HELP!! stuck in 5th, shifter just kinda floats around!!!

[the_foz]

Hey guys! im new to the whole porsche scene. ive had my 84 na for about 6 or 7 months now, and the first few were fine. but then i had some medical issues and had to let it sit for about 3 months in that time, the idle went way up and the slave cylinder went out. well i had those fixed and everything was going fine and dandy until last night. i was on my way back from a delivery(yes i have to sadly admit this is my daily/pizzamobile...). and i was unable to change gears. i noticed that the shifter was just kinda floating around, moving freely and what not. i was wondering if this would be an easy fix i could do myself now that i have more time, or if i needed to have it done professionally. thanks!!!!

[acorad]

My first thought would be that something broke in the shift linkage. If so, probably something you can find and fix yourself.

[HondaDustR]

Welcome! Go into the user control panel and put your car year and model information in your signature so we know what we're dealing with.

First, pull back the shift boot and check if the c-clip has fallen out and the shift rod has detached from the shifter. You can use some steel wire or one of those bread bag ties to wrap around the groove as a makeshift retainer so you can get to a hardware store.
If that's ok, climb under the rear of the car and check the shift linkage on the top driver's side of the transaxle. The shift rod may have come loose from the linkage, or the linkage could have broken somehow.

BTW, these cars make great daily drivers once you get the "old car" stuff sorted out. They are adamant about maintenance getting done at the proper intervals, but are dead reliable when taken care of. Mine's my only daily driver/weekend fun car/work "truck"/winter beater for 5 years running and it's starting to show, but it's still great fun.

[the_foz]

Thanks! now i just need to go to work a little early so i can give it a look. i was actually able to make it to the back parking lot at work before i couldnt move it anymore. i really appreciate it! ill get back on here once i get to look at it.

[Rasta Monsta]

There is a conical 13mm bolt that holds the linkage to the selector shaft on the gearbox. It should have a hole in it for safety wire. . .put some on when you get it back together!

[ernie9944]

Originally Posted by Rasta Monsta

There is a conical 13mm bolt that holds the linkage to the selector shaft on the gearbox. It should have a hole in it for safety wire. . .put some on when you get it back together!

"A" is what Rasta is talking about ,it does hold the selector shaft to the linkage on the gearbox.While at it also check B-C-D.

[the_foz]

will do. i wanna say the shifter seemed somewhat loose for a while before this happened would that possibly narrow it down?

[marbleusmike]

It's been a while now since that happened to me but what it was was a worn out ball like piece under the leather and rubber boot... mine wore out at 105k... an easy fix! I got my part from ecklers... part# p905574 gearshift lever.. and pick up a lock washer p905599
55 bucks for both... I remember driving my car while I waited for the part to come... I think I wired the pieces together and left the boot off... long time ago

[GreenWater]

Yeah, I would say either the clip has come off the shifter or the pin finally broke off the shifter.(check under the shift boot for these two things.) Or the bolt on the shifter linkage came off or broke. Both pretty easy fixes. My vote is for the shifter clip coming off or pin breaking.


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[Rasta Monsta]

Oh, and if B from Ernie's photo is involved, it should be Loctited on reassembly (per FSM).

[Capt Squid]

If it felt loose for a while, my vote is the special bolt that holds the shifter rod to the transaxle shifting mechanism. That hole in the bolt for safety wire is there for a reason. Order a bolt from Pelican and safety wire it if this is your problem.

Check your shifter and E clip first.

[Rasta Monsta]

^^Brilliant, what he said!

[GreenWater]

San Diego, not very many people from SD on here.

Should be an easy fit either way.

[cauzomb]

I was out on a drive with a friend when the same thing happened to me.. I was on the side of the road checking everythign that I could, looked at the tranny linkage after jacking up the car, pulled the shift boot and it turned out to be the C-clip on the shifter. The pin on the shift lever was so worn out that the shifter tube was able to turn enough to get under the edge of the C-clip grove and pop the C-clip off.. Put it on with a washer from Ace hardware, drove home and ordered a new shifter lever and c-clip..

[968 GUY]

Happened to me at an intersection in town. was able to push it across street to parts store parking lot.
Found the set screw(bolt) lying on trans. just below where it screwed into linkage. which was lucky. I believe I have it resafety wired and loctited because it started to loosen again. There is a lot of vibration at the shifter linkage.

[nynor]

when mine did this, in an intersection, i found that the shift lever came off the rod from the linkage. all the hardware holding it in place had disappeared. i got it home. 0.35 fix.

[gtroth]

Yep. Put an extra c-clip in your glove box next to your spare dme relay. I found that once mine popped off the first time, the new ones would pop off too after a while. I eventually bought a new shift lever to fix this.