I changed the transmission oil yesterday to Mobil 1 Synthetic, and there is a definite improvement. It's still not silky smooth, but it's noticeably better. The old fluid was fairly dirty, but I was pleased to find the magnet clean (other than the normal greasy coating).

I will try to get the bleeding done today. I haven't had any luck (or much spare time) finding a Motive bleeder, and the auto parts stores only have master cylinder caps for Chrysler, Ford, etc. I haven't heard much good about vacuum bleeders, so I will probably resort to the old-fashioned pedal-pump method. My wife really loves driving the car, and she is interested in how it works, so I will get her to work the pedals. :)

I used the Mighty-vac vacuum bleeder and it worked well. One problem with the old 2 person method is that if the piston goes all of the way to the end of the m/c bore and the end of the bore is nasty, has crud in it, or is otherwise not terribly smooth you can ruin the seals and end up needing a new/rebuilt m/c fairly soon.

Glad to hear you did get some improvement.

I have never had luck bleeding a clutch with the pedal pump method. Did I say never. The vacume method works much better. I built a vacume bleeder and use it all the time. I have only had to pressure bleed a clutch maybe 3 times out of 20.

Just make sure you keep the master filled. Otherwise you suck air.

Dean

That's good to hear; maybe I will give a vacuum bleeder a try. I've bled brakes and clutches on other cars using the pedal method for many years, and I've never had any problems, but I am new to Porsche and have of course never tried it on a 911.

Wayne Dempsey however in his 101 Projects book strongly advises to finish up a brake bleed using the pedal method, since the higher pressure helps to flush out stubborn air bubbles. I will do this whether I use a power or vacuum bleeder for the fluid flush.

Thanks.

Finally got around to bleeding the clutch slave cylinder today. The MityVac worked fine, but the little rubber adapters are a pain to get on the bleed screw (because of the reach). I also bled the driver-rear brake while I had the wheel off.

Shifting seems just a little better now, but there is still a double clunk especially when going into second and third. It feels much better though as the gearbox warms up. It doesn't interfere with driving too much, but does anyone think this sounds dangerous to the gearbox?

While I was redoing my interior, I had the shifter out of the car. I replaced the shift rod bushing, but the others looked fine. I didn't remove the rear shift coupler. Is there anything else I might try?

When I was bolting the shifter base back in, I noticed the bolt holes are oblong and there was no obvious best position for it. I pushed it all the way back to prevent the shift rod head (I think it's called) from bottoming out on the shift rod bushing. This doesn't seem critical, but I wanted to mention it just in case.

Thanks,
Shawn

Reviving and old thread here, but new owner of a 1987 911 with 202,000 miles on it. The engine has been rebuilt and throwout bearing was replaced and clutch inspected at that time (about 20,000 miles ago). I am having a similar clunk when moving the level out of first and shifting into second gear. It is worse when cold but still there to a lesser extent when warmed.

Shawn - I'm having a similar "clunkiness"when shifting out of first and going into second. Were you able to ever resolve what is causing the clunk? Should I just take my car to a shop and have them take a look at it? Nothing came up in the PPI to suggest there could be gearbox troubles.

Any help/advice is appreciated.

Thanks!