1984 944 doesn't shift smoothly
 

I have a 1984 944 that I bought a few months ago. I have always had trouble shifting smoothly 1st thru 3rd. Upshifts are the worst. I have to double clutch shift to stop the car lurching as the new gear engages. Any idea what could be causing this?

Sort of related: I know the clutch was replaced in 1999 (about 15,000 miles ago). I don't know if the new clutch is rubber or metal - is there any way to find out?

It is possible someone sourced a rubber clutch in 1999, but more likely that a spring centered one was used. Any clutch should last more than 15K miles, though. It's not possible to easily see what kind of clutch you have, but there's places you can inspect for rubber fragments. However, when my rubber centered clutch broke it just separated from the metal and didn't crumble apart.

Is your torque tube coupler tight? Are your axle bolts torqued down?

Hope it's not your clutch as that's a big job.

Good info, thanks :)

It sounds like my clutch is probably not the issue then. I thought if the new clutch was rubber, it may have gotten brittle in the 20 years since it was installed, and broken down more easily. In hindsight that's probably not the case because it's always been kept in a garage and all the rubber is generally in great condition.

Could it be an issue with the transmission?

To be honest, I don't even know how to check if my torque tube coupler and axle bolts are tight. Are they reachable from the bottom of the car or would I need to remove some other parts to access them?

Perhaps something is loose/sloppy in the shifter linkage?

Clark's Garage Home PageWelcome.. Ipww,has you probably notice by now this place is where top brains 944 owners has taken residencehttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/wat3.gifbut sometimes they to need help so they refer to the link above Clark's Garage,I,m sure it will help you in the futur trouble shooting any of your 944 problems.Take care & let us know if you did solve your problem.:D

Forgot to ask ,did you check your shifter rod ...black...that goes from your shifter inside the car .....through the torque tube & couple to your tranny linkage ...if it's moving freely.See picshttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1600380799.jpg inside the car.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1600380844.jpg coming out the torque tube...to tranny linkage.

There you go....Teflon bushing.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1600384481.jpg

If all of your upshifts are difficult and stiff, your clutch may not be disengaging completely. Possible cause is a faulty/internally leaking master or slave cylinder. Unlikely to be a clutch problem with only 15k miles on it. Could be synchronizers, but unlikely that they would all fail at once.

I hope your issue is just the gearbox needing a fluid change. I went with Amsoil. Smooth as a knife thru warm butter afterwards.