Odd gearbox problem

[remus]

My 02 C2 has developed a strange gearbox issue. While driving down the road I will loose 1st, 3rd and 5th gears. When I move the shifter around it feels like nothing is there. I can still shift into 2nd, 4th and 6th. If I shutdown the motor and move the shifter around for about five seconds the three gears will return???? The car will then drive normally. This has happened four times now in the last week. It has always happened with the engine not quite at operating temp and I think each time I was slowing down to stop or turn. I do not think I was down shifting each time.

The car has about 55K on it. Could my clutch be going? Does the gearbox protect itself if you grind a gear? When this has happened I have never felt or heard the gears grind and I think I had the cluth fully depressed.

Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks,

Remus

[viper501]

I'd check the cables first to see if there is something binding them... after that it starts getting ugly. Fast.

[remus]

I'd check the cables first to see if there is something binding them... after that it starts getting ugly. Fast.

Thanks viper I will check the cables.

By ugly do you mean a new gearbox? What does a new one (P&L) run these days?

Thanks,

Remus

[Galhund]

I'd check the cables first to see if there is something binding them... after that it starts getting ugly. Fast.

Thanks viper I will check the cables.

By ugly do you mean a new gearbox? What does a new one (P&L) run these days?

Thanks,

Remus

Hi Remus,

I have exactly the same problem on my 2003 996 C2 Cabriolet (US-spec, manual, 67.000 miles) since last Sunday. I could eventually engage the uneven gears if I slowed right down to walking pace, got it into second, let the clutch come up and then declutch again and put it in 1st. Then it was OK for a while, until the whole thing started again.

How was the problem diagnosed on your car? Was it the cables? I really would appreciate if you could shed some light on this, because as you may understand, I'm panicking...

[silver_6r]

My 02 C2 has developed a strange gearbox issue. While driving down the road I will loose 1st, 3rd and 5th gears. When I move the shifter around it feels like nothing is there. I can still shift into 2nd, 4th and 6th. If I shutdown the motor and move the shifter around for about five seconds the three gears will return???? The car will then drive normally. This has happened four times now in the last week. It has always happened with the engine not quite at operating temp and I think each time I was slowing down to stop or turn. I do not think I was down shifting each time.

The car has about 55K on it. Could my clutch be going? Does the gearbox protect itself if you grind a gear? When this has happened I have never felt or heard the gears grind and I think I had the cluth fully depressed.

Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks,

Remus

Call GBOX in Colorado...talk to the owner or the lead mechanic there. they will help you diagnose your issues.... free.....

5757 Arapahoe Ave.

Unit C1 East

Boulder, Colorado 80303

Phone: 303.440.8899

i have been pushing them alot.. but they saved my walled a lot of $$$ and talk 2 days to turn around!! and they will actually spend time to talk to you

rod

[Galhund]

Call GBOX in Colorado...talk to the owner or the lead mechanic there. they will help you diagnose your issues.... free.....

5757 Arapahoe Ave.

Unit C1 East

Boulder, Colorado 80303

Phone: 303.440.8899

i have been pushing them alot.. but they saved my walled a lot of $$$ and talk 2 days to turn around!! and they will actually spend time to talk to you

rod

Hi Rod,

Thanks for the lead, but it is a bit difficult since I'm located in Europe (Belgium) and I don't want to abuse the good people at GBOX knowing that I'll never be able to give them my business. So if Remus or anybody else could report on how his issue was finally handled, I'd be most grateful. -> Loren or anyone else from the tech gurus: any thoughts?

Edited November 4, 2008 by Galhund

[violaGT3]

Call GBOX in Colorado...talk to the owner or the lead mechanic there. they will help you diagnose your issues.... free.....

5757 Arapahoe Ave.

Unit C1 East

Boulder, Colorado 80303

Phone: 303.440.8899

i have been pushing them alot.. but they saved my walled a lot of $$$ and talk 2 days to turn around!! and they will actually spend time to talk to you

rod

Hi Rod,

Thanks for the lead, but it is a bit difficult since I'm located in Europe (Belgium) and I don't want to abuse the good people at GBOX knowing that I'll never be able to give them my business. So if Remus or anybody else could report on how his issue was finally handled, I'd be most grateful. -> Loren or anyone else from the tech gurus: any thoughts?

Allright, I'll offer my take on your issue. I would preffer to have your issue. It spells out the cables. You have a push pull and a side to side.

From there you can imagine that you issue lies with the Push Pull cable. I would give the rear end assembly a glance and see if you have rocky raccoon's remain's there. If not move to the cabin and pull the rear console. You'll see the shifter box, give it a once over to ensure that all the movements are uniform, ie that the cable is not binding in it's sleeve. The mark the PP connector, then adjust it appropriately to cause more movement in the necessary direction to engage the defunct gears. If you meet with success then find the happy median and you are go. If not, it gets ugly, there is morethan likely that you have something bent or sticking inside the gearbox. I will leave that tidbit to those more in the know than myself. GL

[Galhund]

Allright, I'll offer my take on your issue. I would preffer to have your issue. It spells out the cables. You have a push pull and a side to side.

From there you can imagine that you issue lies with the Push Pull cable. I would give the rear end assembly a glance and see if you have rocky raccoon's remain's there. If not move to the cabin and pull the rear console. You'll see the shifter box, give it a once over to ensure that all the movements are uniform, ie that the cable is not binding in it's sleeve. The mark the PP connector, then adjust it appropriately to cause more movement in the necessary direction to engage the defunct gears. If you meet with success then find the happy median and you are go. If not, it gets ugly, there is morethan likely that you have something bent or sticking inside the gearbox. I will leave that tidbit to those more in the know than myself. GL

Tx! That's quite helpful. So let's hope it is indeed just the push/pull cable. I'll get round to it this weekend (if the wife lets me ;)

Tx,

Hugo

[topmech0]

Allright, I'll offer my take on your issue. I would preffer to have your issue. It spells out the cables. You have a push pull and a side to side.

From there you can imagine that you issue lies with the Push Pull cable. I would give the rear end assembly a glance and see if you have rocky raccoon's remain's there. If not move to the cabin and pull the rear console. You'll see the shifter box, give it a once over to ensure that all the movements are uniform, ie that the cable is not binding in it's sleeve. The mark the PP connector, then adjust it appropriately to cause more movement in the necessary direction to engage the defunct gears. If you meet with success then find the happy median and you are go. If not, it gets ugly, there is morethan likely that you have something bent or sticking inside the gearbox. I will leave that tidbit to those more in the know than myself. GL

Tx! That's quite helpful. So let's hope it is indeed just the push/pull cable. I'll get round to it this weekend (if the wife lets me ;)

Tx,

Hugo

i would definately go for the cables. check that where the cables meet the holder bolted to side of transmission they are pushed in and secured fully. sounds as the push/pull cable is not seated correctly. i would not try adjusting unless you have the locking tool that holds the lever in neutral or you will end up chasing your tail. it should never need adjusting once set unless you change a cable.

[remus]

I'd check the cables first to see if there is something binding them... after that it starts getting ugly. Fast.

Thanks viper I will check the cables.

By ugly do you mean a new gearbox? What does a new one (P&L) run these days?

Thanks,

Remus

Hi Remus,

I have exactly the same problem on my 2003 996 C2 Cabriolet (US-spec, manual, 67.000 miles) since last Sunday. I could eventually engage the uneven gears if I slowed right down to walking pace, got it into second, let the clutch come up and then declutch again and put it in 1st. Then it was OK for a while, until the whole thing started again.

How was the problem diagnosed on your car? Was it the cables? I really would appreciate if you could shed some light on this, because as you may understand, I'm panicking...

Hi Galhund,

Yes sounds exactly like my problem. I think ViolaGT3 and topmech0 are right.

The problem occured only once again, roughly three weeks after the post. I have not had the problem since (so roughly eight months).

In August I called my independent Porsche shop about another issue. (These guys are very good. I have been in the Porsche dealer here in N Scottsdale and my indy's shop is as good or better. So far all their work has been very good with no problems after) Anyway I talked to the head technician and mentioned the gearbox problem. He said they see this often on 996s. I am trying to remember from August but I think he said there are a couple of plastic parts that keep the cables in alignment. He said the cables will come out and will cause this symptom. Apparently it's not a big deal just get under the car and it should be apparent what is wrong. He said it was most likely not a transmission issue (of course he's not going to guarantee it).

I have not taken it in or looked at it myself since I plan on having a new clutch installed. I thought I would have them fix the cable issue at the same time. I felt much better that it was remote that this is a transmission problem $$$.

Rod thanks for the suggestion. Good luck Galhund.

Remus

[Galhund]

Hi Galhund,

Yes sounds exactly like my problem. I think ViolaGT3 and topmech0 are right.

The problem occured only once again, roughly three weeks after the post. I have not had the problem since (so roughly eight months).

In August I called my independent Porsche shop about another issue. (These guys are very good. I have been in the Porsche dealer here in N Scottsdale and my indy's shop is as good or better. So far all their work has been very good with no problems after) Anyway I talked to the head technician and mentioned the gearbox problem. He said they see this often on 996s. I am trying to remember from August but I think he said there are a couple of plastic parts that keep the cables in alignment. He said the cables will come out and will cause this symptom. Apparently it's not a big deal just get under the car and it should be apparent what is wrong. He said it was most likely not a transmission issue (of course he's not going to guarantee it).

I have not taken it in or looked at it myself since I plan on having a new clutch installed. I thought I would have them fix the cable issue at the same time. I felt much better that it was remote that this is a transmission problem $$$.

Rod thanks for the suggestion. Good luck Galhund.

Remus

Hi Remus,

Thank you so much for posting this answer. Sets my worst fears at ease ;-) I promise a full report once the problem is cured.

Also thanks to everyone who reacted!

[Galhund]

Hi Remus,

Thank you so much for posting this answer. Sets my worst fears at ease ;-) I promise a full report once the problem is cured.

Also thanks to everyone who reacted!

And to make good on my promise, here's my report: we (my brother-in-law and Renntech member Paul and myself - with Paul doing most of the work ;-)) raised the car up yersterday and took a look at the transmission cables. The problem was immediately obvious: one of the clips that holds the cable in the guide rail had gone AWOL and therefore allowing the cable to jump out of the guide. We made a temporary fix by using the sophisticated tool known as steel wire ;-). And then I went for a blast in the autumn sun. And then I discovered in the evening that the car had leaked some coolant (two puddles just behind the rear left wheel), so that's back to the forum and finding out where to look first (cracked reservoir? badly fitted tube clamp? Who knows... ;-)). The leaked coolant was clear so I suspect it is a straigthforward leak somewhere. Ah, the joys of Porsche ownership (Loren would probably say "Now there's a great excuse to get your hands dirty with some honest Porsche DIY" ;-)))

[kgoertz]

For what it is worth, I had my coolant reservoir replaced this summer due to a small leak. It left a puddle under the left exhaust pipe. My mechanic (a local porsche specialist) said that he had seen a few others with a similar leak.

Had I known where the leak was ahead of time it might have been possible to seal without removing from the car. However my mechanic dropped the engine to replace it...

[Loren]

For what it is worth, I had my coolant reservoir replaced this summer due to a small leak. It left a puddle under the left exhaust pipe. My mechanic (a local porsche specialist) said that he had seen a few others with a similar leak.

Had I known where the leak was ahead of time it might have been possible to seal without removing from the car. However my mechanic dropped the engine to replace it...

You do not need to remove the engine to replace the coolant tank.

[violaGT3]

For what it is worth, I had my coolant reservoir replaced this summer due to a small leak. It left a puddle under the left exhaust pipe. My mechanic (a local porsche specialist) said that he had seen a few others with a similar leak.

Had I known where the leak was ahead of time it might have been possible to seal without removing from the car. However my mechanic dropped the engine to replace it...

Under the left tail pipe. I had the same thing it turned out to be the factory hose clamp was allowing coolant out. The leak was not visible from the top view. I got under the car and was able to see the spot. I cannot find the pic of it, but I do remember that if you look straight down beside the alternator from the top you will see it( the hoseclamp). You might try and clean that hose etc. up and then drive the car and see if the mess returns. GL

Found a pic it was one of the two hoses you see by my hand it has a clamp close to the alternator.

Edited November 13, 2008 by ViolaGT3

[aboyernc1]

A good note on cables: My super indie tells me this happened all the time on the racing circuit and he uses small gauge bailing wire to wrap around each of the ball joints. I drove 200 miles on rural highway with just my lowers....god, all those those stoplights were hard, especially with the new vettes and stangs challenging me!

When I got home we wrapped two of the joints.... and guess what I popped one of the other so hard I broke a spring clip off the cable!

All hail bailing wire!