Transmission Issues

[derb]

Just when my Boxster was running well...

Came home from work today and parked the car in the garage. Nothing unusual noticed on the drive home from DC. I do have an occasional grind from 2nd to 3rd if I try to shift too fast that I think is syncro related.

A couple of hours later I get in the car to leave and the transmission won't go into gear. The car eventually would shift into 3rd, 4th and 5th- or at least the lever moves like it is doing that. I could move the car slightly in those gears. No go into 1st, 2nd and reverse. I jacked the car up and the shift linkages are all connected, i.e. nothing obviously broken and the cables are all attached where they should be. The one shaft that moves into and out of the transmission longitudinally can be moved by hand and also by the shifter. The other linkage can't be moved by hand- that's the one that is connected to a slotted plate that pivots. Clutch pedal doesn't feel any different.

Today I removed the cable from the relay shaft pivot and the shift knob moved thru all the gear positions. However, the pivot on the relay shaft won't move.

Anyone have any ideas what's going on?

Car info:

1999 Boxster

1998 build manual transmission

97,000 miles

Royal Purple 75w-90

Thanks,

mike

[jbrewer]

Mike - How did you make out?

[Bill_SoCal]

Just when my Boxster was running well...

Came home from work today and parked the car in the garage. Nothing unusual noticed on the drive home from DC. I do have an occasional grind from 2nd to 3rd if I try to shift too fast that I think is syncro related.

A couple of hours later I get in the car to leave and the transmission won't go into gear. The car eventually would shift into 3rd, 4th and 5th- or at least the lever moves like it is doing that. I could move the car slightly in those gears. No go into 1st, 2nd and reverse. I jacked the car up and the shift linkages are all connected, i.e. nothing obviously broken and the cables are all attached where they should be. The one shaft that moves into and out of the transmission longitudinally can be moved by hand and also by the shifter. The other linkage can't be moved by hand- that's the one that is connected to a slotted plate that pivots. Clutch pedal doesn't feel any different.

Today I removed the cable from the relay shaft pivot and the shift knob moved thru all the gear positions. However, the pivot on the relay shaft won't move.

Anyone have any ideas what's going on?

Car info:

1999 Boxster

1998 build manual transmission

97,000 miles

Royal Purple 75w-90

Thanks,

mike

Royal Purple finished in the bottom 3 of Amsoil certified and publicly published gear lube tests (published for all competitors to see and certified by an independent auditor/lab). It is the only lubricant I'm aware that ever failed an industry standard stress test. You may have shortened your transmission life with your gear lube. Check out page 19 to see how Royal Purple finished against its competitors.

http://synpsg.com/uploads/g2457_Gear_Lube_Whitepaper.pdf

Not even close to Amsoil or Mobil1. The data is out there...I always cringe when I see Royal Purple in the crankcase or tranny.

I hope it works out for you...once you loose a synchro, it's time for a tranny rebuild. I've used Amsoil SVG 75w-90 since my car was new...152,500 miles later, my transmission is still like new.

Bill :beer:

[derb]

jbrewer,

The cause of the problem was a broken Torx screw at the end of the relay shaft. It is a very large one- about 3/4" in diameter. This prevented the side-to-side motion of the shifter. Did several 'while you are in there' things like new clutch, RMS and IMS hardware.

Bill_SoCal,

Interesting read. I'll change to Amsoil next week. Thanks for the info.