Is it the Shifter Linkage ?

[urseppos]

Hello all,

Went to stretch the legs on my 80SC Hotrod early Sunday morning & about half an hour into my journey the shifter got very sloppy, feels like something is out of whack.

I know the 915 quite well but now it really feels awkward & getting into fourth gear & reverse is a bit troublesome. Wtf happened ?

I was able to get her home without any issues but can't figure it out. Is it the linkage or the bushings or something a lot worse ? I recently had some work done (1k miles ago) on the bushings at a local Porsche specialist and all was fine until the drive.

Thanks in advance for your help !

[thumbdoctor]

Possibly the shift rod coupler is slipping on the splines. Remove the metal shift coupler cover just ahead of the rear seats. Have someone operate the shift selector while looking at the coupler to see if it is tight and not skipping when in the neutral gate. Sometimes the cone screw on the shifter coupler will loosen if its not Loctited and cause shift issues also.

[Bill Jennings]

You mentioned you had bushing work done recently was that at the linkage or at the gear shifter? if at the linkage pulll the cover in front of the rear seats ( just 4 philips screws) and take a look at your linkage. Grab the linkage with one hand and the gear lever in your other, twist in opposite directions to see if there is any play there. If not there you will have to take a look at the gear lever assembly.

[mnez]

Sometimes the set screw that retains the shift coupler on the transmission rod comes loose. You may not notice it just by wiggling stuff around, check it with an allen key. If so, add some blue loctite and retighten.
Mine was loose by 2 turns - upshift to 3 was balky, 5 sometimes, and reverse almost impossible to find. After tightening, perfect again.

[urseppos]

Thanks to all that replied, going through it all today. Fingers crossed that there isn't anything major lurking.

[PabloX]

I'd just open the cover between the rear seats and give it a look. It'll probably be fairly obvious. If the set screw came loose, you may see some scratching where the thing slipped. It could be the bushings worked loose also.

BTW, that's a great looking 911. I love the color scheme.