alexb76

Ok, so I've been battling this notchy 1-2 shifting for over 1.5 yrs, it got worse after a couple of track sessions (need fluid change), and no matter who I asked, they basically told me I HAVE TO live with it, and that's normal.

I asked dealer, THREE indy shops, and they all had different excuses, said might be be synchros, or clutch, or actual transmission, or just gotto change fluid, etc...

Then, I had my center console removed for painting, I had access to the cables, I then went to one of the shops asked him if an adjustment is needed, STILL he said, no... I insisted, and they used this tool to adjust it, AND VOLLAH! HUGE IMPROVEMENT, now gears go in like butter... 1-2 still is a bit harder than 3-6, BUT, that's just because the synchros are different and have to take more load, however, the shifting is so much imroved that it literally pisses me off why I didn't do this a year ago.

So, if you got a notchy 1-2, TRY adjusting your shifter, it MAY help it in cases where cable has stretched and neutral have moved over a bit... the hardest part is center console removal which in my case, was just accessible!

Spiffyjiff

any idea how he adjusted it or what he did to it? buying a tool is only half my battle. i searched on here but cant seem to come up with a good DIY (with pics).

FiatCoupe

I'm pleased the tool was useful for you. Pretty easy to do once everything is accessible. It holds the gear lever in neutral whilst you detach and reattach the cables.

The ends of the cables attached to the gearbox have a ridge and the ends of the gear lever connectors have sets of grooves. Thus the cables can sit into the grooves at various positions thereby adjusting the tension the cables are under. When the gear lever is in the neutral position they should not be under any tension. Don't pull or push the cables just drop them into place and lock them in.

alexb76

Exactly what he said on how to do it... I didn't do it myself, but my guy did, but basically was that procedure and looked pretty easy, he didn't even charge me for it.

Minok

Which means that if the cables ARE under some tension with the stick in neutral, then the system is possibly out of proper alignment. Right?

FiatCoupe

Correct

marcus0277

Can you clarify by what you mean by "notchy" 1-2 shifting? I'd like to see if it's similar to my symptoms which are:

1) occasional slight grind upshifting into 2nd when trans fluid is cold.
2) nearly impossible to downshift into 2nd when traveling at speeds over 45mph.

I've never had a car that was difficult to shift into any gear other than 1st, regardless of wheel speed. It seems like more of a synchro issue to me, but then again, so does a 'notchy 1-2 shift', so maybe I'm wrong.

SToronto

I also noticed this, there is have been a few times I have difficulty shifting into first and second, feels like there is grind. Last night I had the car parked outside for a few hours in the cold, it was nearly impossible to shift into second, I didn't want to force it so went into third instead.

alexb76

Not really. No grinding, if it grinds, it's more like Synchros. I also NEVER forced it to grind, and when I couldn't find the gate, had to go back to Neutral, and then again into gear which works fine.

The notchiness for me, was just difficulty finding 1/2 gears, and having difficulty getting into it, even at a full-stop at a light. for instance, while trying to get into 1st, I sometimes had to go through N-1-N-1 to get it to go... similarly, when downshifting to 2nd, it either was pretty hard, or I had to go like 3-N-2-N-2 to make it...

The adjusment has IMPROVED finding the gate. It basically makes the chances of going back to Neutral to get to the gate less frequent, and gear shifting is just smoother in general, so 1-2 is straight down, with less delay in N for it to go, while before I had to ensure I was more ginger with shifting.

997_rich

The 1-2 shifting issues when cold are pretty common. I believe that what is actually happening is that the countershaft/counter cluster just spins down to 0 rpm when the oil is thick. If it's not spinning the gears can't mesh. Remember, it's spinning when in gear but as soon as you step on the clutch it starts the clock on spinning down to 0 rpm. If it's at 0 rpm the chances that it will align with the intended gear set are slim to none even if the synchros are still brand new. When this happens just put the stick in neutral, take your foot off the clutch and it will start spinning again. Step on the clutch again and QUICKLY select the gear you wish- it'll go right in. Essentially this is what they call "double clutching".

Remember whenever you step on the clutch and you're in neutral that countershaft is going to spin down eventually. In thick(cold) oil it just happens faster. You could put thin oil in your gearbox and you wouldn't have this issue... but you'd have other catastrophic issues.

mb996

Alex,

Do you know how much either cable was adjusted? I'm wondering how sensitive this adjustment is. Say one cable was off only 1 thread, would that cause this issue?

simsgw

Not really what we meant by ye olde "double-clutching", but that technique is an essential one for sports car drivers and it's done just as you describe it, Rich. Well said.

Gary

SToronto

I put this to the test tonight, I think it worked. Great info.

Luxter

Exact same experience over here.
Big improvement in 1st and 2nd. One of the cables at the end of adjustment however (the blue one).
I have a feeling that every time you drop your tranny, engine + tranny, or remove engine rear carrier you are likely to adjust your cables too.
Removing center console is the hardest. Stripped knuckles again....
Cheers,
=L=

B1ackmarket

Hey, im having the same issue with my 996tt, any word on what the tool was? What exactly was adjusted?