Wevo shifter adjustment question

[markmalin]

I have a Wevo shifter the previous owner installed on my 85 Carrera. I had to re-adjust it after installing a different coupler (Wevo) and noticed the Wevo doc.s say to put the car in 1st gear, then set the coupler. In other words, this sets the centering spring such that at rest, it is in the 1st gear - 2nd gear plane. Every other car I've ever driven has the "at rest" position of the centering spring in the 3rd - 4th gear plane... I set my Wevo up to center in the 3rd - 4th plane (because that's what I'm used to).

Can anyone tell me if this makes any difference at all? Was the shifter designed specifically to be used with it set to rest at the 1st - 2nd plane? The more I read about adjusting shifters... the more I wonder if this might have an effect on how smoothly my car shifts, but to be honest, I set it up in the 1 - 2 plane and drove it around a bit and it seemed really strange.

Thanks for your input
Mark.

[will hung]

I thought the documents said to leave the car in 3rd. Then with the shifter at rest, adjust the fore-aft position so that the reverse lock out plate on the shift just touches the edge of the reverse lockout spring pin.

[markmalin]

Originally Posted by will hung

I thought the documents said to leave the car in 3rd. Then with the shifter at rest, adjust the fore-aft position so that the reverse lock out plate on the shift just touches the edge of the reverse lockout spring pin.

Hm... yah, that's the way I did it. I'll have to look at them again...it's possible I'm wrong, but I just remember scratching my head as I was reading it last time.

[Elombard]

I did the same thing on mine a few months ago, my docs said everything is set with the shifter in 3rd?

[Craig_D]

Regardless of where you set the coupler, the Wevo has a dual spring set-up that will force the neutral/rest postion to be in the 3/4 plane. Look at the Wevo shift housing...it has a left side and right side spring which forces the resting position to be in the middle (3/4) plane.

I just looked at my Wevo PSJ instructions and it didn't have gear selection noted, here: http://www.wevo.com/Products/ShifterProducts/ShifterImages/WEVO_Stock_PSJ_INSTRUCTIONS_2009.pdf

However the WEVO shifter instructions does say to select 3rd gear in two places: http://www.wevo.com/Products/ShifterProducts/ShifterImages/WEVO_915_Classic_Shifter_INSTRUCTIONS_2009.pdf

"The transmission should still have 3rd gear selected at this stage – as per the removal notes.
The Gear lever is automatically positioned in the 3rd / 4th gear plane."

Cheers,

- Craig_D

[markmalin]

Ah... I see my problem. The documentation for the "930" shifter has you set it to 1st - 2nd. The documentation for the "915" shifter says to set it to the 3rd - 4th plane (i.e. have car in 3rd while adjusting/setting the coupler).

That was my bad, guys. For some reason I had the wrong documentation.

[SteelCity]

Not to hijack thread....

Could some fellow Wevo owners give me some insight. I installed wevo shifter with new bushings and ed's coupler along with new wevo engine/tran mounts. I did recently put Mobile synthetic in the tranny - which reading here is not the best option. STILL my shifter is erratic. Sometimes it feels great, sometimes i cannot get it into gear especially when i am shifting at lower rpm's. It has been a big source of frustration in an otherwise great experience of driving.

I am trying to do the last adjustment before i consider major service, which probably should have been my first step.

So with the spring centered set up of the Wevo i am curious your opinions for adjustments i should attempt? I researched other 915 adjustments but they seem at odds with the set up of the wevo.

Thanks in advance.

[wasserkuhl]

Originally Posted by SteelCity

Not to hijack thread....

Could some fellow Wevo owners give me some insight. I installed wevo shifter with new bushings and ed's coupler along with new wevo engine/tran mounts. I did recently put Mobile synthetic in the tranny - which reading here is not the best option. STILL my shifter is erratic. Sometimes it feels great, sometimes i cannot get it into gear especially when i am shifting at lower rpm's. It has been a big source of frustration in an otherwise great experience of driving.

I am trying to do the last adjustment before i consider major service, which probably should have been my first step.

So with the spring centered set up of the Wevo i am curious your opinions for adjustments i should attempt? I researched other 915 adjustments but they seem at odds with the set up of the wevo.

Thanks in advance.

#1 priority is to drop that oil and replace with the correct oil. Swepco or kendall, do a search!

#2 is to understand how you want it to shift ie: which plane needs to be adjusted and which way. You then need to spend a while making minor adjustments and driving it, stopping, adjusting so on and so forth.
pack your 13mm spanners and remove the panel and go for a drive.....its all very "Zen" but you will get there.

you need to be the shifter and feel the shifter

get rid of that synthetic oil straight away, it is not designed for the 915 box and will accelerate wear.....

[SteelCity]

Thanks for the reply....

Roger that on the synthetic.

Spanners in the back seat ready...check.

Could you tell me your Zen approach for adjustment. What i am confused about is most of the coupler/linkage adjustment tutorials are for "unsprung" 915's and i was wondering if i should approach different.

[Elombard]

In my experience with the Wevo on a not fresh gearbox the 1st and 2nd action is always super notchy. I purchased the lighter springs but have not installed them yet.

I think the Wevo is designed to produce a fabulous 3 -4 shift which it does when my gear box is warmed up. Its aimed at the track crowd and on the track that was 90% 3/4 shifts it was a like a modern Honda - did not have to think about it. If I had to get 2nd on a track it would be a real issue to do it quickly at all.

I have semi solid or solid mounts fresh bushings and a fancy coupler.

Pretty sure my box needs fresh synchros and 'dogs' (whatever those are) and it would be a big improvement but I can live with it like this for some time.

[markmalin]

No problem hijacking the thread. After driving this car 2 years now, I have to say, in some respects the 915 just isn't going to behave the same from one day to the next. It may be the driver , but for the first 6 months I used to joke that I would get one good "grind" in every drive. D'oh! Observations after 2 years:

- These cars require a lot of concentration to drive.
- After 2 years I can shift smoothly pretty much all the time.
- Things like blipping the throttle on upshifts helps... easing the shifter into gear (don't ram it!!) helps.
- Realizing that even though the kid in the rice burner at the stop light is going to light up his tires because he's next to a "PORSH" doesn't mean you have to try to show off, too ...let him go. Don't drive it like a dragster.
- Different fluids help (I've tried Swepco and Kendall)
- On my car, when the car is cold, shifting at 3500 RPM is smoothest. When hot, higher RPMs are smooth

Price Cobb at Kelly-Moss Racing in WI told me (wisely) when I asked him about rebuilding my transmission "...well...you can adjust your driving style and get years of use out of the transmission before you have to tear it apart and rebuild it...it's about enjoying driving a vintage car..." I have to say Amen to that!

One other note from my experience. It was hard to get into gear sometimes when I first had the car. Last time I replaced the oil I removed the bottom cover to replace the leaking gasket and found the shift fork (or whatever that thing is called) had come loose! I re-tightened it and the car now finds the gears very accurately. This combined with new fluid and a Wevo coupler made the car feel like a completely different machine. It's almost TOO mechanical, but I don't grind gears much anymore.

YMMV
Mark.

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by wasserkuhl

get rid of that synthetic oil straight away, it is not designed for the 915 box and doesn't provide enough friction for the synchos to work correctly.....

Fixed it for ya.

[SteelCity]

Thanks everyone for chiming in....helps to get some experience from fellow wevos. I am trying to decide what is amiss and what i need to be a more patient, accurate driver. I drove an 85 cabrio with sport factory shifter and loved it engagement and accuracy compared to mine. I know the wevo is different but i just feel like something isnt right.

Erik - Makes sense to me about being focused on 3 to 4 gear. My pca instructor at mid ohio this fall was like "quit shifting, we got other things to worry about".

Erik - do feel like it hangs on second - meaning there are two "notches" but sometimes you can't get it into gear at slower rpm's?

Mark - i have digested and practiced shifting the 915 "Way" and i dont think i am way off although i have only had the car 8 months compared to....an s2000 and other modern cars so perhaps old habits die young. I will have to think about the revs that i shift at when lugging around town. Maybe i am not getting the revs high enough.

Mark - thanks for your thoughts on shifter fork. Reading around that is interesting and sounds like could be a culprit.

Here is my plan of action - considering i have done mounts, bushings, coupler already - drain fluid and go to better suited Dino oil and check shifting fork. Any other suggestions?

What adjustments can be made to wevo shifter for coupler? Just go back to Wevo install instructions? I ask that because coupler adjustments seem to be the panacea for regular factory 915's but because ours are self centered is dosen't seem as crucial?

thanks all for the help

[wasserkuhl]

Originally Posted by SteelCity

Thanks for the reply....

Roger that on the synthetic.

Spanners in the back seat ready...check.

Could you tell me your Zen approach for adjustment. What i am confused about is most of the coupler/linkage adjustment tutorials are for "unsprung" 915's and i was wondering if i should approach different.

The "Zen" approach is to understand how the shifter works in your head.

This will enable you to then make very minor adjustments to get it as perfect as possible. I got it down to extremely small adjustments until it was perfect.

Always adjust with the shifter in 3rd for a WEVO.

1st - 2nd will always be your compromise plane as 3rd-4th and 5th/R need to be perfect.

Remember that when cold, try double clutching 1st-2nd.....

Practice the 2 part shift ie: 1) pull out of gear 2) put into gear.

Not one action, 2 actions.

Should only need the force of 2 fingers to shift a 915.

The biggest adjustment you can make is to your driving style

[markmalin]

Originally Posted by SteelCity

Mark - i have digested and practiced shifting the 915 "Way" and i dont think i am way off although i have only had the car 8 months compared to....an s2000 and other modern cars so perhaps old habits die young. I will have to think about the revs that i shift at when lugging around town. Maybe i am not getting the revs high enough.

Yah, they really are different than anything else. For example, I had a lot of 80's BMW's...nothing like that. I have a 2001 BMW now as my daily car...nothing like that. In fact, going between the two, if I drive the 911 a lot it's hard to work the clutch on the BMW. If I drive the BMW a lot, i wind up grinding the 911 a few times and think things like "what's wrong with my transmission?" A few days of driving and I'm totally in the "this is perfect" mindset.

Originally Posted by SteelCity

Mark - thanks for your thoughts on shifter fork. Reading around that is interesting and sounds like could be a culprit.

It's just a thought. They come loose and you don't know until you remove it. It's easy enough to do. Get a new gasket. Again, just something that happened to my car. Yours may be just fine.

Originally Posted by SteelCity

Here is my plan of action - considering i have done mounts, bushings, coupler already - drain fluid and go to better suited Dino oil and check shifting fork. Any other suggestions?

What adjustments can be made to wevo shifter for coupler? Just go back to Wevo install instructions? I ask that because coupler adjustments seem to be the panacea for regular factory 915's but because ours are self centered is dosen't seem as crucial?
*

Sounds good. Don't go overboard with trying to "fix it" is my only suggestion. It's a weird, old German car. It just is.

[SteelCity]

Gentlemen - i thank you. I am going to go at it tomorrow.

[SteelCity]

Thanks gents for all your help plus perspective. Here is what i did.

1. Didn't end up getting to fluid change/fork check because didnt have gasket. Hopefully next week.

2. Will be curious to see fork because i am definately getting a "whine" or drag when in gear at lower rpms.

3. Adjusted coupler/linkage 7 times with test drives after each. Wasser i see what you mean by getting "Zen" although i think i may call it "dark arts." The first adjustment felt amazing especially in 1/2nd gear but.....no reverse. Once again i think i may be too focused on "fixing an old german car" on the 1/2 gear because it should focus on 3/4 plane. Is that right?

The attempts after that were a hilarious mix of "oh that feels great!" when in the garage to "oh, i dont have 1 or 2nd gear" when i drove it. We were using metal on front of wevo box for left to right plane centering plus trying to get the shifter far enough forward to just touch the reverse button on the back of the shifter. However, i still am not quite sure i got the "approach" of adjustments.....i was working a little bit more on "chance."

I ended up with a decent feel.

Mark - the 3500 rpm and above shift point you mentioned seems to be something that really helps. If i am lugging and try to get to into 2nd below that i have a tendency to catch. I will be thinking about that as i drive her more....

Thank you all...

[Uncle]

Originally Posted by wasserkuhl

The "Zen" approach is to understand how the shifter works in your head.

This will enable you to then make very minor adjustments to get it as perfect as possible. I got it down to extremely small adjustments until it was perfect.

Always adjust with the shifter in 3rd for a WEVO.

1st - 2nd will always be your compromise plane as 3rd-4th and 5th/R need to be perfect.

Remember that when cold, try double clutching 1st-2nd.....

Practice the 2 part shift ie: 1) pull out of gear 2) put into gear.

Not one action, 2 actions.

Should only need the force of 2 fingers to shift a 915.

The biggest adjustment you can make is to your driving style

Quoted for the truth.