and does not position anything... all that is done in the transmission. The clicking, springing, notchiness you feel is in the transmission. The transmission is holding the shifter in place. The cables are not really cables, but flexible, stiff rods and shifter is pushing and pulling them. Again, the adjustment of the shifter does nothing unless it is extremely out of alignment, then it will bang into the innards of the shifter, but if it looks straight up when in neutral, you are fine and no adjustment will change shifting performance.

Changing the fluid is really the only thing that will change the performance of the transmission and not everyone reports improvement... it definitely reduces my 1st gear jam.. PTX is the stuff. I installed the numeric shifter and love it but that is all about feel. There is more feel to be gained by changing the cables.... these changes are about precision and replacing plastic parts with metal-to-metal contact.

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

alfetta

Thanks to those who replied. I bought my 997.2 a year ago with 38k miles and I have been worried about the same not-so-smooth 1-2 shift. Its nice to hear it is a common issue. What I find improves the shifting is to make sure the clutch is fully in (my clutch is new BTW) and thing pull the stick. I have the ago-old habit of pushing in the pedal and pulling the gear **** at the same time, but waiting the split second until the pedal in fully in before pulling the level makes a world of difference.

I will try the PTX.

frybear

yep, as others have said, the notchiness (at least for me) goes away for the most part after car gets to temp.

speedracerf4i

I can also confirm that this issue is common so do not worry too much. I have 26K on my 997.2 and had this condition ever since I bought the car at 14K miles 7 years ago. It will not go away with alignment (with the green tool) as I have tried. I Now have a factory SSK put in so it's a bit worse. This will go away within 3 miles of driving so I chalk it up as normal.
The tolerance of the transmission and the engine are so small that the engine too, will feel very different, looser and smoother, when warmed up.

Floyd540

As Pete notes above, the synchros on 1st and second are triple synchros and they do their job very well in preventing gear clash. You are not going to want to hear this but the real answer lies in owner education/ operator training and practice. Even with 60 years of stick shift cars, there is a learning curve and it takes a while. My 101,000 mile 997.2 shifts perfectly, but it did not start out that way when I bought it with 80,000 miles. Go practice.

Butzi 997

My 1-2 gear engagement was a bit notchy like everyone else's and improved after warm-up, but taking 1st at a stoplight could be stubborn with some regularity even when warm.

I had the Function First cable ends installed in my transmission about 2 yrs ago and that made a bit of an improvement. A few weeks ago, I drained and changed my transmission fluid to PTX because I had no idea what was in the gearbox and had been looking for advice here on the forum. What came out was the color of Coca-Cola and what went in was the color of Budweiser. But I also used a little tube of the LiquiMoly transmission additive.

Now, to my surprise, it's actually changed significantly for the better. Cold or warm, it just drops into gear. I can't say if it's the PTX or the Moly or the combination of the two, but it's really worked in my car.

Petza914

If was the fresh PTX

HartyWags

I have a 2010 C2S manual with the same issue with about 25k miles. I started with gear lube replacement which helped a lot when the car is cold. Next I had the indy shop just adjust the cables and this also helped. I have read that the gear shifter in my model has plastic parts that could wear and give more play. The suggested fix would be to upgrade to the GT3 short shifter as to my understanding it has all metal components. These are all the "cheap" action that can be done to maybe address the issue.

kpd122

Thanks for all the replies, everyone! My main concern was the occasional feeling of the shifter "bouncing off the gears" when going into second. But it sounds like it's fairly normal.

I ordered some PTX from Suncoast, and threw in the alignment tool to get me to the free shipping threshold (so basically free). I figure at 13 years old the trans could benefit from new fluid regardless. I'll report back with any changes to add to the group data points.

In the meantime, it sounds like I need to drive it more. The mileage is criminally low...

ewc

I also have a 997.2 with all these same issues. Changed to PTX and Function First shifter bushings and cable ends, which helped reduce the slop and make it easier to shift from 1-2. Still notchy when cold though.

One technique that seems to help is if I’m shifting slow, I depress the clutch pedal correspondingly slower - ie I don’t stamp down on the pedal. I find that being slower with the clutch pedal, pause then shift 1-2, seems to help a bit for whatever reason. It’s like a slight dance with these transmissions when cold to get the smoothness down. Once the box is fully warmed after 15-20 minutes, everything gets better.

bheit1

Mine is slightly more notchy when cold but I can't just go straight from 1st to 2nd without pausing for an instant half way down.
It seems to need that momentary pause in neutral to align the synchros. Once I do that it drops right into 2nd. No problem with the rest of the gears.
I had 18k miles when I bought the car and changing PTX made no difference.