Newbie ~ Transaxle Question.

[John-1977911s]

Hello Everyone, I’m John. I’ve been a long time reader/customer to this site and Pelican and I’ve learned a lot along the way.
I’ve been a Porsche 911s owner for almost 1 year now. Most of that time was restoring the interior, and getting the motor back up to speed. More projects this winder.

On Saturday I was driving the car, taking off from a stop sign when I heard a clunk and thud. The engine kept running fine. The gears all seemed to be there. There was no acceleration…as if the car was in neutral and I was pressing the gas. I turned it off and I looked under the car, the passenger side transaxle was hanging.
It was still bolted up to the wheel side, just broken off at the transmission end. It looks like the bolts were not tight enough and it just broke lose. A few bolts broke off into the hub on the tranny side, but I was able to get them out fairly easily. The transaxle looks to be in good shape, all bearings are there and the movement still seems to be correct. I fell lucky about this so far.

The question/problem:
When the transaxle came lose it smacked into the bolt that sits about 2 inches in front of where the axle connects to on the transmission, this is toward the front of the car. A small part of the case broke off with it. There were two springs in the hole. Is this the back up light switch/sensor?

Here is a picture. Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Also, I did read all of the archive posting on CV and transaxle.

John
More pictures at this link.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12373606@N02/

[Jim Sims]

That's a tough break!

The back up light switch is in the front, up by the shifter input rod. The broken section (tapped boss) contains the thread which holds in the bolt which retains a shift detent. Detents prevent the tranmission from going into more than one gear at a time. This break may require replacing the final drive housing of the transmission; may get expensive. One might also get the broken boss welded back on or some other machining repair to effectively replace the broken off stock. Was there any noise to be heard (clunking?) from the half shaft before it let go?

[John-1977911s]

Jim, Thanks for the information. I have to say this is very disappointing. There was no noise that I heard before the actual breakoff. I drove the car on Friday for an hour or so, some light city and hwy in town. The car ran very smooth and there was no indication. On Saturday when it broke I was driving 30-40 down a quiet street up to the stop sign and then it happened.

Though break for me. I'll call Heckman/Theiman this week and get the really bad news.

John

[oregonmon]

Sorry to hear your bad news. I'm south of Portland in Silverton but could be moving closer to Portland early next year. I few good guys around Portland area to get together with. Good luck with your repairs.