[WYLDCTZ]

Now that the weather has cooled down, I'm having a bit of a problem with my shifter. When I change gears, sometimes I really have to put some force into the stick to get it to slide into gear. As the car warms up, it gets better but not as good as it should be.



Clutch and transmission have both been replaced in the last year. Any thoughts? I saw the thread about shifter bearings being replaced or something? I didn't know there were such things. Could that be my problem?



Thanks!

Mark

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[flwbyu]

Mark,



When I went outside this morning and started my car it almost didn't start. I turned over the engine a couple of times and was followed by a loud crunch. I turned the key over again and chu chu vroom. Obviously, it did not like the cold weather! This is not the first time I have heard that crunch sound while trying to start the engine. I hate that noise first thing in the morning.



In any event, now that the car was running I tried to get it into reverse and it would not engage. I had to roll the car forward a little in order to get it into reverse. I could hear every move of the shifter as it was trying to engage the right spot. Once I got the car on the road it took a while for the shifter to stop being so "stiff". I have also found that my shifter can be difficult to shift after it has been sitting a while.



My first thought was - "Hey, these cars are from Germany where it gets really cold, what gives?"



I think these cars are just very sensitive to climate changes and the such. My old 944 was the same way. Just my 2 cents! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Tom in Austin]

Try a fresh fill of synthetic gear oil. My car shifted much better afterwards, even though it's true, they don't like cold weather

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[Greimann]

Yea, it is the gear oil that is hanging things up provided that your clutch is fully disengaging too, but if it ran fine in warm weather, then it is the oil.



Get fresh load of 75W-90 GL5 gear oil in there. Synthetic types will help with low temperature flow too, so that is a good suggestion.

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[WYLDCTZ]

Ahh, thanks. I'll do this. Is this just a reservoir I need to fill somewhere, or is the procedure more complicated than that? I did a quick search but didn't see any instructions on changing the gear oil anywhere.



Thanks!

Mark

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[Greimann]

Here is a page from the manual. The trick is pumping the new gear oil in. I Have an old pump from a bottle of gear oil I bought years ago.



Some other people may want to share their tricks.

change_gear_oil.pdf Size: 322.48 KB  Downloads: 43

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[BruceWard]

To refill the transaxle I glued 5' of rubber hose to the end of a funnel which she held behind the car and poured while I held the end in the transaxle.



The transaxle needs to be warm when you drain it. I drove to the hardware store to buy the hose and funnel then once I was home I got the car up on four jackstands as quickly as I could safely do. Then removed the fill plug (10mm allen) and placed a oil catch pan under the drain plug before removing it. The oil coming out will both be warm (perhaps hot) and some of the worst smelling stuff you have ever smelled.



While the fluid was draining I prepared the hose + funnel and adjusted the jack stands until I was comfortable that the car was level for refilling.



When you are completed torque the drain and fill plugs to 26 foot pounds. The manual incorrectly states 22 foot pounds on the page Dave has provided. On another page it states 26 foot pounds and 35nm = 25.8146752 foot pounds.

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[WYLDCTZ]

Ok, I think I can do this. Another dumb question for you: Where is this piece that I have to drain located? On the page from the manual, its called the transmission oil, not gear oil. And I just had my transmission rebuilt so I can't imagine I need anything new in there already?



Thanks <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



Mark

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[Greimann]

Since there are gears inside the transmission, it really depends on your point of view as to what you call the lubricant. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



The point at which you drain it is at the back of the car, underneath - The transaxle.



If the people who put your transmission back into the car used an 80W-90 gear oil, then you can benefit from replacing it with a 75W-90 synthetic. It will flow much better at cold temperature and provide smoother shifting.

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[BruceWard]

If I did not say so before, open the fill plug before you open the drain plug to make sure that you can not get stuck with an empty transaxle.



This is the fill plug on the drivers side of the transaxle.







And this is the drain plug from below.

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[Tom in Austin]

BTW, the reason to do this when the trans case is still warm ... the case material expands, making the plugs come out more easily. If you try taking out the plug on a cold transmission, it may not budge at all ... same as your O2 sensor ...



Good luck, you've gotten an impressive level of BTDT support from the group, so should go smoothly. The only other trick is that you know the trans is full when you start to see fluid coming out of the fill hole. Right about the end of the third quart, slow down and watch for it to come out.

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[Greimann]

[quote name='WYLDCTZ' date='Nov 28 2005, 09:57 PM'].. When I change gears, sometimes I really have to put some force into the stick to get it to slide into gear.

[right][post="12897"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]

Note also Mark that if you left out the temperature correlation, the first thing that pops into mind is that your clutch needs bleeding. Maybe there is some temperature effect to this too, but it is not common. Just an alternative corrective action to keep in mind.

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[WYLDCTZ]

Ok, thanks for the tips. I've had the clutch done within the last year by the same place that just did my transmission. So sounds like I'll give them a call tomorrow and tell them my problem, check on what grade oil they put in, and see about a clutch bleeding. I'll post results...



Thanks again for all the help everyone. I'm in car hell right now. I'm down over $4000 in the last year between my two cars, and this weekend my Xterra blew a waterpump, overheated, and burned up the transmission. Estimate, $3500, plus they're worried the engine might be damaged. Life is a nightmare right now....



Mark

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[WYLDCTZ]

Another oddity here: I basically cannot shift into reverse, unless I first shift into first gear.



I start up car, try and shift into reverse. I won't slide up there, no matter what I try. But if I shift into first (I don't even have to let out the clutch, just move the shifter into 1st position) then I can shift into reverse.



Thoughts? Still the oil?



Mark

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[Greimann]

If this condition is only a problem when it is cold, then it still sounds like the oil, but how cold are we talking? I know you are in Phoenix am I am thinking only near freezing. If it was single digits, this behavior would be expected, but not in the 30's or 40's.



This is sounding more and more like a clutch bleeding problem.

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[Tom in Austin]

I have somewhat the same experience with resistence to going into reverse gear when cold. I think I read that reverse, first and second share a common synchronizer or otherwise are related in some way, so that if reverse or first is hard to get into, if you first go into second, then all the resistence goes away for the other two gears.



Occasionally with the car at normal operating temperature, I feel resistence going from neutral into first. So I'm sort of in the habit of sensing first gear resistance and slipping down into second momentarily to clear it up. It's become a subconscious behavior, so I don't think about it, unless I'm in a hurry to get going, in which case it's a nuisance.



I've never understood this, and assumed maybe my trans just has some wear, so interested into others' opinions/observations. I did have a leak in my clutch hose which I replaced this past summer, but that didn't make any difference.

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[Dave]

Guess I've just gotten used to driving Porsches with much more than 100k miles on them...



I just double-clutch when it's really cold (20 degrees F here today). Given about 5 minutes of that, car shifts just fine. I'm running Mobil1 gear oil and am sure my 2nd and 3rd gear synchros wouldn't mind being refreshed <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Renalicious]

I too have been having troubles getting the car into reverse lately, like 80% of the time, hot OR cold,. However, in my case it seems like the clutch doesn't fully disengage, no matter where the pedal is. I have a brand new clutch and flywheel too. Might this be part of a break in period or a bad bearing that's causing things to keep spinning?

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[JWahlsten]

Did you replace the clutch master and slave when the clutch was done? If so how was the master adjusted? My car had the clutch master incorrectly adjusted and poorly bled. This caused a condition similar to yours but only for second gear.



Check the free play and rebleed the clutch system.



The only other part known to fail is the clutch fork. Was yours replaced during the clutch job?

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[Renalicious]

Everything is new as far as I know (got the hydraulics done last month), except maybe the fork... I will need to double check that. The pedal is rock solid with no play whatsoever after a bit of driving. It definitely started happening after I got the new clutch and flywheel. During the first little while I could hear the clutch engaging really early on the pedal, so maybe the whole system needs a bit of adjusting, but even with the pedal flored it's tough to get it in reverse.

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