RATNIK

Greeting to all,

I have a quick question. I am interested in purchasing a 2001 Boxster S with 80K miles on it for ~$11K however, the dealer says that it needs a 3rd gear synchronizer...first I was wondering if pricing is reasonable for that year and miles, and second if it is reasonable considering the issue it has. I know a friend who is a mechanic and we could probably fix it ourselves, but I would try to use the cost of the repair to bring the asking price down. So, how much would fixing he 3rd gear synchro cost? Also, I've looked around and unless I'm mistaken the part itself is around $100-150 for a 6 speed boxster S. Thanks for any input,

RATNIK

budmanv24

Man, $100-$150 for one synchro? Thats nuts. Anyways, I've rebuilt a few trannies in jeeps, and those things are a bear to get apart. On top of that you have four million parts once you get it all apart. A good hydraulic press is a must.

And that price may be a little high. Use this for a comparison.
http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/cto/1756351020.html

Shop around and see what other ones are going for and then get a quote and knock the quote plus some off the lowest price you can find and that should be the most you'd pay. Because you never know what other problems may arise once you get in there.

RATNIK

Interesting, thanks for the link it definitely helps. I'll keep looking, as you said never know what other problems might be hiding; the car is a bit far for me to risk any additional issues. Thanks again,

Cheers,
RATNIK

Macster

Be sure the components that require replacing are available individually. In some cases -- I do not know if the S transmssion such a case -- to replace one component requires replacing a very expensive main or lay or input shaft cause the worn part is part of the shaft and the entire shaft must be replaced.

I'd be leery of what the selling dealer tells you is the "problem". One thing to keep in mind is anything a car seller tells you is intended to get you to pay as much for the car as possible and to buy the car as soon as possible.

By telling you the problem is a "3rd gear synchro" that is probably available for $100 to $150 which seems cheap compared to what some other transmission part can cost the dealer hopes to make a quick sale.

Get a quote on a new 6-speed transmission replaced at a Porsche dealer, or get a quote on a rebuilt transmission from a shop near you that does these and has a good rep and adjust your offer down by one of these amounts or the most expensive one or an average, or use your own formula.

That "3rd gear synchro" has the all earmarks of the seller telling you what you want to hear, not what the actual problem may be and of course what the real cost may be to put it right.

Sincerely,

Macster.

flintworks

I had a customers 986 s with a grind going into second so I split the transmission case and found not only the synchro chewed up but also the gear itself. After replacing the gear twice with no improvement I found out that Porsche had updated all of the gears on that shaft so they all needed to be replaced. Obviously this got very expensive not to mention the fact that you need a 40 ton press to do any of the gears after second gear. Go to www.car-parts.com and search for a used one. I recently got a tranny for a non s from that web site (it pools from a huge selection of salvage yards). The tranny had 30k miles on it and was about $1k.

GTgears

I do not consider rebuilding this gearbox a DIY job. As was mentioned, you need a 40 ton press and a number of special tools. It also requires the patience of a Zem master. It's arguably the single most difficult Porsche gearbox to rebuild.

However, do a quick search here. There was recently a batch of factory remann'd G86/20 gearboxes with LSDs that were being sold with no core exchange. If you can get into the car for the right price then getting one of those boxes might be worth it.