reelsmith

I know this topic has been covered, but wanted to share an experience and ask a question.

Having decided to replace the cables in my 987.2, simply based on the impression that the original cables breaking is said to be a question of when, not if, I called two highly regarded independent Porsche specialist shops here in Fairfield County, CT. One said they had installed Numeric cables and thought they improved performance, but had no opinion if they were worth doing simply as a preemptive measure. The second shop came right out and told me to save my money, they've never seen the OEM cables fail. They are aware of the reputation the OEM cable have for failing, but having serviced 987s for years, have never themselves had to replace broken shifter cables. They went on to say they service many Caymans that are tracked regularly, some tracked exclusively for years, with no cable issues.

Has anyone else been told by Porsche shops the cables aren't an issue? I'm wondering if the issue has been blown out of proportion.

Dean.

green&submarine

All things mechanical will eventually fail given enough time or use. The shift cables on the 987s can simply fail earlier than many other parts of the car, which is why it gets talked about. When mine broke, the indy mechanic who did the repair said it was the first time he had seen it happen on a 987, but that he had done a number of repairs for broken cables on 997s (I didn't ask exactly how many, though). Mine failed in the same fashion as it seems everyone else has posted--breaking of the driver's-side cable about 5" before the cable end. I think it's telling that Porsche updated the design of their own cables; that indicates that they know the original design is prone to fail.

I don't know that there is a definitive answer on whether to wait for cable failure or pre-emptively replace them, that's personal preference, though from the forums it seems 45-75K miles may be the middle of the bell curve for when they fail. If you don't repair the cables pre-emptively, I would familiarize yourself with how to get under the car and move the pivot levers to get the car in to 2nd gear, 3rd gear, and reverse in the event that you do get a failure. That would let you drive yourself home or to the shop.

Regarding what to do for a repair, I went the route of updated OEM cables with a numeric shifter. I'm very happy with it. In retrospect, the cables made a bigger difference than the shifter. In the discussion about numeric cables vs. updated OEM cables, I don't think the change moving from the 987-design pivot lever (multiple pieces with rubber bushings) to the 981-design pivot lever (one solid piece) can be emphasized enough. The new design is far better. There was quite a bit of play in the old pivot lever on my car, and numeric cables would not have fixed that.

The Duke

I expect that Porsche has data on this issue, at least for cars that are dealer serviced. IMHO, all other data sources are anecdotal.

Unfortunately, Porsche has not shared their data with consumers.

However, there is one data point that is available to us. Porsche released an updated bracket and lever that has been available for some time. Acc to Suncoast, Porsche also released updated shifter cables at the same time.

https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/PK9872CABLE.html

I'm not sure whether this was an update that was engineered for the 981 and then applied to 987s, or whether it was a change that was made late within the 987 production run.

There has been speculation on this forum that the new "bracket" holds the cable at a less aggressive angle than the prior version, potentially extending the life of the cable. The new "lever" has been re-engineered to remove a rubber gasket, resulting in a more direct feel.

In 2022, with ~40K miles, I did go the route of replacing all of the above, adding a GT3 shifter box. My 2010, had a very vague shifter feel and I was looking to enhance what I had.

iflyjetzzz

Dean, I had my shift cables fail last year ... 2007 Cayman S. Probably 125K miles on the car when the cables failed.

The cables SHOULD have been replaced when I had my transmission work done. Below is my Yelp writeup for Carl's Place in Las Vegas which pretty much covers my dilemma when the shift cables failed while out of town.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS! This place used to be great when I moved to Vegas in 2014. The latest work I had done was horrible. I went to them in November with transmission issues and told them to check the motor and transmission mounts along with a full transmission rebuild (2007 Cayman S 6-speed manual). A bit over $5K later, I took it home. And the rear axle immediately leaked fluid on my pristine garage floor. Back to Carl's, another $1.3K later the leak was fixed.
Five months/2K miles later while driving in Los Angeles, my car would only go in first gear. The bushing on one of my shift cables was worn and had been held in place by bailing wire. Yes, bailing wire. So Carl's Place chose to use bailing wire rather than have me replace my transmission shift cables. The good news is that the mechanic in LA (King Harbor Auto Repair, which I also reviewed after this incident) told me that my motor mounts need to be replaced - the same motor mounts which Carl's Place assured me were in good shape

I was present when the repair shop in LA put my car on the lift and I saw the wires that held my shift cable in place for 5 months. Photos are attached.



If you go to Carl's Place Yelp page, you can clearly see in the photos in my review where bailing wire was used to hold my shift cables in place for a few thousand miles..

I was unaware of shift cable upgrades when this happened to me; I probably would have ordered an upgraded shift cable had I known about it, but I would imagine that the OEM replacement cables will be fine at least until the car hits 200K miles.
FWIW, I limped the car a few blocks to the LA auto repair shop in second gear.
I replaced my motor mounts shortly after this incident ... something you may want to have checked. I went with a more robust engine mount insert from Flat 6 Motorsports. I went with the Sport version and have zero regrets with that choice.

reelsmith

Thanks guys. I appreciate you sharing your experiences, which seem to confirm my thoughts.

My Cayman is new to me and has 21K miles on it, so I'd like to think I'm a long way from needing to replace shifter cables. But, I don't want to get stranded far from home. Funny thing, I've driven MT cars all my life (I'm 65), put 200K+ miles on a few of them and never replaced a shifter cable. Hondas have their benefits.

I like the idea of using the upgraded OEM cables with the shift cable update kit and think I'll go in that direction. Now I just need to decide if I want to upgrade the shifter at the same time, which will cost less in the long run. Thanks to The Duke for mentioning the GT3 shift console, which I was not aware of. The cost is about the same as the Numeric and I prefer the idea of sticking with all Porsche parts.

Dean.

redlightrich

Hi Dean, if you look at Porsche shifter ( even GT3) and numeric shifter at the same time, you will see the numeric is superior in every way. The Porsche shifters are very poorly made in comparison.
I am actually being polite.

Cheers

Rich

reelsmith

After my last post I came upon this thread - https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...-1-of-5-a.html

Nothing but love for the Numeric shifter from the folks who commented. Maybe I'm over thinking this ...which is a habit of mine.

Dean.

Spyder_2011

Another data point….I’m going on 5 years with my GT3 shifter and I’m very happy with it. It removed most of the slop in the shifter and has made the actuation more like something I would expect in a high end car. I recently changed the transmissions mounts which showed wear at 23k miles, new mounts improved the cars over the road stability, smoothness and shifting actuation so you might have yours checked.

SeanPatrick31

Over the winter, I installed the Numeric shifter with brand new genuine updated Porsche cables and the ancillary parts (lever, pivot, etc). I also did motor and transmission mounts, amongst a lot of other maintenance items.

I’m 54 and have been tinkering and modifying German cars for 25 years. The Numeric shifter and cables is BY FAR the best mod I have ever done on any car. It’s that good. I purposefully did not do Numeric cables due to the reputation of increased NVH.

As always, YMMV.

jbx2

Not so fast there Partner! My 2012 Cayman S Black Edition (with Porsche short shifter) cable broke at 30K. I limped home in 3rd gear and ordered up the Numeric cables. I had zero warning. If you're not ready to change the cables then maybe take a look at the transmission side of the cables every now and then to keep an eye on things.

KrisA

My cables failed on my 2012 Cayman at around 45,000KM. Replaced with the upgraded Porsche cables and brackets and have been happy with the upgrade. I don't know what my car shifted like when new, but I do know the upgraded cables felt instantly better than the original cables pre failure. The fact that 2012's were failing make me think that the upgraded brackets were a 981 change, not something introduced late in the 987 run. My car is one of the last, made in Germany, and my mechanic showed me the difference in the brackets.

The only downside of the Numeric cables I've heard is noise and vibration. As my car is a non winter driven weekender I feel like I would have been OK with them. I wonder if Numeric shifter with Porsche upgraded cables could be the sweet spot?

gt4gt4

My stock cables (10 years old, 50.000km) broke during the install of the numeric cables (and short shifter) ;-)

Numeric cables seem very durable and have a "bolt action" shifter feel.

Have driven 40.000km since the upgrade in all kinds of conditions and am very happy.

It does come at the expense of some NVH - for me it's a ticking noise that seems to be physically transmitted through the cables (sounds like injectors, probably because the cable insulation is touching the top of the engine).
I don't mind as it's a fun car focuse on driving feel, not a comfortable cruiser.

XuTVJet

I replaced my original cables in my 2011 Cayman Base a bit over a year ago. The car had 70K miles at the time. The cables weren't broken, but when the cables were removed, the cable that connects to the driver's side of the transmission had a slight bend in it about 8" up from the connection point. This is were the cable tends to break.

I replaced with the upgraded Porsche cables, mount, and pivot lever. The shifting directness was greatly improved due to the upgraded pivot lever. However, since the upgraded pivot is now a single piece of metal (two welded pieces) vs a two piece metal setup with internal rubber bushings sandwiched inside and some designed movement in the pivot, one should be aware that while the shifting is more direct, you will feel a bit more vibration, graininess, and mechanical-ness in the shifter when shifting. The reason is the rubber bushings in the original pivot setup were intended to mute those sensations and with the single piece pivot, what's going on inside the trans on a shift is felt a bit when moving the lever and engaging the gear. It's not terrible as you get more of a connection to the car and it's a better sensation for sporting driving, but it is not an overly refined feeling. You're not going to get a smooth gliding sensation into the gear, rather you'll now feel the engagement, syncros, etc. I get even more of it since I'm running GT3 short shifter which reduces throw/leverage and adds a bit more mechanical sensation. I may be a bit more clued into the sensation as my other car is a 2016 BMW M235 6MT which is a much more muted and less mechanical feeling shifter even though it's a short metal rod style shifter vs the cable/thin rod setup of the 987.

Here's what the OEM pivot looks like when disassembled https://rennlist.com/forums/987-foru...ng-part-s.html

Charlie C

I see a common trend here. My 2012 Boxster S Black Edition cable broke at 36K without warning. I limped partially home but once in stop and go traffic, I pulled into a parking lot and called a flat bed. With AAA it was included anyway. I went with the updated Porsche cables mostly because I had it towed to my dealer. If I was doing it proactively, I would definitely consider the Numeric route.