915 Shifting problems

[johann86911]

Hello All,

Lucky enough to be on my second p car! sold the 86 and now in SC land!

My issue is not the usual 1-2 shift. It's shifting down from 5th to 4th. Shifting up in all gears is fine. shifting down seems to be the issue. Everything I've read suggests that the best place to start is the shift coupler alignment. Could it be anything worse because nobody seems to have issue downshifting from 5th to 4th on this forum that I've been able to read!

I'm in oz so any advice on who to go to, what to do would be greatly appreciated. I'm hoping to tackle the issues with the car myself and as a complete newbie when it comes to mechanicals I'm wondering whether the realignment is something I should tackle at all by myself!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

[DRACO A5OG]

Are you miss shifting or cant get into 4th?

[johann86911]

When coming back down, I cant get into 4th without some serious grinding going on. while "practicing" last night, I noticed that if I move the gear at a certain angle it seems to go in but this may just be me trying to think up an excuse for the car!

[Arne2]

Sounds like the reverse lockout pawl is not working. You are nicking reverse during the downshift. My car did that for a while. I've seen two causes for this.

One is coupler/linkage adjustment. If the lever/coupler is adjusted to far to the rear, the lever may not move far enough forward in fifth to trip the lockout pawl. This appears to be more critical with the factory short shift kit, but could happen with any shifter. If this is the case, you will need to re-adjust the coupler to move the lever farther forward while in neutral.

The other cause is simpler - the lockout pawl could simply be stuck and need lubing.

The way to find out would be to remove the shift boot, and watch the lockout pawl while shifting into and out out of fifth.

[DRACO A5OG]

+1, nicking reverse, consider getting a new coupler from the Coupler Whisper aka Ivangene here on the board then consider a gate shift kit to make certain you will never ever miss shift on accident.

[dicklague]

You need to be 1000% sure that the bushings are all good. There is one at the bottom of the shifter shaft that the ball end of shifter fits into. Also a plastic sleeve on the rod. both of these are very inexpensive and should be replaced. Next the coupler should be rebuilt or replaced....maybe with the one mentioned. Or a Wevo or some other high precision type. You can also get a factory quick shft kit that has all new moving parts in the shifter. All of these will need to be good before you start adjusting the shifter.

If it is a new to you car.....I would do this basic maintenance first. Check the reverse lock out too.

[DRACO A5OG]

+1, check the ball cup bushing and rod bushing.

[weseeeee]

I recently had this problem after installing a new coupler bushing (it hadn't happen prior to the new install). I had rotated the shafts that the coupler joins too far towards the passengers side prior to tightening them down. I adjusted it by turning the shifting rod shaft 1-2 splines towards the drivers side while keeping the trans shaft still, then I tightened the coupler. Shifting went back to normal from 5th to 4th. I'm no pro just stating what worked for me. Hope this helps.

[wasserkuhl]

Just relaised you are in melbourne.

Damn, any closer and I would adjust your shifter for you!

all good advice above. Adjustment is an art to master but when you do it makes all the difference!!

[johann86911]

Originally Posted by wasserkuhl

Just relaised you are in melbourne.

Damn, any closer and I would adjust your shifter for you!

all good advice above. Adjustment is an art to master but when you do it makes all the difference!!

yes I am! If you were any closer I would be happy to drive by so that you can watch over me so I dont completely mess it up!

thank you for all the suggestions. Looks like bushings/coupler is a good place to start! I hope I dont confuse all the instructions given that most of the respondees drive on "the other side".

Will try it tonight or on the weekend and provide update!

[johann86911]

update - visual inspections of coupler bushings indicate that they are okay. going to try alignment on the weekend.

[DRACO A5OG]

Sorry to say if the coupler is shot you really can't tell.

When I replaced my coupler, it was snug as a bug, no slop of any kind. swap with the Whisperer's Coupler, I did not adjust anything, in fact I was totally scared so I marked where the old coupler was and put it back in the exact same spot.

I afraid I was going to screw things up. To my surprise she shift properly for the first time vs my seemingly good coupler.

A well known tried to adjust my coupler with the old one, he failed.

Jim

[DRACO A5OG]

Sorry to say if the coupler is shot you really can't tell.

When I replaced my coupler, it was snug as a bug, no slop of any kind. swap with the Whisperer's Coupler, I did not adjust anything, in fact I was totally scared so I marked where the old coupler was and put it back in the exact same spot.

I afraid I was going to screw things up. To my surprise she shift properly for the first time vs my seemingly good coupler.

A well known tried to adjust my coupler with the old one, he failed.

Jim

[ivangene]

let me know if you would like additional info

[johann86911]

lessons for the newbie mechanic -
1. dont read too many instructions so as to confuse yourself between lhd/rhd/facing rearwards/ facing forwards when adjusting the coupler link.
2. theory is nothing without practice!

Conclusion - the coupler was misaligned and it was not triggering the lockout pawl.

I've realigned and moved the gear slightly forward and after several repeated trials it now changes gear perfectly well.

ps - a 6 ft 100kg guy in the back seat is a tight squeeze. I think I will remove the seat next time.

thanks for all your help guys! porsche running beautifully.

[DRACO A5OG]

Outstanding!!!

[weseeeee]

Congrats on the inexpensive fix.