Shifter bushing question

[megerian]

On my drive to work, the shifter just went all sloppy on me. It had been shifting perfectly up to that point, and then just like that, I could move the shifter about an inch in every direction even when in gear.

88 Carrera w/ G50

So I disassembled the center console when I got home, and saw that the black top of the bushing was pushed up through the hole, and when I moved it with my hand, it pretty much fell apart. I was able to carefully fish out most of the pieces.



So now here is the question. Can I just order the new bushing, and push it into place without taking anything else apart? I searched this forum and found many good references to replacing all the bushings and O-rings, but in my case everything else looks fine, and being fairly new to this, I don't want to take apart anything more than necessary. So if the old bushing was able to slide up through the hole, it would seem like the new one could just be installed from above. Am I missing something? Here is what it looks like after I removed the ball bushing.

[DRACO A5OG]

Just helped my buddy's 87 G50 do this. we removed the entire assembly and replaced bushing and shaft guide while we were in there.

Just mark the shifter housing on the tunnel and removed and replace all wear parts. It was very straight forward.

Might as well do it right so you don't have to go back in there to fix the other items you skipped.

My 2 cents.

[megerian]

Okay, so I took out the entire assembly and replaced the ball cup bushing.

Getting the shift rod back into the assembly was a bear... it involved boiling water, opening the rear access panel, many swear words, but it finally went back in.

Anyway, here is the question: Is there a trick to getting pinch bolt back in? I thought I was home free after getting the assembly back into tunnel, but I cannot get the pinch bolt back in. It doesn't want to "grab" on the way back in.

Any help appreciated

[fbeatty]

Just did all the bushings on mine recently.

As far as getting that bolt back in. I just wiggled it gently a few times and checked to see if it was lined up and everything worked out.

The ball cup can work its way up, just tap it back down and that should help.

[megerian]

Did you have to apply extreme downward pressure on it, in order to get it to grab on the threads?

I've spent about an hour with the thing and have gotten nowhere... doesn't seem like it should be difficult. Its number 6 in the picture:

[DRACO A5OG]

Make certain you do not cross thread it.

Try from the coupler area, try pushing it to 3rd to gain a little better access.

But seriously if you take out the whole assembly you would have been done by now.

[gamin]

Wish I'd been able to reply sooner, before you finished. I had the sloppy shifter on my G50 88. I installed the JWest G50 short shift kit. I can tell you that it made a very big difference in the shift quality and shortened the throws as advertised. I absolutely love it. Best shifting 911 that I've ever driven.

[megerian]

I finally finished. It shifts great now. Twenty bucks in parts but more time than I would care to admit :-)

[wolfrennen]

Same thing happened to me last Sunday. Glad this is a known failure point in the G50 shifter. I'm waiting on the Pelican Parts G50 Porsche bushing kit to arrive. Hopefully my G50 will shift nicely again! Porsche 911 & Carrera Shift Linkage - Page 1

Originally Posted by megerian

On my drive to work, the shifter just went all sloppy on me. It had been shifting perfectly up to that point, and then just like that, I could move the shifter about an inch in every direction even when in gear.

88 Carrera w/ G50

So I disassembled the center console when I got home, and saw that the black top of the bushing was pushed up through the hole, and when I moved it with my hand, it pretty much fell apart. I was able to carefully fish out most of the pieces.



So now here is the question. Can I just order the new bushing, and push it into place without taking anything else apart? I searched this forum and found many good references to replacing all the bushings and O-rings, but in my case everything else looks fine, and being fairly new to this, I don't want to take apart anything more than necessary. So if the old bushing was able to slide up through the hole, it would seem like the new one could just be installed from above. Am I missing something? Here is what it looks like after I removed the ball bushing.

[megerian]

Let us know how it goes for you. Several people, myself included, have found the step of getting the shift rod back into the bushing (part 12 in the above diagram) to be the hardest part of the entire procedure.

[wolfrennen]

Hi. I'm paying to have this done--a 2-hour job if there are no issues.

Originally Posted by megerian

Let us know how it goes for you. Several people, myself included, have found the step of getting the shift rod back into the bushing (part 12 in the above diagram) to be the hardest part of the entire procedure.

[DRACO A5OG]

It is much easier to remove the entire assembly, took less than an hour on my buddy's '87. Just mark the housing on the tunnel to insure it goes back in the original spot.

[megerian]

Draco, I also removed the entire assembly. Getting the assembly back in, and having the shift rod go back into the no.12 bushing was (in my case) pretty tough.

I personally would like to watch the "2-hour job" being done by a pro, to see if there is a trick that I missed.

I had to work the assembly back into the tunnel at an angle with the rear pointing down, then reach back and manually force the shift rod backwards a few mm by reaching through the access panel, then simultaneously pull up on forward portion of the shift rod using a piece of rope that was looped under it. I read a few other threads that stated similar difficulties, so I didn't feel like I was the only one!

[aj88cab]

Originally Posted by megerian

Let us know how it goes for you. Several people, myself included, have found the step of getting the shift rod back into the bushing (part 12 in the above diagram) to be the hardest part of the entire procedure.

I think the trick is the orientation of the notch in the #12 bushing that allows clearance for the shaft. Up or down, (I think down) but I don't remember which, but that made all the difference when I did this repair.

[aj88cab]

Like this I think...

[hcoles]

good thread - I need to get in and check this out on my car.
btw - on the drawing is the bushing "pointing" up?
Amazing how good pencil drawings were done back in the day.
At this point probably a lost art.

[aj88cab]

hcoles - I think you might be right about the "up" direction

The picture is how I installed it and then had to rotate it when putting everything together. Bottom line is the orientation of the notch is important.

[megerian]

Totally agree on the bushing orientation. However, in my case, even with the notch correctly oriented down, to allow more clearance for the shift rod to be pulled up, it was still really tight, and took a lot of work to get it back into the bushing.

Yes, in the drawing the notch is up, and this is wrong. The picture from aj88cab is correct.

[hcoles]

re. orientation, thanks, now that is cleared up

[wolfrennen]

My Porsche pro finished the job in 1-1/2 hours with no issues. Here are the old parts. The shift rod bushing is what failed on mine. The plastic circular piece has broken off of the shift rod bushing. The ball socket bushing was cracked and needed to be replaced. The rubber o-rings were in fine shape, but were replaced with new o-rings that came in the Pelican Parts G50 Bushing Kit. My '88 Carrera's G50 shifts tighter than ever now!

Originally Posted by megerian

Draco, I also removed the entire assembly. Getting the assembly back in, and having the shift rod go back into the no.12 bushing was (in my case) pretty tough.

I personally would like to watch the "2-hour job" being done by a pro, to see if there is a trick that I missed.

I had to work the assembly back into the tunnel at an angle with the rear pointing down, then reach back and manually force the shift rod backwards a few mm by reaching through the access panel, then simultaneously pull up on forward portion of the shift rod using a piece of rope that was looped under it. I read a few other threads that stated similar difficulties, so I didn't feel like I was the only one!