Stiff gearchange...and solution

[Arfur]

So, ever since I got my 2005 987 the gearchange has been stiff. I even remember mentioning to the salesman in a half hearted attempt to get some money off. One of the first things I did to the car was strip down the console to do the gear cable adjustment and apply some lube to the mechanism. This improved it a little but it was always on the stiff side.

I've read a lot of internet threads over time where people have complained about stiff gearchange but these threads are either inconclusive or recommend gear cable adjustment.

However over the last year or so it has gone from stiff to almost unusable. It started to take so much force to leave each gear that you tended to overshoot and hit the gear opposite. So 2-3 and 3-5 changes became difficult. A-road driving where you are shuttling between 3rd and 4th was fine but anything else became a real pain. We had a magic combination of loads of slop in the change and a stiff gear change which was making it difficult to judge the changes and had caused more than a few missed gears.

I was fairly sure there wasn't a problem with the syncros because it was just as hard to leave a gear as it was to enter the next and there was no sign of crunching. The problem also seemed to get worse when hot and wasn't so bad when cold.

Fix 1 - Try and remove the slop from the gearchange

I thought the stiff change (remember I didn't know how ab-normal this was at this point) might be less of a problem if the huge amount of play in the gearchange was removed. So I purchased one of those cheap (£30!) SSK kits from ebay. Once fitted it did remove the slop from the gearchange, but it was now clear that most of the slop was elsewhere in the system and there was still loads of it. In addition I had now made the gearchange even heavier.

Fix 2 - Change the transmission oil

Lots of suggestions on the internet that incorrect oil can cause gearshift problems and no sign from my history that the oil had ever been changed. I even got the Porsche branded oil so that there would be no doubt I had the right stuff.

The old oil came out dark brown and gloopy (new stuff a straw colour and thin), so this seemed promising at first. Once filled up with the new stuff I thought things has improved a bit and I had seen a suggestion that they would continue to improve given a few miles, so I took the car for a weekend away and put 4-500 miles on it. Unfortunately by the time I got home it was clear that the gearchange was stiffer than ever and still a problem.

Fix 3- What I should have done originally. Gear cables

So the only two components left to change where the gear cables and the gearbox. Neither cheap but the gear cables were a cheaper option than a gearbox. So I bought a set of new cables. Not wanting to strip the console down any more than I have to I also found a second hand gearchange mech on ebay to replace the one I had butchered to fit the ssk.

So this weekend I spent a long day getting the old cables out and fitting the new ones. Problems where the rusty gearbox bracket had practically welded itself to the old cables (supports the idea that they had been on there for 17 years) but eventually got them out and go the new ones in.

Interestingly with both old and new cables on the bench there was only a small noticeable difference between them, which had me worrying that the expense was all for nothing.

However once I got everything back together and was able to drive the car and it is absolutely transformed. Light and easy to change now. I even drove to work (London traffic) once this week to prove the point and everything was good. Even in the hell that is the Blackwall tunnel queue during rush hour. It's still got a bit of slop, but nothing like as much as before.

So, in the end gear cables were the answer. I'm guessing that having spent years cooking on the top of the engine, they were binding under load and becoming stiff. Hope this helps anyone else who has the same issue.

[funbobby]

How big a job is it to change them ? 

[Arfur]

Not too bad, more tedious than difficult because of the need to dismantle the console and gain access to the engine via both covers. They are only held in by the bracket on the bulkhead behind the seats and the bracket on the gearbox, so the rest of the problem is threading the new cables over the engine. The gearbox bracket gave me the most issues as the old cables appeared to have welded themselves to it. In the end I removed the bracket from the gearbox (after a trip to Halfords to buy a T55 bit) so that I could separate them off the car.

[Lonewolfgjp]

Sounds like you got there in the end and bravo for sorting it out. I think the gear cable route on the 987 is less than ideal and many of us have had the cable snap and leave us stuck in gear😩 I had it happen not too long before I swapped cars but the mechanic had a right ball ache changing them.

 I never had any selection issues and the gear change was very smooth with no slop I remember. I did fit a modified selector with ball bearings instead of the plastic bushes. There was someone on here that use to sell them and the kit to Diy. I don’t think he is on here anymore but you should find the old thread and it maybe something you’re interested in later on. You can cheat and just buy the GT3 selector but it is about £500😩

 

[Topbox]

Well done, good job and a useful write up 👍

 

[phazed]

Good job!

I renewed the cables on mine shortly after buying the car a couple of years ago as I believed that the change should be more positive.

Job was easy as I found a tutorial on YouTube.

Gearchange better but not as direct as a mechanical direct change.

[Simon_R]

Had mine changed along with a shorter shift, it’s now a lovely positive nicely weighted throw.