Stiff Gearshift

[Paul Fraser]

The gearlever in my 97 ROW 986 (60,000 miles) is becoming increasingly stiff in the lateral direction of movement (left to right, i.e. mid way through shift from second to third; also when on the way to reverse). It has steadily got worse over the last year (so a progressive problem I believe).

When I was at Ninemeister eighteen months ago getting my variocam solenoid replaced, the shop supervisor pointed out the gear cables to me and said they had a tendency to fray internally and eventually needed replacing. Is this my problem and how hard to change the cables? Anyone bought a pair before?

Thanks.

[Glyn]

The gearlever in my 97 ROW 986 (60,000 miles) is becoming increasingly stiff in the lateral direction of movement (left to right, i.e. mid way through shift from second to third; also when on the way to reverse). It has steadily got worse over the last year (so a progressive problem I believe).

When I was at Ninemeister eighteen months ago getting my variocam solenoid replaced, the shop supervisor pointed out the gear cables to me and said they had a tendency to fray internally and eventually needed replacing. Is this my problem and how hard to change the cables? Anyone bought a pair before?

Thanks.

Never heard of that problem before so i would consider this is not a tendancy at all,

Before you shell out have a look at the gearlever pivots (underneath the gear knob gaiter) they are just a plastic type material. give it a quick spray of WD40 and try again, if this corrects it then go back to the pivots and work some grease into them to make a longer lasting solution (WD dries up prety quick)

Glyn

[nick49]

It sounds like you dealer is guessing...often what some do to cover themselves when they don't know the answer and are afraid to admit it.

Anyway in my 996 shifting got difficult shortly after I had the clutch replaced. I thought something was very wrong as shifting became more and more difficult kind of like when the trans is cold but it didn't improve with warming it up. I jacked up the car and found the shift cables were free floating near the trans and not located in there respective holders where they lock in place. Also disturbing was finding the 2 trans end mounting bolts less than finger tight with the nuts just floating on the end. No wonder when driving aggressive and shifting hard it felt like the whole motor would jump around...it was.

I snapped the cables in place and tightened the trans mount and the car felt just superb, snappy and tight like it should. I will save all the other problems I found for another thread.

[4agdtym]

The gearlever in my 97 ROW 986 (60,000 miles) is becoming increasingly stiff in the lateral direction of movement (left to right, i.e. mid way through shift from second to third; also when on the way to reverse). It has steadily got worse over the last year (so a progressive problem I believe).

When I was at Ninemeister eighteen months ago getting my variocam solenoid replaced, the shop supervisor pointed out the gear cables to me and said they had a tendency to fray internally and eventually needed replacing. Is this my problem and how hard to change the cables? Anyone bought a pair before?

Thanks.

Never heard of that problem before so i would consider this is not a tendancy at all,

Before you shell out have a look at the gearlever pivots (underneath the gear knob gaiter) they are just a plastic type material. give it a quick spray of WD40 and try again, if this corrects it then go back to the pivots and work some grease into them to make a longer lasting solution (WD dries up prety quick)

Glyn

I'll second Glyn's approach. I just installed the B&M short shifter. There is no cable involvement when moving the shifter laterally. I'mm surprised that there is some binding. I can imagine that something fell through the console, via the ash tray, and is binding, but not likely given the distance ti would have to travel. Pull the lether boot and inspect the mechanism. Shouldn't be too difficult to see what is happening.

By the way; I love the new feel of the shift!

[Paul Fraser]

Thanks for your suggestions: I'll have a look at the areas mentioned.

[bcc]

The gearlever in my 97 ROW 986 (60,000 miles) is becoming increasingly stiff in the lateral direction of movement (left to right, i.e. mid way through shift from second to third; also when on the way to reverse). It has steadily got worse over the last year (so a progressive problem I believe).

When I was at Ninemeister eighteen months ago getting my variocam solenoid replaced, the shop supervisor pointed out the gear cables to me and said they had a tendency to fray internally and eventually needed replacing. Is this my problem and how hard to change the cables? Anyone bought a pair before?

Thanks.

Never heard of that problem before so i would consider this is not a tendancy at all,

Before you shell out have a look at the gearlever pivots (underneath the gear knob gaiter) they are just a plastic type material. give it a quick spray of WD40 and try again, if this corrects it then go back to the pivots and work some grease into them to make a longer lasting solution (WD dries up prety quick)

Glyn

I'll second Glyn's approach. I just installed the B&M short shifter. There is no cable involvement when moving the shifter laterally. I'mm surprised that there is some binding. I can imagine that something fell through the console, via the ash tray, and is binding, but not likely given the distance ti would have to travel. Pull the lether boot and inspect the mechanism. Shouldn't be too difficult to see what is happening.

By the way; I love the new feel of the shift!

Also in my case one of the plastic pivot was actuallly broken. The symptom was not that it was hard to shift but that the shifting action was very vague, but I can imagine that if one of the plastic pieces had gone into the wrong place it could do what you describe

[Paul Fraser]

OK, I've had a quick look at this and squirted the likely moving parts with WD40. Still have a problem. Next step is to take the console out and have a closer look in a couple of weeks.

[Paul Fraser]

Further update. Console out, no foreign objects, bushes all WD40ed and greased, still no great improvement. Finally took off the blue cable from the bottom of the gear shift and found the gear shift moved easily! Still think it is the cable but, as per suggestions above, I suppose I should check the trans end of the gear linkage next? Anyone got a photo of what I'm looking for please, and is it easy to access (v.cold up here at moment!) Thanks.

[Sboxin]

Further update. Console out, no foreign objects, bushes all WD40ed and greased, still no great improvement. Finally took off the blue cable from the bottom of the gear shift and found the gear shift moved easily! Still think it is the cable but, as per suggestions above, I suppose I should check the trans end of the gear linkage next? Anyone got a photo of what I'm looking for please, and is it easy to access (v.cold up here at moment!) Thanks.

Photo of Trans cable linkage attached

Check the connections where the arrows point

Use ramps to lift car or jack W/jackstands on passenger side

Good luck,

Ed

[Paul Fraser]

Thanks a lot, that's a help.

[djantlive]

Did u check the clutch fluid? Mine was hard to shift due to low fluid.

[Paul Fraser]

The car was in for its MOT on Tuesday and the mechanic let me jump down the pit and we had a look at the transmission end of the clutch cable. Everything seemed to be in place but it all looked a bit manky. He said he would give it a spray with WD40 while they were doing the MOT and exercise the gearshift to see if that improved it. It made a big difference. It's still not silky smooth but it is considerably better than it was before and probably liveable with for a while.

Haven't checked the clutch fluid yet but will. The car was serviced a under a year ago so hopefully not that.

Thanks to all of you for your help and suggestions.