901 Transmission Experts Shifting Question

[spyerx]

Hey all - so, my 71T has a 901. I love the feel of it, very smooth and light action on it.

But, i have a couple questions on 'normal' behavior :-)

--I never go into 1st while moving, only stoped, just 2-4 while moving. Action on 2-4 is perfect.
--When at a stop, my habit is 2 then 1. It goes into 1st very easy
--if I don't do 2 then 1, maybe 10-15% of the time, 1st can be a little balky, basically engage and release clutch and it's fine, drops right in. The 'feel' is a movement of the shifter about 90% but not 'clicked' into gear
--when doing a back and forth parking maneuver, R-1 action back and forth are fine, never an issue

Transmission was rebuilt by Kurt at Porschetechnik / partsklassic less than 5k miles ago.

Anyway, I'm a little OCD and curious what the gallery here thinks.

[Trackrash]

Sounds pretty normal to me.

[Matt Monson]

Sounds nicer than the one in my car.

[Sporttracguy]

1970 911E with 90K original miles and a rennshift short shifter.

I have about the same experience as you...Going into 2nd and then 1st is always smoother for me.

[roblav]

Sounds normal to me too. All my 901/911/914 boxes would go into 1st while moving VERY slowly. I always preferred the 901 over the 915, but I'm old.

[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by roblav

Sounds normal to me too. All my 901/911/914 boxes would go into 1st while moving VERY slowly. I always preferred the 901 over the 915, but I'm old.

It’s a better design.

[911pcars]

All the above is fine on a rebuilt box, but easy shifting will gradually go away. Reason?

Synchros are a wear item. 901/915 synchros wear faster because they're less efficient than the Borg-Warner type found on G50 and other vehicle brands. Do a search and discover how many owners have their own strategies/home remedies to downshift, esp. into 1st and 2nd, the most wear in the group of 5.

The only way to preserve the synchros as well as to downshift smoothly is to adopt a double-clutching procedure. A side benefit is rev-matching which is a part of the process. Search the archives, the internet and selected YouTube videos. Here's some help:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/739383-anyone-double-clutch-downshifts-why.html
specifically…
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/739383-anyone-double-clutch-downshifts-why-2.html

[spyerx]

OK, OCD averted. Thanks guys.

I haven't double clutched since my old FJ40 land cruiser which preferred it... will need to practice again!