1994 993 C2 - Reluctant gearchange from cold start - problem?

[Guest]

Dear all,

I have just bought a 1994 993 C2 and am delighted with it - my first taste of Porsche ownership. A conscientious first read of the owners manual suggested that the car should not be left to warm up standing, but rather to move off and warm up steadily in motion. Being my weekend drive I opened the garage to start it from cold after a week of rest, and found that I could not engage reverse immediately - I had to wait approx 2 mins for the box to warm up. On the move, once warm, the change is smooth and easy. The car has an excellent service record with Paragon, who replaced the clutch at 56,000 miles - and the car now reads 77,000.

Any comments based on the forums's wealth of experience would be much appreciated.

 

[Sundeep]

Jonathan

I would agree.. with the previous caller... in the colder startup periods the gear change is very 'solid' but after a very short while it's back to normal.. and this seem to be normal....

manual is right in that the fluids do warm up quicker when the car is on the move.. but then again your dilema of not being able to move till it has warmed up is one that has happened to me as well...

and for me living in london.. the catch is in the morning.. early morning traffic means after I exit my driveway, I don't get very far for the car to warm up anyway !

regards

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the quick response!

To give you more colour - when the gearbox is cold (unheated garage) I cannot engage any gear immediatley. It is not graunching, just a complete refusal to engage. As the box/oil warms the change rapidly eases (approx 2 minutes) - forward gears becoming available shortly before reverse. Once on the move it takes only a couple of minutes for the box to return to slick operation. For this reason I wondered if a highly temperature -viscosity sensitive oil were the cause (if so, no problem I guess?)

I just wanted to seek unbiased guidance that this is OK - my gut feeling is that it is not a major issue. The car is in excellent overall condition with a strong OPC/Specialist service record. The clutch is very smooth and well weighted (compares well with other cars I test-drove when choosing) and the gearbox is great once warm.

Many thanks for your help - Porsche ownership already brings a smile to my face after just a week! I have passed a couple of 993s on the road - both of us grinning and waving like idiots (girlfriends unaware of the big deal...). What a great bunch of owners!

 

[Sundeep]

ORIGINAL: jonathan greig

when the gearbox is cold (unheated garage) I cannot engage any gear immediatley. It is not graunching, just a complete refusal to engage.

although mine is not that extreme.. maybe a change of gearbox oil is needed...

the gear change is VERY stiff when the car is cold (and mine is outsides) but I can 'carefully' engage 1st gear and it eventually & very quickly warms up fine....

but if you can't engage a gear at all from within a garage then it could be something else...???

 

[bones]

When was the gearbox oil last changed? This is an area of servicing that can be overlooked because of the long interval between recommended changes (which I think is too long) I'd recommend draining and refilling (if the gearbox oil hasn't been changed recently) with a suitable synthetic from Castrol, maybe Oilman will recommend something.

 

[Guest]

Thanks,

I will check back through the service records to see when the gearbox oil was last changed. From memory it is not an expensive service item, and well worth having done regularly. I was in any case intending to have the car thoroughly inspected by a specialist within the 12-month warranty, and any corrective work done. I just wanted to know whether this was an "emergency" phenomeneon! I will book the inspection earlier than intended and have this looked at then.

I would be surprised if such reluctance could result from dirty oil alone though - it seems to be a very significant viscosity change with temperature...