Jake, to answer your question about removing the center console, all you need to do is get enough slack to be able to move it aside temprarily. You don't need to remove it from the car. When I pulled my shifter out a while back (twice), I simply unscrewed it and pulled it up an over the shift housing and away from the tunnel. It was a piece of cake. My guess is yours should be able to be repositioned just as eaily as mine was.

Scott, thanks for the answer. It'll be at least until late Sunday before I can do anything because I just started a four day trip and won't be back until Sunday afternoon.

...and then you killed her! Oh the humanity!!!!! :eek:

http://flatrock.org.nz/topics/flying...hindenburg.jpg

Just kidding, Dan! ;) So, have you gotten around to finding a replacement for her yet?

Randy

I too had a baulky, vague shifter on my 84' 911. I did the bushing replacement, adjust the shifter, etc. What really seemed to do the trick was finally getting the clutch adjusted correctly. Not difficult at all and much more fun to drive. There are instructions in our host's tech articles, in past theads in the archives, Bentley, etc.

Thanks, I read a few posts about clutch adjustment, as well as cable replacement. If I adjust it, I'll probably change it. A couple people mentioned that changing the cable made the clutch much lighter.

I did notice that the clutch had to be right down to the mat for smooth shifts. A couple times if I was doing an upshift above 5k, I didn't have the clutch to the floor before taking it out of gear. It didn't care for that much.

The issue at hand is vagueness and intermittant stiffness going in & out of 2nd & 3rd. It really feels like someting is blocking or binding. It never grinds unless you do something really dumb.

I've accumulated some pretty valuable brownie points since dad got the car. Fixed the power top & the AC. If I can improve the shifting I think I'll be a hero to his wife... she really can't drive it as it is now.

have you checked your tranny mounts....i found that on hot days, when engine and tranny were hot, the shifting was stiffer 3 - 2 and 2 - 3. the tranny mounts would get warm and sag further. new tranny and motor mounts cured my stiff shifting problem.

visually inspect them...if there is an air gap over the rubber mount...replace them. they are sagging. and this could lower the tranny putting pressure on the shift linkage.

I’m planning on changing to a Wevo shifter in my 1985, and am searching the old posts for tips and hints. I’ve seen references to a gas filled tube that runs from the AC temp switch to the evaporator. Is this flexible enough to safely leave all the switches in place and swing the console up and over the shifter, or should I plan on separating the switch from the console when swinging it up and over, so that less strain is put on the tube?

Thanks – I may be over thinking this, but I’d rather be prepared.

Paul

I hadn't thought of that... I'm glad you're thinking!

Maybe I missed it but did you align the linkage per the instructions in the link I provided above? This is free easy and quick and might save you a lot of money.

I did read that, thanks very much Jim.

I haven't touched anything yet; the car is 600miles away, and I only get access to it every couple of months. Dad & his wife are driving down tomorrow (route 26 & 2 through Vermont, New Hamshire & Maine... I did it Monday and it was beautiful).

While they're down I wanted to take a few hours to attack the likely suspects. According to the replies here & other threads, I should start with the shifter bushings ($30) & and an adjustment, then work my way back.

I'll also check the coupler. If that's worn, I'd like to install the brass bushings instead of just getting a new coupler. I still have a sneaky feeling the tranny and/or engine mounts are part of the problem.


This is the only 915 tranny I've ever driven, but I know it just can't be right. I've driven a 901 & g50, and they weren't like this. The 901 was a bit "loose", but it didn't feel like it was blocking or binding.

Anyhoo, I appreciate all the help and feedback and help. I'll stop using precious OT bandwidth, and report back once I have the car apart, with grease stains all over the seats and scotch on my breath.

I put the shifter bushings in this AM.

Quite an improvement... both were quite worn.

The coupler looked pretty good, it had a bit of wiggle, but they are supposed to. I don't really have anything to compare it against.

PSJoyce, I was able to move the console over without unhooking the AC stuff. With a little wiggling, the console will slide up & over the shifter. That's how the Bently suggested doing it. The emergency brake is adjusted quite low, so it was tight.

Shifting is much more precise. It's still a bit stiff overall, but it doesn't feel like it's binding or blocking like it did before. The shift rod bushing was pretty tight on the rod, so that may be why it's a bit stiff. I suspect it will wear in a bit over the next couple days.

I'll let dad & his wife drive it for a few days and decide. They are pretty happy with it, but only drove it for a few minutes after I finished. I may yet do the brass coupler bushings and new engine/tranny mounts.

Gus is pretty happy too
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1184518186.jpg

Dad has a forum username and has been doing some reading, but hasn't posted yet. He asked me to thank everyone who offered advice.

Thanks for the info -- sounds do-able and like it will be my next project.

Paul

Very doable. I'm not particularily bright, and I did it in 3 hrs flat.

One trick the local porsche wrench gave me was to leave the shift rod bushing in hot water for 10 minutes. Softened it up enough to make it easier to press in.

1 year later... bump
 

This is an ongoing saga. I've been trying to fix this shifting problem for over a year. I've declared victory 3 times, only to have the problem reappear.

It's an intermittent issue, occasionally it is REALLY hard getting into 2nd gear... (especially 3->2 but sometimes 1->2 ) It never, ever grinds, but it feels like it's blocked or binding.

I started with the easy stuff:
-Shift coupler adjustment (at least a dozen incremental tweaks)
-Shift bushings (shifter "cup", rod bushing)
-shift coupler- Stromski
-engine/transmission mounts

When I was up in Montreal last weekend, I installed new coupler & transmission mounts. I thought I had it licked then, but dad says it's still happening occasionally. It's bad enough that his wife won't drive it... not cool.

Dad's going to be down with the car in three weeks, and I'll be welding in new sway bar mounts. While it's up on stands, I thought I'd drain the transmission oil, look for errant synchro teeth and put in some Swepco 201. At the same time, I thought I'd pull off the shift cover to make sure the fork hasn't come loose. Apparently that happens sometimes.

So here's hoping that the problem is fixed by changing the gear oil, or that the fork on the shift cover is loose.

Only other possibility is a problem in the shifter itself. Anything in particular I should look for there? It's a factory short-shift. I'd like to eliminate all other potential causes before contemplating dropping the transmission for a fun winter project.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I have same issue with first gear. Very frustrating at red lights. People are generally patient with the horn for 0.3 seconds when the light has turned green..:(

I have done most of the updates and adjustments you mention to no avail. I thinks its in the box.

Jake, if the shift fork inside the transmission came loose, you wouldn't be able to shift gears at all. Depending on where the fork ended up, it either wouldn't move, or would move about in void space.

From the sounds of this you need to pull the tranny and rebuild.

Same problem with my 85'. I tend to put it in 1st while rolling to a stop. Waiting till I'm almost stopped of course. Can always find it and don't have to rush when it goes green.

Jake, send a PM to John Walker. He probably missed this thread, but I bet he would know exactly what the problem is and how to fix it.

aghk !

If it gets to that (i yi yi) I'll probably try to find a used one to rebuild. That would save me having an extra car in my garage all winter

I didn't want to say it, but that may be the case. It sounds like the sliders aren't engaging properly. Though new (better) tranny oil could help that. I'm in the midst of my 915 rebuild - I had it back in, and now it's back out. It's a pretty major project. But definitely get in touch with John Walker first.