Shifter breakdown - Not going into 1st and 2nd
 

Just yesterday, my car decided it no longer wanted me to go into 1st and 2nd. It made for an interesting drive home. Just prior to it breaking, I had to push quite hard to the left to get it into 1st or 2nd before it gave way. When I took it apart, there are some scratches on the shift rod on the left where it was rubbing against the assembly. I am going to do some investigative work as I am hoping it is either linkage or my clutch cable.

Having done some research and detailed read of tech article Pelican Technical Article: Shifting Improvements - 911 (1965-86) - 930 Turbo (1975-86), I am left with a dilemma.

In the tech article it says " The shifter is bolted down to the floor with hex socket cap screws. Simply place the car into first gear, unbolt the shifter from the floor, and remove it from the chassis." The problem is, I cannot get it into 1st or 2nd. My plan was to put in 3rd. Can this be done? Any other suggestions getting it back into 1st somehow? What are the potential consequences of putting it in 3rd, I suspect some readjustment after the job is complete?

It doesn't matter what gear the gearbox is in when you pull the shifter. If the car was shifting well before this incident you shouldn't need to adjust your coupler. It should be a simple install the shifter and your good to go situation. If you were having issues, you already have the article on adjusting the shifter so you are all set.

Doesn't need to be in any gear. Just unbolt it.

if you think driving home without 1st and 2nd is bad, try it with only 4th and 5th.... not fun. like others said it doesn't matter what gear it is in when you remove shifter. i've done with car in every gear plus neutral.

I lost first gear. Didn't hear anything or sense anything ususual, so I limped home using second. Second failed just before I got home.

I removed the 915 tranny and took it to a mechanic I use for difficult projects that I don't want to try to work on.

He chastised me for driving the car once I lost first gear. "When stuff breaks there's a lot of loose metal rolling around and you're lucky that you didn't do more damage."

As it was, I got away with $600 in parts and $300 in labor for a partial re-fresh of first and second gear assemblies.

I'm an Auto Club member. It just doesn't make sense to drive these cars when they are clearly telling you something is wrong. It could be a very expensive mistake. So these days I just call for a tow if I'm stranded.

Flat tire on the side of a busy road? Towed. Expired coil? Towed. Expired CD Ignition box? Towed. Clutch fork bending? Towed.

It just makes sense.

Actually, my money is on the coupler being the problem. I'd start there, unless the coupler bushings have been replaced in recent memory.

Thought I would post up a pretty simple potential issue. I lost 1st, 2nd and reverse the other night and had visions of a transmission pull in my head. Please just look at the shifter mechanism for anything obvious if you haven't pulled the boot and done so already. I got all my tools ready for some serious wrenching, but when I actually looked at the shifter mechanism all I needed was one wrench to tighten the bolt that holds the shifter to the selector rod. Took me about 2.5 minutes and I had all gears again and it shifted better than ever. 1st, 2nd and reverse had been getting progressively harder to find until the bolt backed out enough to prevent any shifting, period.

I was just going to add that I recently had a problem with 1st and 2nd. Turned out the ball cup on the end of the shift run that the shifter sits in came loose. Not the ball cup bushing, but the conical screw holding the metal ball cup. I must've changed the position slightly in the process of tightening it because I had to adjust the coupler in the rear end of the tunnel. Even made the shifting feel better when I was done.

That conical screw should be secured so it doesn't back out on its own. The early screw heads were drilled for safety wire. If yours doesn't have a hole, install one, then wire in place after installation.

Sherwood

Thanks for all the responses, I'll let you know how it goes. I was tempted to do it tonite, but I wanted to finish my CIS work and have other duties calling me.

Here's the latest success for those interested.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/664950-1976-911s-garage-find-road-17.html#post7442419

Old car
Your coupler bushings could have failed and fell out
Your tunnel ring could have done the same thing
The conical screw finally got loose enough to allow the cup to rotate

3 places to start with
Easiest is to look at the coupler, hold it steady and move the shifter...if the shifter moves and the aluminum of the coupler doesn't ...that's one thing....then hold the rod (tunnel side) and repeat...if the shifter moves and the rod doesn't, that's another thing see...easy to isolate

ivangene, I was wondering when you would chime in. Thanks! I am going to take a detailed looked either tonite or tomorrow and see what is going on. The tunnel coupler appears to be in fine shape, but I really want a better look. A cursory look suggests that the problem is on the shifter itself, it is VERY loose. Hopefully, I'll have some pictures this evening.

Have you looked at the information about his stealth shifter mod?
Be careful,, you know you want it! :)

No security wire on there. Good to know! I'll definitely look into that. I'll have to double-check the screw to see if it has a hole but I'm almost positive it doesn't. Is there even a part number for that?

A little blue locktite will do the same thing if the parts are clean and grease free.

took apart my shifter, sure enough the bushing after the shifter at the tunnel is toast. I should have pre-emptively just purchased the bushings, now I have to wait for them to arrive. Rats.

Here is the play by play....

I took a look at my rear coupling, it seems really solid and in good shape. I tried to rotate it and there was no slack.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1368661151.jpg

I took off the boot and lifted up my rug. Here you can see some of the metal shavings from the shifter shaft rubbing against the side of the assembly.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1368661142.jpg

I took off the 3 bolts to detach from the floor. It took a minute or so to figure out that I had to also remove the 2 other bolts that held the support bracket. Once i did this it became VERY obvious what the problem was. The shifting has been poor at best, quite the difference from my Audi (albeit 30 years newer) but I am hoping this will make a big difference.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1368661133.jpg

Yay! Simple, cheap fix.

Yep. When I heard about your loss of 1st and 2nd, I suspected something like this:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1368664937.jpg

... or this:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1368665467.jpg

I'm glad it's only a <$10 repair.

Sherwood

Why not replace the coupling too? cheap insurance that everything is right.

and Sherwood is the shifter expert....put in one of his while you are at it.

winner :)

You'll be amazed at how the shifter feels with just these bushings replaced. Ask me how I know.

And the ball cup bushing while you're at it...

the parts haven't arrived yet, but yes, i'll be hitting all 3 while i am in there.

{duplicate removed}

The parts came in and today, after mowing the lawn, I had a few minutes to play. I cleaned up the support bracket and installed the bushing. I used my benchvise to squeeze it in. Easy peasy.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369100112.jpg

Here I have all the parts (broken and together before I started putting it together).
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369100090.jpg

Then, hmm, something doesn't look right. Aw crap, the shift linked is cracked?!?! I have never seen such a thing. Now, unfortunately, I have to purchase new linkage. On the flip side, just means my shift will be substantially tighter. It also explains why I had a little bit of wear on the side of the side shifter.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369100100.jpg

Sorry to hear about the cracked shift shaft. If possible, attempt to repair it in the car (watch the fuel lines). Otherwise, the drivetrain must come out to R&R the shift shaft.

Sherwood

wow - thats a pisser

real sorry about that

Aww, crap. I didn't think about that; I probably cannot pull it up through the floor. I wonder if I can weld it in there? Not a lot of space to work. Might be better off just dropping the engine again. This would make drop number 3 this year!

I already purchased the part, so if I screw up, I have a back up...provided of course, I don't set the car on fire.

if you are getting a new shaft from tom butler, let me know, looking for an excuse to get some stuff from him, too.

in the meantime, if you need a hand, let me know.....if you want to do the work here, I have a bay open, in the very least, I have that 'high lift' hydraulic table that will come in handy during the swap.

anything else you need, let me know.

When are you getting back from your trip? I have convinced myself to do a little welding. Which would avoid the engine drop for now. I purchased the shift rod but will hold onto it for my next engine drop. Really it is just an excuse to pull out my mig welder. If it doesn't work out I'll simply do the engine drop sooner.
I
I'll show the play by play of my work, probably this weekend. I really think I may have my idle and mixture set properly and dying to take it for a test drive.

FINALLY, here is the update.

In last weeks episode....
As I mentioned earlier, the shift rod is broken and I ordered a new one. I decided to try to weld it back together as a temporary fix because I really don't want to drop the engine again just yet....

I cleaned up the old rod and used my vice grips to align the parts properly.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369522404.jpg

The weld came out pretty good. Then I took my grinder to clean it up followed by my dremel. The grinder was difficult to get in there. I wound up stuffing an old workglove under it to boost it up. In fact, you can see the area on the right where I didn't get it in the opening and scuffed it. I cleaned up the burrs and high points to give a smooth texture. It isn't perfect but it is smooth enough for its intended purpose.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369522426.jpg

Finally, I put it back together. The shift rod circle bushing wasn't fitting around the rod, despite a heavy dose of grease. I took the dremel and sanded it down a hair. Re-greased and put it together. I put the ball cup shift bushing in again with a lot of grease. I was having trouble putting the ball in the cup, then I realized, all i had to do was lined it up correctly then screw it in. The force of tightening it down seated it nicely.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369522434.jpg

I put everything together and took it for a test drive. HOLY COW what a difference. I thought my tranny was on the fritz, now it is obvious that my tranny is in perfect condition. I used to struggle with almost any gear, but not anymore. I'll hold off putting in the new shift rod until either this one breaks or I have to drop the engine again for some other purpose.

Thanks everyone for your help!

Good work.

Just as a general reference for anyone else with this problem, a secondary cause can be the tapered hole in the transmission shift rod. I had one that had opened up because some doofus had failed to screw the tapered bolt in all the way. The tapered bolt had to be reshaped from a V to a U to now fit the enlarged detent in the shift rod. Something to check if you have problems with the gears at the extreme left or right of your pattern.

To make it easier to install next time, install the ball cub bushing onto the shift lever on the bench: With the ball cup bushing sitting upright on a flat surface, align the shift housing assembly (and lever) on top of the ball cup opening then press downward until it snaps into place.

To install the shift assembly on the car, align, then slide the ball cup into the receptacle end of the shift shaft, then install the mount bolts.

Glad it's shifting like it should. Bear in mind that from day 1 of new bushing installation, wear will be gradual, like spark plugs that gradually lose their ability to create an adequate spark. For the shifter, it'll be okay up to the point where normal gear changes will be more difficult via excessive bushing wear and resultant slop. It's a good idea to periodically remove the rear tunnel cover, then observe the shift tube react as you move the lever back and forth and side-to-side. Excessive wear will be revealed performing this inspection.

Sherwood

Thanks for the pointers. Next purchase from PP I will get the bushing ring to keep around as a spare. My old ball cup bushing was in pretty good shape. It was still pliable and it fit tightly. I changed it as a matter of course but saved the old ones for an emergency.

So, some bad news and an update. After about 200 fun pain free miles since my linkage repair, the linkage gave at the end of my mornings commute. Happily, it happened just as I was pulling into my parking space. I had left my emergency tool kit at home but one of my coworkers had his.

I took apart the shift boot and linkage. The coupling had come completely apart from linkage rod. The metal was in really bad shape. Rather than pay the $150-$400 for a tow, I tried to repair it using a hose clamp from the engine bay. The repair went well. After a test, I decided to take her home. With only 2,4, and R, it was a little limiting but I made it home with little fanfare.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1370489537.jpg

As the parts have finished coming in, I decided to do the engine drop tonite and not bother with a second attempt at a repair. After 1.5 hours, I am ready to remove the old linkage and install the new one. As it is pretty late, I will finish this tomorrow.