993 gear change problems

kennyboy · Mar 15, 2004

I have a 1996 993 coupe with 60k on the clock and full OPC history - it's immaculate. everything is A1 except for gear changing:

if I change from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd when the engine is cold then is slightly crunches unless I do it very slowly and/or get plenty of revs on. when cold I need to wait a good couple of seconds before slotting into 3rd or will crunch. it's the same for 1st to second though perhaps not quite as bad. 3rd to 4th is very very slight and 4th upwards fine.

When the car is very warm - say after gunning it hard, things are a lot better though still not perfect.

anyone give me a hunch whether it's gearbox or clutch? I'm hoping a gearbox oil change might do the trick. I know there's an issue coz my previous 993 wasn't like this.

Cheers
Kenny Grant

kennyboy · Mar 15, 2004

Thanks Ajit - was hoping someone would say that. Thought OPC might have picked this up before hand but will get a quote never the less.

C V Read · Mar 16, 2004

Mine's done 45k and is very similar from 1st to 2nd, especially when cold - its always a bit better after a geabox oil change but generally comes back in a thousand miles or so.

I've thought about switching to Swepco but heard mixed reviews in terms of the immediate improvement and the long term effect on the 'box.

My understanding is that the swepco is a thicker sort of oil that effectively provides more resistance and slows things down a bit when engaging gears - I can't see how this could harm the internals but some people seem to think it only masks synchro problems and can somehow make them worse.

Having looked at the gearbox rebuild costs I decided to make the best of it for now, get the gearbox oil changed with every service and see what happens...

Shane Hodges · Mar 17, 2004

2nd gear to 3rd is "notchy" on my car. Gear box oil change didn't seem to make any difference (sorry, not sure what was put in ... OPC standard stuff).

Mentioned the occassional difficulty to the OPC during service last year and they said "nothing noticeably wrong".

kennyboy · Mar 19, 2004

Thanks for advice guys, gonna get the oil changed as a first step anyway, local specialist given a great quote so if it's still there no real harm done - though not sure where to go after that!

will post results. bit concerned about C V Read's experiences re 1000 miles coming back, perhaps that indicates a general synchro problem?

C V Read · Mar 21, 2004

yes - worries me a bit too but the thing should have a fair bit of life in it yet I think. I did the same as some of the others and had an OPC and my specialist try it; they reported nothing worth worrying unduly about.

As I understand the synchrs are weak on these boxes (especially 1st second) and when it comes time to change I'll go for the uprated ones and they should last forever....

kennyboy · Mar 29, 2004

Nice one - not heard about these uprated synchrs's, do you know where I can get from?

C V Read · Mar 29, 2004

think the factory does some uprated steel synchros but the cost is apparently huge - I'm sure a specialist could come up with a decent source though (Gard transamissions in the US definitely do some).

Guest · Apr 7, 2004

I had exactly the same problem, but it arose after a service including gearbox oil.
I was having a little tweeking done by Phil Hindley at Tech 9 Motorsport who asked me what oil was in the box. I told him it was Hypoy 90 and he immediately said that would be the problem. He changed it to Castrol SAFX-J, a race quality oil, problem solved !!