Floating Shifter

rkwhyte · 10-09-2009, 06:29 AM

Happy Friday.

I was backing the pcar out of the garage this morning for a nice Friday drive to work, when moving from reverse to neutral, suddenly the shifter is floating all over the place. Cannot put it into any gear, shift pattern completely gone. Read by searching the forum that a cup bushing might be worn and literally popped out. So, had to call a flat bed to pick it up and take it to the mechanic. Good thing it was still in neutral.

Hopefully the most expensive thing will be the tow. Car just turned 36k in miles, so i am a a little surprised (if the forum is correct and this is the reason) that this would happen.

Ron.

crg53 · 10-09-2009, 01:12 PM

You are probably looking at one of these connections, it will not be very expensive, a couple of hours labour.

SouthCoastPhil · 03-13-2010, 04:22 AM

I ran into the same problem early this morning in my C2. A shift from 1 to 2 felt "funny" then, uh-oh, no shifting at all. Fortunately I was in 2nd, so could easily get her the the 1/2 mile back to the house.

Since its Saturday morning, I'd like to get on this project.

How do I get at the linkages? From the cabin (removing the seats, tunnel cover, etc.) or from underneath (removing the big plate...then what?)?

TIA for your help,

Phil

SouthCoastPhil · 03-13-2010, 04:32 AM

crg, what's the source of the illustration you showed?

I am looking in both the E_964_Katalog and Volume 2 of the manual, but can't seem to locate it.

thx,

P

crg53 · 03-13-2010, 09:20 AM

Hi Phil, dC Automotive - You Porsche & BMW Parts source as far as I remember, this is where I got it from.

Bill Verburg · Bill Verburg's Garage

there are several things that could have happened
here is a pic of the top parts of the shifter

and from the bottom

the car bolts around the tube visible in the chassis and is levered off the rid #15

rod #12 goes to the transmission

SouthCoastPhil · 06:16 AM

Update:
First my son and I accessed the linkage from the top. PITA to get the console out, etc. (and I am certain an equal PITA awaits us today as we replace it all).

"Hmmm, I wonder if there's supposed to be a bushing for the shift lever ball in the guide tube cup? She looks a little loose in there." But, that was not the (main) problem, for everything seemed afloat fore of that.

Jack it all up, w/jack stands all around, pull the tunnel cover off.

"Wouldja look at that guide tube just hanging down!?", followed by "Bushing in the angular joint? What bushing?"

Then began the "field patch" (as we used to call them while fly-fishing) thinking to find a way to keep the ball in the cup. (Side note: we had also planned to install new Hawk HPS pads in the Big Reds, and get them bedded. More on that later.)

We cut a 7" length of 1" wide aluminum stock, cut two of the corners at an angle and drilled 3/8" holes 4 7/8" OC. Removed the 2 13mm bolts that hold the guide plate in place, inserted ball into cup, and attached the aluminum bar with the 13mm bolts.

Cup is now rejoined with ball.

By that point it was late, so my son called it quits for the day. Dad, however, being thrilled with the results of the diagnosis and aforementioned field patch, was not ready to quit. Pulled the Hawk rear pads outta the box while looking at RR caliper--Oh no! Not even close to the size I need! GRRRRRR...

The current Pagid pads are number S357FG. Hawk HB141F650 are way too long. Now I need to find the right P/N for the rear Hawk HPS's.

Try the front pads next, since, WTH, she's all up on the stands, and the HB184F650 fit nicely.

I had planned to take the car into EPE in Natick, MA tomorrow to have Jerry's guys adjust ride height (she's way below ROW), align and corner balance, as well as replace the distributor belt.

Now I am wondering if I should just have them replace the angular joint (does it have to be replaced or can one just R/R the bushing? I do not see a separate bushing in the PET diagrams) and insert the bushing into the guide tube. Then comes the question: While we're at it, why not replace all of the bushings (e.g., the four #6, the two #26's, etc.)?

I haven't look at any of the u-joints and bushings rear of the shifter yet, but will do so today.

Thank you all very much for your assistance. 1 day ago, my son and I had little clue about these workings (never had to do it on my 88 coupe) and by yesterday evening, we had opened it up from top & bottom, ID'd the problem and created a patch. Great Feeling!

Phil

SouthCoastPhil · 03-14-2010, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crg53

Hi Phil, dC Automotive - You Porsche & BMW Parts source as far as I remember, this is where I got it from.

crg, thanks for the reference. I finally found it in my PET (E_964_Katalog) in section 701.

SouthCoastPhil · 03-14-2010, 08:50 AM

Found a mystery part late last night, so took a pic this morning of the rubber piece.

Can anyone ID the block or the other small rubber piece (found in front boot while cleaning up messy battery terminal--appears to be a cap of some sort, since it has a ~1/8" wide slit in it)?

TIA,

Phil

SouthCoastPhil · 03-14-2010, 12:02 PM

After further front boot cleanup, it appears that the small rubber piece is what's left of a front boot drain plug.

911jettat · 03-16-2010, 09:12 AM

I had a similar problem a few months back... turned out to be the shifter sleeves.

(intro to a thread I started over at Rennlist)
I recently experienced the situation where my shift knob came loose and the whole assembly sank down in the tunnel and could easily be lifted up. I could still shift but something below was wrong. Via search I was able to locate the problem, fix it and hopefully add a little extra text and some images. I originally resurrected an old thread to do this, but I've decided to create and title a new thread with a better name. Hopefully this will organize the information better and lead to an easier search. I've tried to note other contributions, as that's what really helped solve the problem...

shift sleeves - cure for fallen shifter assembly - Rennlist Discussion Forums

Also lots of pictures here:
Picasa Web Albums - Udo - replacing shi...

SouthCoastPhil · 03-17-2010, 07:58 PM

Thanks to all for your help. Received the bushings today from our sponsor and installed them tonight.

After pulling the rod out of the rubber boot, we cleaned out the cups. (Is it a bad thing when the old bushings look (and feel) like dried custard?) Inserting the bushings into the cups took 2 minutes each. Smeared a light layer of white lithium inside the bushings and on the spheres. Pressing the sphere into the angular joint was a piece of cake, since we could do it on the bench with a vise. After contemplating the use of the jack to press the guide tube cup up onto the gear shift lever sphere, we decided not to subject the bearing sleeves to the force required. Ended up using a c-clamp to press the two together, which worked fine.

It took longer to reinstall the tunnel cover plate and other plates than it did to R/R the bushings.

BTW, we decided to leave the 1" x 7" aluminum field patch in place, so when the angular joint bushing wears out again, we'll still have a shifter.

SouthCoastPhil · 03-17-2010, 08:06 PM

911jettat,

I had seen your prior posts & pics over the weekend. Found them so helpful that I printed them out for "filthy hands" shop references. VERY helpful. Thank you.