Never let a friend drive

[ischmitz]

Arrrgh, after I let a friend drive the car I lost 3rd gear on the 915: I can shift into 1st and 2nd gear fine, as always. When I shift into 3rd and release the clutch it pops out of gear immediately. Trying to keep the lever pushed towards third gear position while releasing the clutch is answered by a horrible grinding noise. The feel now while trying to shift to 3rd is such as it does not quite engage into position. I can only suppose my friend was trying to force the shift into third. Fourth, fifth, and reverse are normal as always. So I think I can rule out a wrongly adjusted shift-coupler?

It's amazing how drivable the car is without using 3rd gear….

Can someone shed some light into what could have caused the 3rd gear only to be affected? (Synchro’s, 3rd/4th fork bent, misadjusted, broken).

How much work will it be to fix this issue (after the tranny is out of the car and separated from the engine? What is potentially involved?

What other work would I do at the same time while the tranny is apart? 150k, first gear syncro’s come to mind)

Ingo

[Hetmann]

Sounds to me like third gear is shot. I wouldn't drive it in this condition. You may have pieces floating around in there that can end up doing more damage. Don't be too harsh on your friend. Your tranny's time may have come. I had to rebuild mine at 82K.

[APKhaos]

A good friend of mine was really interested in getting into DE/Track, and got very excited about the idea of owning a Pcar that he could drive around AND track.

Wanting to encourage him, I let him drive my car in a PCA HPDC.

He spun it off the inside of the skid pad, and over the kerb.
Nailed not one but TWO AC lines, and graunched the underbody.

Still a good friend, and still hot to buy a car. S**T happens.

[Elombard]

I let a friend drive at a track day. Car started back firing and acting weird, I thought he had over reved it and munched a valve. Spent several hundred bucks and two months figuring out that the distributor nut had been loose enough to let it move way out of time. : - )) He is still a good friend...

[Wayne 962]

Friends don't let friends drive. <- period.

Try readjusting the linkage before you pull the tranny. 1/2 hour of work, versus lots of $$$ and time...

-Wayne

[zotman72]

I know of a fella who missed a shift on another friend's turbo during a DE and floated the valve train. The unlucky guy made good on his mistake and paid to fix the damage at one of the best shops in town --their friendship is pretty strong if not stronger as a result. This is what standup friends do.

[john walker's workshop]

first, check the shift coupler to be sure it's bushings are still in place. next, pull up the shift boot, and see if the handle is hitting the housing at the end of the 3rd gear shift. adjust the coupler so it doesn't. in neutral, the shifter should be right in the center of the housing. then check for bits in the drainplug magnet. if there are little teeth on it, don't drive it anymore, or more serious damage can result. the shift guide plate on the bottom of the trans can be removed to see if the guide fork came loose from it.

[ChrisBennet]

My friend backed my 911 into the armco at Watkin's Glen once.
He came in to the pits and told me what happened (he did a 270 spin right where I had done 2 complete rotations the run before his).
I acted like I was mad and said:
"I can't, I can't believe you stalled it!"
He stalled it when he was trying to get back under way. Something about his leg being all twitchy.
If you value your friend(s) a lot more than your car, it isn't a big deal.
-Chris

[ischmitz]

Originally posted by john walker's workshop

first, check the shift coupler to be sure it's bushings are still in place. next, pull up the shift boot, and see if the handle is hitting the housing at the end of the 3rd gear shift. adjust the coupler so it doesn't. in neutral, the shifter should be right in the center of the housing.John, thanks for the advice. I rebuilt the shift coupler about seven month ago and swapped the bushing in the tunnel and the one on the shifter linkage. I have a pretty good idea, what a tight and well adjusted shift linkage feels like as opposed to shot bushings, and/or poor linkage adjustment. Mine still feels nice and tight.

The shifter does not seem to hit the housing, but I will doublecheck later today. When I try to shift into 3rd I get about the same lever travel as shifting into first or fifth. It just feels like the gears would only half way engage while the shift lever was all the way up there. Once I start releasing the clutch it gently slides back to neural. The shift lever neutral position and the other gear postitions have not moved at all since before the incident. Doesn't that rule out shift coupler adjustment?

...then check for bits in the drainplug magnet. if there are little teeth on it, don't drive it anymore, or more serious damage can result. Those little teeth being the remains of the synchro's I guess. Well, I better start ordering the Swepco and a seal for the shift guide plate.

the shift guide plate on the bottom of the trans can be removed to see if the guide fork came loose from it. What would be the effect of the guide fork becoming loose. Is there a chance that something inside the tranny (that guide fork) got pushed out of alignment only affecting third gear or do I get my hopes up on false ground here?

Ingo

[k9handler]

I had Rickeolis take a few laps around the Santa Fe autocross track and I must say that it was very cool...I finally got to see my car hauling ass around the track and was able to hear the engine roar from a spectators point of view! I would allow Rick to drive my car anytime.

I also had my neighbor (Chief Wrench at the time) take a few laps and he had never been in a 911 or any Porsche...he was very respectful of my baby and took very good solid laps that were quick and in control. I guess it's all in who you have as friends behind the wheel.

[kristian85]

He/she's no friend unless you'll comfortably let him drive your car with the knowledge that if he breaks it he'll both tell you and fix it. The others are acquantainces not worth lending your car to.

Always a potential "plant corn, eat corn" scenario.

[RANDY P]

Oh, it's a headache. 16 years ago one of my buddies blew up my freshly rebuilt M21 in my 69 camaro just beating about the neighborhood. $600.00 to rebuild, not a penny from him. Still a friend, I guess. I was shotgun when he dropped the clutch a bit early -

Last summer let another friend of mine drive my 99 Chrysler (flame away!) and he wasn't familiar with the area, went around a corner at 40 MPH and planted the RF tire (on 17" rim) on a big expansion. Instantly bent the rim. Car was lowered on Eibachs. I was also shotgun. Also still a friend.

New house rule - no driving my car.

Amazing what you'll do for a buddy...

rjp

[Joe Bob]

BTW....we (Ingo and I) will be pulling the engine and trans soon.
BTW2 .... "I" was not the friend that crunched his tranny

Ingo will soon be joining the ranks of the 3.6 powered hot rodders of Santa Barbara......

Merry Christmas everyone....

[DByers]

Ingo, Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I have been there done that many years ago. Man I miss that 65 bug.
Mike let me know if you need an extra set of hands when you guys do the drop.

[Dantilla]

I was the "friend" once!

Had an off with a buddy's 944 turbo. Got off pretty easy with reletively minor damage. Took it first thing to a local body guy I know and told him to make it perfect, do it fast and give me the bill.

We still trade cars occasionally.

[ischmitz]

Originally posted by mikez
BTW....we (Ingo and I) will be pulling the engine and trans soon.

Thanks to mikeZ's ability to convert full beer bottles into empty ones and his special CV joint tool (he couldn't find) the engine is out of the car.

Seriously, MikeZ and Dan Byers were extremely helpful to pull off our first engine drop ever. Dan just showed up on a 30min notice and would not leave until it was done. PP rules. Everything went fine, no major injuries and nothing got damaged in the process. The engine is on a dolly. The next step will be to split the tranny from the engine and crack it open. Than its parts ordering time once the damage is accessed.

I will keep the board posted on progress.

Merry Christmas to Everyone
Ingo