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Had a similar problem with my 1991 C2 and replaced / refurbished all bushings for the shifter, but the problem was not resolved. In my case everything worked perfect while the car was cold and once you were driving for +30 min a "sticky shifter" syndrome was kicking in. Basically the shifter left/right side movement would stick in the 1st/2nd gear area position and was difficult to move towards third gear. Suprisingly 3rd, 4th and 5th shifting was flawless. Also shifting down from third to second worked reasonably. In the end we diagnosed the issue to be in the gearbox by disconnecting the shift linkage at the gearbox side and using a large M8 screw directly attached to the shift linkage in the gearbox.
Due to the sad news the gearbox had to be opened and the specialist diagnosed the issue as a kind of oil potential additive that had accumulated in the gearbox (see below). Part #2 was sticking on axle #4 once the gearbox did get warm. Once the parts had been cleaned from the residue the operation was flawless even when warm binding between both parts due to sticky residue when gearbox warm - no issue on cold
I am still glad he took his time taking the gearbox apart and warming up the parts so we could find and resolve the issue.
We have no idea what caused the sticky residue - the oil that came out of the gearbox when I bought the car (about 80k miles) seemed to be very old, so I do not think the gearbox had seen oil changes. Perhaps someone had the brilliant idea to add anykind of "magic transmission fluid" to overcome the normal G50 gearbox noise.
Every other part of the gearbox was in top condition.
Same problem here and diagnosed to the same parts. I am having them replaced, just to be sure I don't get the issue again. Followed by Porsche fluids only going forward.
I'm having the same issue with my car now. It's been happening for a few years, but usually goes away the more I drive it. I've had the bushings checked before and they're all OK. I took the car out for the first time in several months due to the lockdown last week and it was quite bad so I'm wondering whether to look at getting it sorted now. May I ask how much it cost to fix? (Just to give me an idea).
Thanks
I'm having the same issue with my car now. It's been happening for a few years, but usually goes away the more I drive it. I've had the bushings checked before and they're all OK. I took the car out for the first time in several months due to the lockdown last week and it was quite bad so I'm wondering whether to look at getting it sorted now. May I ask how much it cost to fix? (Just to give me an idea).
Thanks
Rod #4 is a bit north of 1k. But the once you're in there can push it up a lot. Estimated at 4k labor and syncros, bearings,... for me.
Rod #4 is a bit north of 1k. But the once you're in there can push it up a lot. Estimated at 4k labor and syncros, bearings,... for me.
Thanks for your reply.
The fact that it shifts and works fine when cold really makes me think that the parts themselves are fine. The oil was changed maybe 10 years/40Kkm ago so probably is due for a change though. I assume to open the box up and to just clean those parts would cost considerably less? I mean how much labour is involved with dropping the transmission and opening it up to check this?
No, I was quoted just north of 1k USD for just those parts (the rod, the springs, bushes, roll pin). But I had a quick look and it certainly doesn't add up. Maybe it included part number 2.
I certainly go a bit heavier on the parts replacement when the labor is charged. Just to avoid having to pay twice for the job, just to save a few 100s.
Taking engine out and putting back in is generally charged at 5 to 6 hours times 2.
The thing is, once you go in, you may as well change the syncros. Again, I look at the cost of 12 hrs of labor vs cost of syncros.
That is just my approach with bigger jobs like this.
No, I was quoted just north of 1k USD for just those parts (the rod, the springs, bushes, roll pin). But I had a quick look and it certainly doesn't add up. Maybe it included part number 2.
I certainly go a bit heavier on the parts replacement when the labor is charged. Just to avoid having to pay twice for the job, just to save a few 100s.
Taking engine out and putting back in is generally charged at 5 to 6 hours times 2.
The thing is, once you go in, you may as well change the syncros. Again, I look at the cost of 12 hrs of labor vs cost of syncros.
That is just my approach with bigger jobs like this.
Yeah, I'm the same, but would like to avoid a big $$ expense on the car right now. I've taken the car in for a service today and mentioned it to the mechanic. He told me he's seen the same issue quite a few times and said that 99% of the time it can be resolved without opening the transmission - he mentioned flushing the gearbox with some really thin gear oil (auto trans I think) before opening it up. Hopefully that'll do the trick.
Yeah, I'm the same, but would like to avoid a big $$ expense on the car right now. I've taken the car in for a service today and mentioned it to the mechanic. He told me he's seen the same issue quite a few times and said that 99% of the time it can be resolved without opening the transmission - he mentioned flushing the gearbox with some really thin gear oil (auto trans I think) before opening it up. Hopefully that'll do the trick.
Thanks
That's interesting on flushing the box out... And I would think there would be no harm in trying.
Would you be able to share the process and product used here?
Does he run the car with the thin fluid in there, or just row through gears with engine not running?
Warm up the box and fluids, or now?
Maybe it should just be a part of the maintenance schedule... Flush out box with every fluid change.
I'll ask him when I pick the car up, but he said that they get the car nice and hot (I guess to make the existing oil in the box as liquid as possible), empty it out and then fill it up with auto-trans fluid and then gently go through the gears with the car on the lift to get the new fluid all around it. Then drain it and re-fill with normal fluid. He's an old guy who's been working on air-cooled stuff for years and seems to know the cars well.
I had the similar problem, when the gearbox was cold it was oke but when it its hot its a sticky shifting. The problem was a small bearing in the gearbox
I'll ask him when I pick the car up, but he said that they get the car nice and hot (I guess to make the existing oil in the box as liquid as possible), empty it out and then fill it up with auto-trans fluid and then gently go through the gears with the car on the lift to get the new fluid all around it. Then drain it and re-fill with normal fluid. He's an old guy who's been working on air-cooled stuff for years and seems to know the cars well.
Andy did you do this and did this resolve your issues?
I had the same problem with the sticky shifter so I drained the old trans fluid and replaced it with 1quart of auto trans fluid mixed with 3 quarts of cheap gear oil from AutoZone. Ran it for awhile shifting gently through the gears drove it in neighborhoods so I would have to shift a lot. Let it sit a week drove it some more and repeated. Drained and replaced with Mobil 1 synthetic gear oil and now it shifts buttery smooth. Prior to that I had tried replacing all the shift linkage bushings. Then added a golden rod. It shifts as good or better than my 997 now. The auto fluid acts as a solvent to clean out the build up in the tight tolerance bushings that had started to bind and cause the sticky shifting when going front 2nd to 3rd and 4th to 5th
I'll ask him when I pick the car up, but he said that they get the car nice and hot (I guess to make the existing oil in the box as liquid as possible), empty it out and then fill it up with auto-trans fluid and then gently go through the gears with the car on the lift to get the new fluid all around it. Then drain it and re-fill with normal fluid. He's an old guy who's been working on air-cooled stuff for years and seems to know the cars well.
Hi Andy,
i am having exactly the same issue as described.
Video below:
I just changed the engine mounts as they appeared really bad, but the **** issue is still here.
I wanted to know if the fluid change has helped and solved the return to neutral position when warm ?? Or is the problem located inside the gearbox with parts #2 & #4 as described in older messages?
Had a similar problem with my 1991 C2 and replaced / refurbished all bushings for the shifter, but the problem was not resolved. In my case everything worked perfect while the car was cold and once you were driving for +30 min a "sticky shifter" syndrome was kicking in. Basically the shifter left/right side movement would stick in the 1st/2nd gear area position and was difficult to move towards third gear. Suprisingly 3rd, 4th and 5th shifting was flawless. Also shifting down from third to second worked reasonably. In the end we diagnosed the issue to be in the gearbox by disconnecting the shift linkage at the gearbox side and using a large M8 screw directly attached to the shift linkage in the gearbox.
Due to the sad news the gearbox had to be opened and the specialist diagnosed the issue as a kind of oil potential additive that had accumulated in the gearbox (see below). Part #2 was sticking on axle #4 once the gearbox did get warm. Once the parts had been cleaned from the residue the operation was flawless even when warm binding between both parts due to sticky residue when gearbox warm - no issue on cold
I am still glad he took his time taking the gearbox apart and warming up the parts so we could find and resolve the issue.
We have no idea what caused the sticky residue - the oil that came out of the gearbox when I bought the car (about 80k miles) seemed to be very old, so I do not think the gearbox had seen oil changes. Perhaps someone had the brilliant idea to add anykind of "magic transmission fluid" to overcome the normal G50 gearbox noise.
Every other part of the gearbox was in top condition.
Nickolaus is right on the money. I have a scruffy 964 development car which we call "Blueprint". When we converted it from 4wd to 2wd, it was fitted with a G50/10 964RS gearbox which was l lying in wait of a project build. My RS gearbox had exactly the same fault - perfect selection up & down the gate, but very stiff across the gate when hot.
Upon stripping the RS box we discovered metal pick up on the selector shaft. item 4 in the drawing. The shaft was picking up in bore of the shifter 2.
I chose not to replace the part. After mounting the shaft in my lathe I managed to re-polish the surface to an acceptable finish, and once done the shaft ran perfectly inside the shifter. We re-assembled the box with the shifter lubricated with PTFE based grease and have now done over 1000 development miles without recurrence of the fault.
For reference, item 4 the shaft 950,303,134,07 is £68.72+VAT from Porsche, item 2 the selector 950.303.035.04 is £505.06+VAT at today's prices.
04-13-2019, 07:41 PM
