915 got stuck!

[Nick Triesch]

My 85 911 has been working very well. I have really mastered how to shift it. But today I took a 200 mile trip from San Diego to Seal Beach and then back. When I arrived at my exit (after 100 miles) and came to a stop and into neutral it would not go into 1st or any gear! There were cars behind me so I double clutched and still would not go in. So I had to force in first with a crunch. Was fine after that but did it again on the way home on the freeway in traffic. Also, it was a warm day. Made the same trip two weeks ago with no problem. (Cool out) What do you think? It has new Swepco in the trans. Nick

[yelcab1]

Welcome to a 915 rebuild. That is how it began for me.

[DRACO A5OG]

Oh my, sorry to read that, I feel you brother.

Drain the fluid and place a screen under the flow and see if there are any metal bits/chunks, check the magnet on the plug as well.

Blue is the SWEPCO:


Last August, I had to rebuild my trans twice because my 1st gear band twisted off, killed my 1st damaged my 3rd and made it impossible for me to get into 1st. Fixed and then to my dismay my main shaft snapped at 2nd. I was scolded by the original builder of my trans for using SWEPCO. I placed Kendel 80W90 with LSD, she is smooth as silk and no metal bits or shavings after 3 flushes and even a DE in between (don't tell my wrench he will kill me) to get the SWEPCO out.

I hope you do not find any metal bits, if no unusual debris, I highly recommend changing your fluid.

Others swear by the SWEPCO but some of us learned the expensive way.

Just my 2 cents,
Jim

[Nick Triesch]

Is the Kendel the brand that is used a lot on this site. I think I remember reading about it. I will buy some soon. Nick Just a note. It stil shifts like it did before. Most gears smooth. It just never locked up before. Nick

[Mattcamp]

Yes.....Kendall is what you want.

[Mattcamp]

[Nick Triesch]

Do I use Kendall even if I do not have limited slip on my car? My car is an 85 911.

[Tinker]

Sounds like either a clutch issue or the shift rod coupler issue. Your clutch cable may be stretched.

These are the easy things to check before tearing into the trans.

Tinker

[kramer747]

they say Swepco is the best

[DRACO A5OG]

Originally Posted by kramer747

they say Swepco is the best

Not me, Peter Zimmerman, and others

[E Sully]

Remove the bottom inspection plate and see if the shift fork is firmly attached. You can also get a look inside there to see how the gears look.

[Flat6pac]

First, do the inexpensive thing, change the swivel connection on the shifter of the transmission. Set it up to get your gears. When the swivel on the shifter is worn out, the gears are hard to find.
Bruce

[Porsche84]

I vote for using Swepco in 915's. Certainly not the problem here. Does it go in gear when engine is off? I'd check the shift coupler and adjustment, then check the clutch cable/ adjustment

[kramer747]

I am hereby declaring Swepco the best. There, that was easy

[fastfredracing]

This could very well be a clutch issue. Try putting it in gear, and then with the clutch to the floor, start the car, and see if it tries to creep. If it does, your clutch is not fully releasing. I recently did a carrera with the same symptoms as yours, and upon removal, I found broken fingers on the pressure plate .

[Walt Fricke]

Take Bruce and Tinker's advice:

Check the external parts first.

If you can dry shift it: get it into all the gears with the engine off, but have a problem with it running, that points to a clutch problem. Might be adjustment, might be worse.

Doesn't quite sould like that is what happened to you, though.

So check the shift linkage. First pull the shifter off. Yes, a pain because you have to remove the console I suppose. You want to look at the cylindrical plastic ball cup which sits at the bottom end of the shift lever. If that has worn a whole lot - as it it is now two pieces or worse - that could be your problem. Easy to get a replacement.

While in there, check the steel cup piece which is attached to the long shift rod back to the rear, and into which this plastic thing fits. It is held to the long shaft by a grub screw. If it isn't on there tightly, that can cause problems.

There is also a round plastic bushing in a holder which supports the long shaft. Its holder came loose when you unbolted the shift tower. I doubt it is your problem, but it does wear. If it is busted into pieces, it can be replaced.

Next, or first if you want, pull back the carpet over the tunnel in front of the rear seats. This will reveal a plate held on with four screws. Unscrew them and pull the plate. That will expose the coupler.

This is where the shift linkage is adjusted. The clamp at the front of the coupler allows for fore and aft adjustment, and also rotational adjustment. The rear of the coupler is held onto the shift rod of the transmission itself with another grub screw (a pointy ended Allen set screw). If this is loose, things get vague.

What Bruce is thinking about are the plastic bushings which connect the front and back parts of the coupler. These are a bit loose by design - expecially in the fore and aft direction, as their holes are oval and not round. But they can wear to the point of non-functionality, or break apart, etc. You can take the coupler out and replace these plastic parts.

If all this checks out, then you can start draining your fluid, inspecting the magnet in the drain, pulling the four bolt plate shown in Ed's picture, and so on. Maybe you will luck out, and the two fasteners which hold the vertical forked part to the plate got loose, and you can just tighten them back up and be back on the road. There is a gasket used to seal this plate, but you can also substitute Loctite 574 (orange case sealant) or equivalent for the gasket.

Let us all hope you don't find what Jim did.

One thing I am not buying either is that your transmission fluid is at fault here. Maybe other fluids are better to some degree, but Swepco is certainly not so bad that things will go to hell in a handbasket in short order. I've run Swepco in my race transmissions for years, and they have done as well as one can expect.

First gear in a 915 can be capriciously baulky. It might be worn synchros, dog tooth issues, problems with the brake bands, or it could be that the slider is loose on the Y shaped yoke and occasionally binds. One does have to be patient: I once forced it into first, or tried to, with the result that the dongle inside the transmission forced its way in between two shift fork slots, bending one of them.

Maybe try starting in second when you have this problem and need to get out of other's way in traffic?

[Nick Triesch]

I'll try this stuff! I tested it out today again and the strange thing is sometimes it's works fine on shifts. Even going into first when coming to a stop. But most of the time I have to make a complete stop, let things slow down then it will go into gear...most of the time. Sometimes if I downshift into into 2nd it will go into first. Much of the time but again not all of the time. In other words, it's all over the place. My 356 would go into gear easy if I did a few tricks (pause) every time. But My 915 never goes into gear the same way. Always different. When my car stuck into gear I just drove 100 miles. Usually when the car is really warmed up is when it shifts the best. But when I got off the freeway...it did not want to go in any gear! I should have shifted into 2nd but instead I was not thinking and just went into netural. Big mistake. I'll start checking things when I get time. Nick

[revmax]

I stick what Pete Zimmermann the master says - Kendall. If you need to start the rebuild process...Zimmermann has a great tutorial WIKI that he put together with his Red Line Technik crew:
Porsche Wiki

It's a great read for the 915 gearbox minded