Overhauled shifter--some lessons learned and a rat's nest!

[Cattler]

Thanks everyone for the excellent posts on this topic and the advice I received over the weekend about reinstalling the shifter assembly after replacing the bushings. I took some pictures (included) of what I found and want to share some advice. If you're trying to estimate time to complete--I have a beginner's skills but understand what I'm doing--it took me ~3-4 hours of actual work but two days to get it done. Wayne's book says this is "2 mechanics" of difficulty--I guess I'm really only -0.5 mechanics myself...

First, it was pretty easy to get the center console removed and put aside. I followed the procedure and recommendations in the Bentley manual and Wayne's book. I did not disconnect the wiring to the controls in the console. Lessons here: be careful not to pull the wiring too far from the front of the car when you're lifting it over the shift rod; be sure to push them back a bit through the "firewall" when replacing the console or the buttons for the defroster / emergency flasher might stick out a bit; you might consider removing the inner control (at least for sport seats) if you don't remove the seats when doing this job. Here's a picture of this last one:



I noticed something wasn't quite right as soon as I removed the console. I had a "bite" missing from the foam rubber mat under the leather shifter boot and a hole in the lighter fabric shifter boot under the leather and foam.



Here's the rubber part by itself. I decided to make one of these myself rather than spend the ~$35 for a replacement. I used a foam rubber pillow template from a local fabric store and cut it with an electric carving knife. Worked great, total cost $9.



This next picture shows two problems. My shift rod ball socket bushing was completely shot and extended above the shift rod coupling. That goes a long way towards explaining the sloppy shifting and clanking I'd been having. I also noticed what looked like a pile of leaves and paper underneath the shifter assembly.



I removed a huge pile of trash after I was able to snake my hand into the tunnel. The mess was below the shifter assembly and forward. I didn't find any headed towards the rear of the car. As you'll see from the second photo, the paper was Porsche parts lists and some maintenance procedure descriptions. I assume this became a mouse home while the car was in the shop for an extended period. I wonder what it was in there for...





As I expected, the shifter ball joint bushing was completely shot. It was broken into three pieces. Lesson learned here: Replace this bushing with the shifter assembly out of the car. I should have known...but didn't. Its impossible to get over the ball socket unless its out of the assembly and the car. I used the trick of submerging the bushings in boiling water to make them soft--this worked like a charm and I recommend it.



No Porsche repair would be complete without finding some parts that won't go back. This job was no exception. I assume these were brought in by the mouse houseguest, as I couldn't identify them on the parts diagram and the assembly went back together just fine without them. Just in case anyone can help ID them, though, here they are:



I had the same problem as many others in getting the shift rod back through the bushing when reinstalling the shifter assembly. Some people had recommended disconnecting the rear shifter assembly, pulling the rod to the rear, and then sliding everything back together. I both could not get the bolts in the rear undone and didn't want to expand the scope of this job. My lesson learned: I softened the shifter rod bushing in hot water, slid it over the rod, held the rod up with a scrap rag, and slid it through the shifter assembly. I then had the very difficult task of pressing the bushing into the assembly while it was in the car but not bolted in place. I got it done, but it wasn't easy. There's probably an easier way to do this, but it worked for me. As a side benefit--I had a bouncing speedometer needle prior to this job. I checked the connections for the speedometer sensor while I had the rear panel removed. So far, the speedometer is back to being solid as a rock.



It didn't take much time to get everything back into place once I'd manufactured the replacement foam rubber pad. It probably took less than an hour of clean up.

My shifting is much smoother, its tighter, and I notice its faster through the gears. I do still have a little difficulty moving from first to second gear when the car is cold, but nothing like before I did this job. I suppose I'll have to work on the rear portion of the shifter assembly at some point, but that's another weekend...

David

[mlfox]

Great post w/ great photos that really help.

Regards,
mlfox

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

You went to all that trouble and didn't install a WEVO???

[Cattler]

No on the WEVO...I have the G50.

[holtjv]

Nice job!

The photos and lessons learned will be a lot of help to the next guy doing it.

Jack

[vreference]

I had two bad bushings in my g50 shifter when i bought the car; the cup as well as the rod bushing at the back of the shifter housing. It was possible to select 1st pull it out of gear and then, without moving the shifter left or right, push it back up into 3rd. I've driven so many large trucks that it didn't really phase me for a few weeks but I was glad to find that it could be so easily fixed; hardest part of that job was getting the console out of the way.

[Steve@Rennsport]

Originally Posted by Cattler

No on the WEVO...I have the G50.

Wevo makes a veyr nice G50 shifter,....

[ChkbookMechanic]

Yeah, I have to agree, if you are going to pull all that out, getting a WEVO shift coupler and shifter is well worth the time. I just did it on my car and it is well worth it (I have a 915 trans and it was night and day difference)

Shift Coupler
WEVO Shifter (couldn't find it on the host)

But, now that you've done it once, doing it again won't be that bad

[Miguel Antonett]

Great post. Thanks! BUT what happened to the mouse?

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Miguel Antonett

Great post. Thanks! BUT what happened to the mouse?

He shifted residences.

[Miguel Antonett]

LOL. I love this forum...

[Cattler]

Thankfully, no mouse carcass or mouse droppings. I also didn't see any evidence that the lines / wires running through the tunnel had been converted into the nest.

Sadly, my first thought was not that it was a mouse, but that the PO had stuffed the paper in there to quiet the shifter...

[steely]

Thanks for the inspiration - I'm probably a 0.5 mech too. I started tonight and stopped short of lifting the console. I'll piecemeal this thru the week and test it this weekend.

[JeffreyNMemphis]

Great Pictures! Thanks.

I am about to dive in to my shifter. Did you find anything missing from the Bentley description that you wished you had known?

[Cattler]

A combination of this forum, Wayne's book, and the Bentley manual is the way to go. None of these has all of the info alone.

The Bentley manual was the clearest on the console work--leaving it connected but pulling it aside. Some on this forum recommended pulling it completely. I didn't find that necessary. The manual also had good parts diagrams, which I used to ensure I put things back together correctly.

Wayne's book had a better step by step in my opinion than did the Bentley manual.

This site had good postings with tips and in some cases good pictures.

David

[JeffreyNMemphis]

David,

I have Wayne's book. Finding which box it is stored in is going to be fun...

Thank you again for posting your pictures... It is going to help to have a visual reference. I bought the parts from Pelican, so I just have to build my confidence and then dive in.

[JeffreyNMemphis]

More questions...

Did you take the assembly apart as described in the Bentley manual? If so, did you use a vise as suggested in Bentley? Was it necessary to take it apart?

[Cattler]

I didn't take the whole thing apart per the procedure. I don't have those tools (nor the mechanical ability) and those parts of the shifter assembly worked well. I cleaned the assembly off, applied lithium grease, and put it back in. My biggest problem was that the shift rod ball socket bushing was completely shot. This was causing a lot of banging around when I shifted and the shifter seemed loose. Frankly, I figured that correcting that was worth it even if I couldn't fully disassemble the entire shifter assembly.

Part of my calculation was that I shouldn't do more harm than good...and the other was "guidance" from my wife that I shouldn't start any projects that would require me to have a "house call" from a mechanic should I be unable to get the car back to a good starting point. She's much smarter than I am.

As I said in my original post, Wayne's book says, I think, that this is a "two wrench" job. I found it was harder for me than I thought and it took substantially longer--all of Thanksgiving weekend, but it was worth it. Don't get in over your head.

David

[sarri66]

Hi Friends,

I was trying to tight the shifter in my 911 t so I bought the shfiter coupling, I did replace the part and guess what I can not find 1st nor 2nd, so I dont know what to do now

Any advise?

pleeeeeaseeeeeeeeee heeellpppppppp

juan

[KNS]

Did you mark the approximate place from the old coupling and match it up to the new one? Move it a little one way or the other - trial and error.