Re: Fix it now: it will only get worse.

I've been driving the 2010 Boxster for two weeks now. I like driving it around town to do errands, and I was very surprised today to hear a crunch on a shift between first and second. I was able to reproduce the problem by trying to slam a shift between first and second with the clutch carefully pressed all the way to the floor. Temperature outside was 92 and I had the AC going. No problem if I pause for the briefest of split seconds in neutral between gears. I have a bit less than a year remaining on the Porsche warranty. I'm inclined to ignore it. Has anybody else experienced this?

Thanks. I'm thinking that I may need to let it get a bit worse, at least if it is temperature dependent as I suspect. We don't get that many 90 degree days here in Minneapolis. I am going to go to great lengths to make sure that everything is taken care of under warranty. They are good about plowing the roads here in the suburb where I live, and I will be putting winter wheels and tires on the car and testing it under cold conditions as well on dry roads this winter.

Try changing the gear oil. Use only Porsche gear oil. It solves many shift problems. And don't slam the gearshift! The instant before you put the clutch in on the 1-2 shift, apply a small amount of pressure on the shifter towards second, put the clutch in and without applying any more pressure, the tranny will go smoothly into second every time.

And I'm not sure that synchros are covered by warranties, they are usually excluded as wear items.

Whether the tranny needs a teardown to repair a worn out synchro or a worn out shifter fork the cost is about the same.

The shift should require minimal effort to accomplish and there should be no protest from the gearbox.

If everything is warmed up and with a very deliberate effort to ensure proper disengagement of the clutch and a non hurried shift and properly timed shift if there is still resistance or worse there's a problem.

A transmission fluid change may improve things or (and) a clutch fluid flush/bleed.

When the transmission is cold it is normal for the shift action to be slow and for there to be some resistance when shifting.The best advice I can offer is to not hurry things just let the tranny get warm and then the shifting should be quick and nearly effortless and the wear and tear on the shifter and the tranny effectively non-existent.

The original owner was kind enough to let me have the service records. There was a little over 15K on the car when I bought it, a little over 17K now after the trip back home. Nothing was done other than annual oil changes, a new battery under warranty, and two new PS2's at around 6K miles. One of the front tires picked up a nail and couldn't be repaired, so both tires were replaced to keep the front end balanced. I'm sure the transmission has the original factory fill.

Here's my analysis of the issue. There is a very slight increase in resistance felt in the shift lever midway between first and second gears when shifting. This results in the very slightest hesitation between the gears when a constant force is applied. When the transmission is very hot, a very light force must be used in order not to overcome the synchro.

At this point I am just going to enjoy the car and not worry unless I notice a change.

relatively heavy, running in (and sliding in) thick oil (and cold oil at least some of the time), and often spinning at high rpms.

The shifter forks fit inside a groove around the synchro assembly (which consists of a sleeve (which has the groove into which the shifter fork resides), clutch hub, and some other hardware.

It takes time and effort to move the synchro out of engagement with the one gear set and into engagement with another.

You should develop a feel for when the synchro is ready to be moved out of engagement and when it is ready to be moved into engagement.

Both moving out of engagement and then into engagement there should be little resistance, relatively speaking. It will not be the proverbial hot knife through butter easy (although with my Boxster's 5-speed it oftentimes approaches a warm knife through soft butter easy) but the amount of resistance should not be scary.

Generally speaking if the gear is hard to disengage there is still some torque being transmitted. Push the clutch in completely or push it in sooner before the gear shift lever is moved. The lever should not be moved until the clutch is fully depressed.

If the gear is hard to engage there is still some torque being transmitted. Be sure the clutch is fully depressed and release it later.

If you believe you are doing things right and the shifting is still difficult, abnormally so, offering resistance over and above the norm, then the hydraulic clutch fluid is suspect and a flush and bleed could be just the ticket to better shifting, or the clutch master or slave cylinder is leaking, or the clutch is hanging up, or the shifter linkage is out of adjustment or possibly worn out, or the transmission fluid is old and needs to be replaced or if the symptoms appeared "suddenly" concurrent with a fluid change the wrong fluid was used or possibly to little or too much fluid was used, or the transmission is wearing out.

...but experience says its very very rare, while worn synchros are fairly common, especially the famous 1-2 shift.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

First, thsi car is FAR too new to require a gear oil change yet. Not that it would hurt, btu its not the problem.

Second, you can beat ANY synchros, if you abuse it hard enough.

Third, the 2010 BASE (not S) uses the Aisin tranny where they previously used the bulletproof Audi 01E. The aisin is felt to be smoother, but has a known weakness: delicate synchros.

If the PO didnt shift very well, yu could have worn synchro. In that case you have several options:

1. fix it ($$$$$$$)
2. Experiment with gear oils with different friction modifiers. It might work. And might not. ($-$$)
3. Learn to shift such to minimize the issue. ($0)

For example, i have a 2000S with 199k miles on it. The Porsche 6-sp is balky when cold to start with, and thsi unit is not new. When cold the 1-2 can be very difficult. When warm its just persnickity. But i have learned that with proper technique i can make this a nearly non-issue:

1. Pause for a fraction of a second in the neutral position
2. blip/match revs - heel-toe for downshifts.
3. Be quick, light with the two-segment shift

Works great. Plus it forces you to shift as the PO didn't, and you should (ideally).

If the cones are sufficiently worn you might need to combine #2 and #3.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

I didn't know the base 2010 used a different transmission than the S model. I don't expect it to be an ongoing problem. The two step shift, first to neutral and then neutral to second completely eliminates the issue even when the transmission is hot. I have no problems when downshifting at all.

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com