06 Cayman S pops out of 4th & 6th

[tonythetarga]

Odd problem and I'm wondering about shift cable and stretch. My 06 Cayman S will pop out of either 4th or 6th under normal driving once in a while. 4th will be under city driving, 6th on the highway but at posted speeds. Doesn't necessarily need bumps or any prompting to disengage. When shifting into those 2 gears it doesn't feel as positive as any other gear, so I'm wondering if the cable has possibly stretched and is not fully engaging the gear.
As I understand it, 4th and 6th are not high wear syncro gears so I'm interested in what others have experienced.
Thanks in advance,
Tony

[wanderzz]

Did you buy the car new or used?

You may need to check to make sure that the cables ends at the shifter are aligned correctly.

Look up "porsche shifter alignment tool"

You can align the cables without this. You would need to allow more cable to be pushed against the selector on the transmission so you would pop the selector cable out of the slot at the shifter and move it towards the transmission end slightly.

There may be other reasons obviously but it is something to check.

[tonythetarga]

I think that end is OK. When shifting to 4th and 6th, the shift knob is towards the driver but I believe the actual mechanism on the trans is pulled forward. This is why I'm thinking the cables have stretched ie: not being pulled forward enough. I think there are two cables and I'm not exactly sure which cable operates which gears.

The car was just purchased used with 90k. The clutch was recently done along with syncros for 1st and 2nd. The rest of the trans looked good according to the shop. This was all done before I bought the car.

[wanderzz]

You are correct. I had it backwards. The gear selector cable is the one on the right side inside the shifter base. You can still pop the cable out of the slot in the shifter and move it forward then.

[tonythetarga]

Thanks, I'll have a look.

The real question I have is about cable stretch though. Is that something that happens or not?
As I understand it, once the shift cables are set at the shifter end, they are pretty much set and don't need any adjustment, as adjustment is limited anyway.

[wanderzz]

Once the cables are set sure - they don't need to be touched. I have 86k on my 08 CS. It is a daily driver. I never needed to adjust the cables. BUT, you said you bought the car used hence the need to check the cables at the shifter end.

The parts do wear over time but I cannot speak to the likelihood of stretching. They are called "push pull cables". There is a lot out there on the different materials they are made from. I am in the process of trying to get some custom cables made for myself right now.

[tonythetarga]

Thanks.