Heiko

Hey everyone im back and yes i got another weird post. Well its been a little more than 2 years since i owned my silver 98 boxster, and not too long ago i changed the transmission oil in it fearing that it was way overdue. Before it used to shift like a dream but now in the cold mornings its a bitch to shift into first and reverse until i've found a way to shift these two. The first thing i gotta do is go out in reverse so the first thing i do is shift into 4th and then into reverse to get out otherwise im gonna fight getting it into reverse. Next thing is going forward so i have to shift into 3rd and then into 1st to be able to go. I understand why this is possible, i understand the workings of the transmission, but i dont understand why these transmissions are so bitchly designed. I usually brag with pride about everything else on these cars but man this really embarasses me. I've done my research on this site and i see that some people brag about high end fluids while others say to go for the Porsche original fluid. I do the work on this car myself and i remember putting the conventional limited slip hypoid sae 75w90 APL/GL5 plus fluid in it and even bled the slave cilinder on the clutch. If any one else has this problem lemme know or if someone noticed something i did wrong please let me know. Thanks in advance the car has 97k on it

logray

The manual transmissions are known to be a little clunky and sometimes you need to shift into 2nd before going to first or pause briefly before going to 1st. But you should never have to "fight it"... something is not right there and since you recently changed the fluid that's where I would look first.

I would check that the fluid level is proper and correct type. Do not overfill, and the level should be checked when the transmission is on level ground.

What brand of gear oil did you use?

There are only a few approved gear oils (available from Porsche):

Shell Transaxle
Mobil Mobilube PTX

But people also use these gear oils with success:

Mobil Delvac 1 (SHC)
Amasoil
Royal Purple
Swepco

nosnow

Use Porsche fluid only. I had the same problem on my 99 when I changed the fluid and used Motul, I ended up changing it 3K miles later for hard cold shift and gear whine when hot.

Macster

Second that.

I had the orignal factory fill 5-speed transmission fluid changed in my 02 Boxster and afterwards the shifting cold required that I skip shift from 1st to 3rd until things warmed up.

I lived with it because I though it was just the tranny showing its age.

Oh, the dealer where I had the fluid change done told me it used some non-Porsche fluid, but I do not recall which fluid.

After I do not know how many more miles the fluid was due to be changed again on miles and this time Porsche fluid was used.

Symptom went away.

Recently, I had the fluid changed yet again -- again after many more miles -- and the transmission still shifts just nice from 1st to 2nd even cold.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Heiko

Thanks for all your responses, I used Sta-lube brand, it had all the necessary requirements that the bently book asked for and they recomended other oils at the shop. When i worked on it i had the car on ramps and stands to be horizontal and yes i measured the 11 milimeters it asked for the tranny. It was all good and done but it only lasted about a month untill i noticed the change. Well next time i'll put the correct oil as for now i'll just have do the secret shift movement, by the way the clutch went out a year ago and by the way i shift its gonna be a long time before it turns out to be the problem. Thanks again everyone and happy porschering.