Gear lever does not line up with 3rd/4th

[Tom]

Hi,

My S2 is currently in the garage having a gearbox clutch fault fixed but I'm struggling to understand how the root cause they have found matches the symptoms.

Symptoms

• The initial problem was that I could not easily change down from 5th to 4th or 3rd. Moving up gears was fine, as was 4th to 3rd.
• I then noticed that the problem was actually with the alignment of the gear change - if I pushed the gear stick over to the right and then let go, it did not line up properly the 3rd and 5th gate.
• So I booked the car in but in the meantime worked around the problem by pushing the gearstick to the left slightly when changing down. It seemd like a problem with the gear shift mechanism.
• After a week or two, 2nd gear became just about impossible to engage - it felt as though something rubbery was stuck in the mechanism.

Root Cause

• Apparently the root cause is due to uneven wear on the clutch release "trunion".
• Somehow this has put pressure on the gear selector and damaged bearings in the selector mechanism.

Does this make any sense? How does the clutch release mechanism directly affect the gear selectors?

 

[appletonn]

Doesn't sound right to me. It sounds like the common issue with the gear linkage mechanism from the lever all the way to the rear mounted box. When I got mine, it was a struggle to select the gears in the 3rd-4th plane. The linkages were removed, cleaned and new bushes fitted and regreased - it is now one of the best I've used, especially once warm.

The clutch is at the engine end of the car, not the gearbox end, so do not understand their diagnosis.

Who is looking after it?

 

[Tom]

Hi Nick,

It doesn't sound right to me either but they do seem very convinced - apparently it is a common fault and they have another car in at the moment with the same problem. Something to do with an unevenly worn trunnion on the release fork causing the gearbox input shaft to be pushed back?

 

[appletonn]

Does not sound right - the clutch action does not apply any direct pressure to the gearbox input shaft as they are at opposite ends of the torque tube..

...could be wrong, but that doesn't quite add up to me

 

[sawood12]

Doesn't sound right to me either. The drive shaft that runs from the clutch to the transaxel is supported by several bearings in the torque tube so any uneven forces would be borne by those bearing long before the transaxel so there is no way gear change can be effected.

As far as this being a 'common' problem, this is the first i've heard of this in 5 years of 944 ownership. If you do a search on the forum you'll probably struggle to find any reference to this issue. Is your mechanic a Porsche specialist or at least familiar with 944's at all??

There is a ball and socket at the base of the gear lever that can wear and give a sloppy feel to the gear stick as well as the selector mechanism at the top of the transaxel. Not sure if your difficulty in down-selecting gears is related to a worn gear selector mechanism but if both these items have worn quite extensively I could imagine that it might be possible it could start to effect the gearchange. It is certainly a much more plausible punt at the problem. I'd get a second opinion from a well known specialist (assuming your mechanic chap isn't).