Possible fix for hard shifts in 1 and 2

[pab997]

I been surfing the net for possibles upgrades since I can't drive my car this time of year. I came across two similar items that claim to fix the sloppy shift feel in the 996 and 997 6 speeds. One is called "Agency Power Short Shift Link" and the other is "EVOMS Billet Shift Link". Both claim to be a drop-in replacement for the original shift linkage attachment on the botom of the shifter. The difeerence being that the Porsche original is plastic with some type of spring mechanism and the replacements are aluminum with a plastic type insert. Suppose to attach to original cable and adjust the same as the original. The claim is that this part has failed in the past and contributes to a sloppy feel in the shifter.

I don't know if this will fix any problem or cause more. Why does Porsche have that spring on the shift mechanism? Does it protect the Transmission somehow from bad shifts? Does it prevent vibrations from the engine compartment from coming through the shifter? Each only costs about $100. Has anyone tried these in the past?

I'll attach some photos from the ads

[BennyGca]

...as far as I remember from when I installed my short shift kit, the spring is there to keep the shift cables secured into the shifter linkage.

You pull the spring and a ring back to remove or adjust the cables... Kind of a "quick disconnect"...

Looking at the pictures I don't see an advantage with the metal versions. It looks like the is no functional difference. I didn't notice any flex in the plastic parts when I had them in my hands.

[Tool Pants]

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...t=0entry11426

[wross996TT]

Agree with Tool Pants!

[jean]

The spring has nothing to do with the actual shifting .

There are two cables shown in your bottom picture.

The left one is with the factory fitting and the right one with the aftermarket shift link (blue )

(btw: The left cable is for reverse and the right one for all forward gears )

The cables have plastic connectors at the end, which mate with a slot in the link .

To remove or re-install the cable, you slide a sleeve up the link ( towards the shifter ) This exposes a slot into which the cable end is inserted . Both pieces have vertical teeth in them , which keep the cable from slipping.

The cable length is adjusted depending how far up in the link it is inserted .

After the cable is mated to the link, the spring then pushes the sleeve back over the union , to prevent the cable from slipping out.

By contrast ,in the aftermarket link , the cable appears to be just inserted into the link and then secured with an Allen head set screw. I'm not so sure that will keep the cable from eventally slipping under tension .

In any event the spring has nothing to do with the "sloppy" feeling which may develop.

As far as I can see , there are only two places where wear can occur . One is in the bushings which permit fore-aft and side to side shifter movement where the shifter is attached to the housing, and the other is where the shifter is inserted into the link .

The first has obviously nothing to do with the aftermarket link .

And since the link connection is plastic on both the factory as well as the aftermarket unit , I don't see any difference . Unless of course the aftermarket unit uses better plastic ?

As far as the link material is concerned, the only stress on it is the cable tension (and I cannot imagine the factory link being stretched to the breaking point )

Hope this helps you .

Edited January 15, 2006 by Jean