987 Gearshift problem.

[Dan911]

Hi,
Took the Mrs car out to grab lunch, drove all fine to the shops.

Jumped in to come home, 1st gear pulled away went to put into 2nd and the gearshift went all floppy.
The vehicle is now stuck in 1st gear. (Luckily 2 miles from home so drove home slowly).

Car is a 2007 987 Bosxster - Manual.

Are there are common problems that I need to check or just cook it in to my local Indy?

Thanks,

Dan

[V800MJH]

Yes very common, gear linkage cables snap.

[Dan911]

Thanks.

DIY? Or book into Indy?

It is costly?

Dan

[cd1957]

Hi book it in with your Indi.

Chris

[gsewell]

The cable is £300ish (https://www.design911.co.uk/fu/prod128904/Porsche-Boxster-Transmission-Shift-Cable-98742404211-98742404212/) and if doing diy then the alignment tool is £3 (!) https://www.design911.co.uk/fu/prod127541/Porsche-...

From 101 projects and YouTube, I cannot see any DIY info. So I would probably allow 1 hour labour from and Indi!

[DRH986]

You might be lucky and find that one of the cables has become disconnected at the gearbox. This happened to the new owner of one of our 987s very recently. Apparently the AA guy said it was very common and popped it back on.

I recall reading somewhere about using cable ties to stop it happening again.

[cd1957]

Hi If the cable has snapped, there is a modified bracket for holding cables, this changes the angle to reduce the stress.

The book time is around 2.5 hours.

Chris

[Dan911]

Thanks guys..

Can I see the ends which might of popped? If so where from...

[edc]

Get under the rest of the car and look at the side of the box. Or remove offside rear wheel.

[lukeyboyuk]

This has happened 3 times on my Cayman R in 18 months...Fortunately it's covered under warranty but it's a pain in the arse...

[Dan911]

lukeyboyuk said:

This has happened 3 times on my Cayman R in 18 months...Fortunately it's covered under warranty but it's a pain in the arse...

Popping off or snapping?

[lukeyboyuk]

Twice snapped, once popped off and the AA guy just put it back on...Very annoying!

[Dan911]

lukeyboyuk said:

This has happened 3 times on my Cayman R in 18 months...Fortunately it's covered under warranty but it's a pain in the arse...

Popping off or snapping?

[Jim1556]

I heard you can get cup cables which pretty much cures this - from a thread somewhere on here...

[jakesmith]

Jim1556 said:

I heard you can get cup cables which pretty much cures this - from a thread somewhere on here...

There are a whole load of aftermarket pieces you can get to solve this and improve the vile sloppy shift that these cars all have
Cup shifters are one route but apparently increase the noise / vibration in the cabin

[lukeyboyuk]

jakesmith said:

Jim1556 said:

I heard you can get cup cables which pretty much cures this - from a thread somewhere on here...

There are a whole load of aftermarket pieces you can get to solve this and improve the vile sloppy shift that these cars all have
Cup shifters are one route but apparently increase the noise / vibration in the cabin

I'm trying to stay in warranty and I assume this'll void that. Fortunately I have Porsche assist which is refreshingly good from my experiences.

[claryclan]

I had problems with stiffening gear change with my Cayman some 2 - 3 years ago and read on this section that that the general consensus that this this was an indication of cable breakage being imminent. Decided to check it out myself. All seemed okay at the lever end so I decided to check out box end. Removed offside rear wheel and easily gained access to side of the box where the cables connect to the change levers. Soon evident that the problem was nothing to due with the cable but was in fact the result of the levermechanism into the box being very stiff. After a short period of freeing everything off with WD40 the stiff gear change had gone away. However looking at the arrangement it was obvious that the mechanism was in a position to be constantly bombarded by road spray from the rear wheel and the problem would likely return. My solution was to spray the levers etc with motorbike chain lubricant for a lasting cure. This has worked fine and I usually check and respray when changing to winter wheels and tyres.

[V800MJH]

Apart from lubing it up at the box end, if there any other preventative maintenance which can be done ?

Next time I have the wheels off for a clean I'll get my head under there and have a look, as I've never actually seen them before.

[V800MJH]

jakesmith said:

There are a whole load of aftermarket pieces you can get to solve this and improve the vile sloppy shift that these cars all have
Cup shifters are one route but apparently increase the noise / vibration in the cabin

I often wonder what people are referring to when they say sloppy shift.

What actually is it which is sloppy with yours and others you have driven?

My actual gear shift is sharp and very rifle like. Nothing sloppy about that at all. But there is a TINY wobble in the stick once in gear.

[tedblog]

Options very rarely add any residual value to a car . Pdk being the exception
If you add tons of options you will lose that when you sell it so it does sound like a big loss.
It might make your car more desirable but not more expensive.