1st Gear Woes
03-14-2010, 05:33 AM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
1st Gear Woes
My 07 RS with 10k miles has been having a rough time shifting into 1st gear most recently. Best way to describe it is a coarse, rubbery feeling as the shifter gets pushed past the gate. When and if this happens, the transmission also makes a notable, high-pitched whine when the clutch is fully depressed.
Problem is replicable over a range of operating temperatures, but every now and then it goes away and 1st gear shifts like the day this pumpkin left Zuffenhausen... I'd say the problem occurs once every 3 three shifts into 1st. It may well manifest itself when I pull out of the driveway, disappear halfway into my drive to work, only to reappear as I near my destination...
FWIW I've flushed my tranny fluid every 3k miles, most recently last week. Currently running Redline 75W90. Every time the old fluids look like cloudy black coffee and there is fine metal dust (not big particles, just very very fine dust) in the drain...
Yodas out there, what's your take?
Problem is replicable over a range of operating temperatures, but every now and then it goes away and 1st gear shifts like the day this pumpkin left Zuffenhausen... I'd say the problem occurs once every 3 three shifts into 1st. It may well manifest itself when I pull out of the driveway, disappear halfway into my drive to work, only to reappear as I near my destination...
FWIW I've flushed my tranny fluid every 3k miles, most recently last week. Currently running Redline 75W90. Every time the old fluids look like cloudy black coffee and there is fine metal dust (not big particles, just very very fine dust) in the drain...
Yodas out there, what's your take?
Last edited by CRex; 03-14-2010 at 10:05 AM.
03-14-2010, 12:10 PM
#2
Two things influence gear engagement: synchros and clutch. Depending on how the car is driven, the clutch plates may need to be replaced, and/or more likely the synchros need to be swapped out as well. Is the car tracked heavily?
03-14-2010, 05:10 PM
#7
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I had problems with my 997 RS and my 996 GT3. Just didn't want to go into 1st sometimes. Easing out the clutch a tad bit usually allows it to go in. Took it to the dealer on several occasions, dropped the fluid...never found out anything for a fix.
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03-14-2010, 05:13 PM
#8
Drifting
When my car had a few thousand km on it, I took it into the dealer complaining of tough shifting into 1st gear. They said this was normal and it would loosen up. It got progressively worse as the car approached 10,000km and would now grind at times going into 1st. The dealership agreed that something was amiss and opened the gearbox. They found the first gear synchro almost completely worn.
The gearbox was repaired under the goodwill warranty as a one-time only repair. I've owned three Porsches before this one, two of which had the same G50 style gearbox and have never had any synchro issues, especially 1st gear! Regardless, I gave up the fight and took the goodwill repair. The car now has 22,000km on it and no issues with first gear.
Was it a fault with a bad synchro material or was it something I did? I don't know, but you can view my track videos online to see that I'm pretty gentle on the gearbox. When doing research, I came across four other people on rennlist and 6speed that also had first gear synchro issues, so either we're all doing something wrong or there was a bad batch.
Unusually, two of the four people had theirs repaired under warranty without question, one I lost track of and the last one sold the car without repairing the gearbox. One final note, to try and prevent a first gear issue from happening again, I now put the car into 2nd before going into 1st from a stand-still; it does seem to make a big difference in how easy it is to go into 1st. This won't help you if the synchro is already worn, but can be preventative once fixed.
Good luck with your repair, I hope it works out ok for you. Cheers.
The gearbox was repaired under the goodwill warranty as a one-time only repair. I've owned three Porsches before this one, two of which had the same G50 style gearbox and have never had any synchro issues, especially 1st gear! Regardless, I gave up the fight and took the goodwill repair. The car now has 22,000km on it and no issues with first gear.
Was it a fault with a bad synchro material or was it something I did? I don't know, but you can view my track videos online to see that I'm pretty gentle on the gearbox. When doing research, I came across four other people on rennlist and 6speed that also had first gear synchro issues, so either we're all doing something wrong or there was a bad batch.
Unusually, two of the four people had theirs repaired under warranty without question, one I lost track of and the last one sold the car without repairing the gearbox. One final note, to try and prevent a first gear issue from happening again, I now put the car into 2nd before going into 1st from a stand-still; it does seem to make a big difference in how easy it is to go into 1st. This won't help you if the synchro is already worn, but can be preventative once fixed.
Good luck with your repair, I hope it works out ok for you. Cheers.
03-15-2010, 05:26 AM
#9
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
When my car had a few thousand km on it, I took it into the dealer complaining of tough shifting into 1st gear. They said this was normal and it would loosen up. It got progressively worse as the car approached 10,000km and would now grind at times going into 1st. The dealership agreed that something was amiss and opened the gearbox. They found the first gear synchro almost completely worn.
The gearbox was repaired under the goodwill warranty as a one-time only repair. I've owned three Porsches before this one, two of which had the same G50 style gearbox and have never had any synchro issues, especially 1st gear! Regardless, I gave up the fight and took the goodwill repair. The car now has 22,000km on it and no issues with first gear.
Was it a fault with a bad synchro material or was it something I did? I don't know, but you can view my track videos online to see that I'm pretty gentle on the gearbox. When doing research, I came across four other people on rennlist and 6speed that also had first gear synchro issues, so either we're all doing something wrong or there was a bad batch.
Unusually, two of the four people had theirs repaired under warranty without question, one I lost track of and the last one sold the car without repairing the gearbox. One final note, to try and prevent a first gear issue from happening again, I now put the car into 2nd before going into 1st from a stand-still; it does seem to make a big difference in how easy it is to go into 1st. This won't help you if the synchro is already worn, but can be preventative once fixed.
Good luck with your repair, I hope it works out ok for you. Cheers.
The gearbox was repaired under the goodwill warranty as a one-time only repair. I've owned three Porsches before this one, two of which had the same G50 style gearbox and have never had any synchro issues, especially 1st gear! Regardless, I gave up the fight and took the goodwill repair. The car now has 22,000km on it and no issues with first gear.
Was it a fault with a bad synchro material or was it something I did? I don't know, but you can view my track videos online to see that I'm pretty gentle on the gearbox. When doing research, I came across four other people on rennlist and 6speed that also had first gear synchro issues, so either we're all doing something wrong or there was a bad batch.
Unusually, two of the four people had theirs repaired under warranty without question, one I lost track of and the last one sold the car without repairing the gearbox. One final note, to try and prevent a first gear issue from happening again, I now put the car into 2nd before going into 1st from a stand-still; it does seem to make a big difference in how easy it is to go into 1st. This won't help you if the synchro is already worn, but can be preventative once fixed.
Good luck with your repair, I hope it works out ok for you. Cheers.
Will prolly go back to M1-Delvac... do you guys use addititives on top of the regular fill?
03-15-2010, 06:40 AM
#10
Racer
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I don´t have any problems selecting 1st when standing still. When moving, going into first is always a double-declutch and throttle blip in between for me, so if you use this method, you should never have any problem at all.
If you do, then I would target the cable linkage, not synchros.
If you do, then I would target the cable linkage, not synchros.
03-15-2010, 02:53 PM
#11
Drifting
I should note that I had no unusual noises with my 1st gear issue, so maybe you're experiencing a different problem. The dealer can take apart the clutch first and see if it's in bad shape before diving into the gearbox.
03-15-2010, 10:21 PM
#12
Varying the clutch position is really meant to bide time until you get the trans pulled. Chances are that the remaining synchros will wear significantly faster when trying to cheat with this method.
Bottom line: bite the bullet and get the steel synchros put in. You might as well swap the plates and throwout bearing while they have it apart anyway. Worn synchronizers don't get better with fluid.
P.S. if you do fiddle with the pedal engagement position, make sure you let them know to prop it up on the lift and reset the engagement so that the wheels DO NOT TURN when engaging/disengaging the clutch while in gear.
Bottom line: bite the bullet and get the steel synchros put in. You might as well swap the plates and throwout bearing while they have it apart anyway. Worn synchronizers don't get better with fluid.
P.S. if you do fiddle with the pedal engagement position, make sure you let them know to prop it up on the lift and reset the engagement so that the wheels DO NOT TURN when engaging/disengaging the clutch while in gear.
03-16-2010, 12:24 PM
#13
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Guys, thanks for all the input. Car is scheduled to go into the dealer next week--focus areas will definitely include synchros, throwout-bearing and shift linkages.
Hope I'll be able to report back with good news in due course... [fingers crossed]
Hope I'll be able to report back with good news in due course... [fingers crossed]
