My Tranny Repair Bill

andyu911 · andyu911's Garage

Just got the quote back from my mechanic on my G-50 tranny. He opened it up and found 2nd and third syncros needed to be replaced. And those are the gears I have trouble with especially 2nd gear. There are more than a few occasions I couldn't downshift to, or it would pop-out from 2nd gear. OK. He suggested all syncros and sleeves to be replace from 1st to 4th gear. Syncros will be steel instead of brass, since my car sees tracks as much as roads. What's the benefit of steel syncro? Lighter? Stronger? Plus, he's gonna install a Quaife for me. The grand total comes to $3,700

included parts and labor. Is it too much? Comment please.
Also, the guy (1st owner) I bought my car from, he had no idea what's heel-toe downshifting. Would that be the reason why the tranny worn out prematurely? It had about 100K on the clock when I bought it five years ago and I put another 30K with about 5K track miles on it.
Does anyone has steel syncro in the tranny on this board?

Andy
'87 Carrera

dickster · 07-11-2002, 12:25 AM

andy

i have a 915, but i've heard the g50 is pretty damn bullit proof so not sure why yours is worn.

never had a tranny rebuild, but the price sounds reasonable to me (equiv. £2500).

cary · 07-11-2002, 05:17 AM

I would say that if it is being done by a Porsche gear box specialist. It sounds about right.

My description of specialist...........

1. Someone that works at a Porsches only shop that maintains/builds road and race cars. So he/they see lots of gear boxes and know the wear and weak points.

2. Or someone that's been around a long time. And has a wealth of knowlegde built up over that span of time.

If I'm not doing it myself. I'd rather pay a little more and make sure that it's been done right. My 02c.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

That sounds high to me. I think you can find good condition G50's all day long on Rennlist for well under that figure.

Crude Rudy · Crude Rudy's Garage

I got a ROM quote from Rob at Dutch Treet for my 915 rebuild w/ same problems of ~$1600. This is a pcar only shop that many of the grand prix region PCA members use all of the time.

ErVikingo · 07-11-2002, 05:51 AM

A typical tranny rebuild (from my experience of rebuilding 3 of them) goes for 1300 to 1700. In your case you added a Quaiffe to the bill. The quaiffe does not cost 2000 though. I guess you might have done some additional work not listed in your post (replaced flywheel, exotic clutch and pp, perhaps fix some oil leaks in the engine, new sound pad, mounts, ...?).

FYI, for track the Quaiffe (or any other torsen type is not the best choice of LSD), a ZF type (clutch based) is better. However, if you are thinking of AutoX the Quaiffe is the way to go.

Anyhow, a tranny should last a very long time if treated well. Personally, I replace the fluid much more often than recommended (cheap insurance).

cary · 07-11-2002, 06:01 AM

After removing the cost of the LSD and it's R/R. Plus the time to shim the new diff. It's about the same as Crude Rudy's quote.
+/- $300.

But you need to decide if you want your gear box good/better than new. Or just fixed so it works.
Or do you, at a much lower cost, go out and buy a used one with its own unknown problems and history. ( crap shoot )

To me that's determined by wither its a keeper or just a car you'll have for a while.

jpachard · 07-11-2002, 06:09 AM

Andy, I would steer away from the Quaife. It only locks up under acceleration and not under braking. Not good if you plan on trail braking. Porsche Motorsport is selling LSD's for G50's for 1450.00$ that are 40/60 lockup. The advantage with these is that they are factory so you know it will fit correctly. As ErVikingo said, if you are autoxing it should be fine, but I believe Porsche Motorsport has 40 lockup ones as well. Best of luck!! I think the price is fair, considering the fact that parts for these are more than equivalents for the 915 series.

CHeers, James