problem engaging 5th gear

[sean c]

I posted tis under the DYI section as well, forgive me for the duplication just try to get some quick help.

I am hoping someone has experienced a similar issue and can tell me what to check. This morning driving to work everything seemed fine until I attempted to engage 5th gear. It will not go into 5th. I have a 99 2.5 L Boxster, obviously manual transmission.

I tried stopping and putting it in 5th no luck. Anyone have any suggestions on what this could be or things to check.

Thanks

Sean

[bcc]

I don't know if that has anything to do with what happened to you, but I have a 98 boxster and when I bought it (3 months ago) the gearbox was not very loose and sometime some gears were harder to go into than usual.

I knew there was something wrong before buying as I had the car inspected by a dealer who mentioned that there was something worn in the shifting mechanism (not the gear box) and that it would cost me around 450$ to replace it

It wasn't very bad but still bothersome so I figured I'd kill 2 birds with one stone and I would put in a short shifter kit.

What was wrong was obvious during the installation, the rear bushing in the shifter was completely broken:

Note: the picture is not from my shifter but is a picture from the B&M install manual, I just added the red circle showing the bushing broken in mine.

I wonder if that could be your problem, there are several plastic bits in that shift mechanism (including this bushings and some ball joints) that looks prone to breaking.

In my case I now have the SSK but I think I may have been happier with an upgrade that didn't change the shift throw but just improved the mechanism by using metal bushings and ball joints.

Benoit

[sean c]

Thanks Benoit

I took a quick look and the bushing look intact, I will take a closer look tonight and see.

[rennsport986]

Thanks Benoit

I took a quick look and the bushing look intact, I will take a closer look tonight and see.

sean c, I have just experienced exactly the same problem. I cannot engage 5th gear. I have no problems at all shifting from 1st gear through to 4th gear, and I can even engage reverse. No luck with 5th though. Very strange. I have taken off the rear centre console to have a better look, but no luck at this stage.

Is anyone else able to offer any advice here??

[Loren]

How you tried re-aligning the cables on the shifter?

Do a search here for align and tool to do the alignment (non B&M type shifters only).

[sean c]

Thanks Benoit

I took a quick look and the bushing look intact, I will take a closer look tonight and see.

sean c, I have just experienced exactly the same problem. I cannot engage 5th gear. I have no problems at all shifting from 1st gear through to 4th gear, and I can even engage reverse. No luck with 5th though. Very strange. I have taken off the rear centre console to have a better look, but no luck at this stage.

Is anyone else able to offer any advice here??

rennsport986

I neglected to post a follow-up, sorry about that, but I took my MY99 986 into an independent shop and they checked the cables, but no luck, they had to open up the transmission and were a little shocked at what they saw given the low mileage on the car (approx 54000 KM). My understanding is that a baring blew and from moving around in there bent the fork and damaged 5th gear, they were actually surprised that I was not having any issues with other gears. I trust the shop as they come highly recommended and are known for their work on p-cars.

My understanding on the cables is that one controls the movement side to side and the other front to back, so if it was a misaligned cable it would / should impact at least two gears (i.e. either two vertically aligned or two horizontally aligned). Again, I am no expert by any means on this topic; this is just my basic understanding. I hope yours is just the cables but based on my experience I am a little skeptical. Please post your findings

Sean

[rennsport986]

Thanks for your reply Sean. Were you able to fix/rebuild your gearbox, or did you require a replacement? Are you able to advise what sort of cost was incurred in sorting out this problem?

I will be having another go at troubleshooting the problem tonight. If I have no luck with my limited mechanical skills, I will be taking it to a well regarded independant p-specialist.

I will keep you informed of my progress, problems and costs for comparison purposes.

[rennsport986]

Loren, I recently had the car serviced and the cable alignment was checked and re-aligned.

[rennsport986]

well i picked up my car from the workshop a few days ago, and it turns out that some of the brackets underneath the car (where the transmission cables connect to the gearbox) were bent and all out of alignment. the mechanic believes that the short shift kit i have installed may have contributed to the problem as there could possibly be more stress on the cables/linkages/brackets.

they were able to fix the problem by bending the components back to where they should be. i can now select 5th gear again, although it is noticeably stiffer than every other gear including reverse, and it feels like something is "grabbing" when i try to shift out of 5th gear. i hope it loosens up with use.

i'm told that the problem could happen again, and that they could possibly replace the problem parts with stronger items.

this is a good outcome, i was dreading a major gearbox problem or failure.

[atmorris]

well i picked up my car from the workshop a few days ago, and it turns out that some of the brackets underneath the car (where the transmission cables connect to the gearbox) were bent and all out of alignment. the mechanic believes that the short shift kit i have installed may have contributed to the problem as there could possibly be more stress on the cables/linkages/brackets.

they were able to fix the problem by bending the components back to where they should be. i can now select 5th gear again, although it is noticeably stiffer than every other gear including reverse, and it feels like something is "grabbing" when i try to shift out of 5th gear. i hope it loosens up with use.

i'm told that the problem could happen again, and that they could possibly replace the problem parts with stronger items.

this is a good outcome, i was dreading a major gearbox problem or failure.

Curious. I haven't heard or seen any reports of a SS setup causing problems like this. What SS setup does the car have in it? Is it a true B&M, Porsche, or a knock off ?

Edited February 8, 2007 by Andy_M

[rennsport986]

It is a genuine Porsche Tequipment SSK and has been fitted for about 18 months. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that the SSK caused the problem, the mechanics believe that it may have contributed to the problem. To be honest we do not know the actual cause of the bent/misaligned components, it may simply be wear and tear as the car will be 9 years old this year.

[markdav]

well i picked up my car from the workshop a few days ago, and it turns out that some of the brackets underneath the car (where the transmission cables connect to the gearbox) were bent and all out of alignment. the mechanic believes that the short shift kit i have installed may have contributed to the problem as there could possibly be more stress on the cables/linkages/brackets.

they were able to fix the problem by bending the components back to where they should be. i can now select 5th gear again, although it is noticeably stiffer than every other gear including reverse, and it feels like something is "grabbing" when i try to shift out of 5th gear. i hope it loosens up with use.

i'm told that the problem could happen again, and that they could possibly replace the problem parts with stronger items.

this is a good outcome, i was dreading a major gearbox problem or failure.

Breathing life into this old thread. I have another thread entitled "Stuck Shifter" that is close to this problem.

Is there any diagram that shows non-bent levers? I'd like to compare it against mine.

Symptoms are the same as both the above and earlier post (damaged transmission internals). Going into 5th feels like 'gooey', coming out it gets stuck far right and need a knock to bring it over. 2nd gear has a bit of a bite. the cables have been aligned properly and lever is stock (2000 2.7 986) I too am hoping for bent levers vs bent transmission.

[Tool Pants]

Don't know what levers are being talked about but here is a 2003 2.7 with the transmission out of the car.

[markdav]

wonderful - I'll see if I can eyeball the alignment from below. Thanks for the picture.

[markdav]

I looked and I could not see any bends. I took some video if anyone interested. Here are 3 - the last one really shows the sticking point.

Boxster stuck 5th - All - Bottom of box.wmv (1.4MB wmv file)

Boxster stuck 5th - All - Top of box.wmv (1.3MB wmv file)

Boxster stuck 5th - 5th only.wmv (500K wmv file)

There is a clamp screw on the top side of the linkage where the linkage binds to the gear shaft. Possible that has slipped?

[markdav]

checking in on this thread. still have 5th gear issue.

one possibly dumb question - is it possible to take the gearbox cover off or are the gear bearings part of the cover? i.e. what happens if I take the black bolts out in the diagram above? A floor full of gears ot a good view into the state of the shifter forks (I suspect mine might be bent).