Gear Linkage Failure

[mickshep]

Hi guys, my 2005 C2S suffered a gear linkage failure yesterday, went for 2nd out of junction and suddenly all I had was a free moving gear lever and a car stuck in 2nd gear. Luckily I was only 1/2 a mile or so from my office so trundled round there at 25mph and had the car recovered to my local independent. He stripped it to find one of the two (dont ask me which one) connecting rods had literally sheared in two, he commented on one he had repaired about two months ago that had done exactly the same. Anyway parts in stock, all done and dusted by lunchtime today and my wallet about £300 lighter.

On the plus side I had forgotten how good the gear change feels when everything is working as it should, with the benefit of hindsight I think the warning signs were there, the selection feels more mechanical now and less sloppy than it had become and over the past week i'd definitely noticed an odd gear change where it felt like it was catching the gate if you know what I mean particularly at high revs.

So heads up if your gear selection isn't quite as good as it once was it may be worth checking out before you end up at the side of the road !

 

[garyw]

Can I ask at what mileage this has occurred?

garyw

 

[okellyt]

ORIGINAL: mickshep

Hi guys, my 2005 C2S suffered a gear linkage failure yesterday, went for 2nd out of junction and suddenly all I had was a free moving gear lever and a car stuck in 2nd gear. Luckily I was only 1/2 a mile or so from my office so trundled round there at 25mph and had the car recovered to my local independent. He stripped it to find one of the two (dont ask me which one) connecting rods had literally sheared in two, he commented on one he had repaired about two months ago that had done exactly the same. Anyway parts in stock, all done and dusted by lunchtime today and my wallet about £300 lighter.

On the plus side I had forgotten how good the gear change feels when everything is working as it should, with the benefit of hindsight I think the warning signs were there, the selection feels more mechanical now and less sloppy than it had become and over the past week i'd definitely noticed an odd gear change where it felt like it was catching the gate if you know what I mean particularly at high revs.

So heads up if your gear selection isn't quite as good as it once was it may be worth checking out before you end up at the side of the road !

The cable on mine sheared on Saturday afternoon -, no warning no sign of sloppy gear change. 22,300 miles. Pulling into castle town on the Isle of man from the hotel at a modest pace (ie adhering to the local limits of Vmax 50mph, then 30mph, then 20mph)

My OPC has gone back to Porsche to see if they will make a goodwill gesture on the cost. as at 2.25 years old and 23k miles the part should not have failed. We'll see what happens.

 

[garyw]

Tom, what did you do for the rest of the trip???
Sorry to hear the news..

garyw

 

[okellyt]

I was b***'d - no spare 996/997 gear linkage on the island - had to be falt beeded down to my OPC.

Thankfully I had renewed my Porsche assist or it would have cost a fortune.

Ian at Porscheshop kindly took me out for a full on run on the Sunday morning (after breakfast) in their GT3 RS with mods. Ian is an ex race driver and was only pushing it "....up to 80%" on the mountain (very restrained elsewhere). Scared the be-***us out of me and convinced me the beast needs 997 GT3 brakes - given its very nearly as fast and heavier..........

Car is still with OPC to be fixed.

 

[mickshep]

30,000 miles on mine Gary, the mechanic said Leeds OPC were carrying the parts in stock as they were seeing a few like this. My warranty lapsed the end of last year and I didn't renew, given the amounts involved I couldn't be bothered to argue the toss with the OPC re any potential goodwill gesture. Just glad to get back on the road within 24 hours or so.
Like many others I think I suffer with difficulty engaging 2nd gear from cold, sometimes it does take a proper shove, I'm starting to think 4 years of this probably isn't helping the lifespan of the connecting rods ??

 

[garyw]

Many thanks for the information.
I will add both of these to the survey results.

garyw

 

[Ian W]

One of the gear selector cables went on my Dec 2004 C2S a couple of weeks ago too. The cable had snapped towards the back of the car. My local Indy replaced both cables. Mileage was approx 36000

Like others here, I'd noticed that the change had become very odd and the gear lever was just about hitting the back of it's opening in the centre console.

My Indy said this was a common problem. More interestingly, the OPC he bought the replacements from (Bolton) said there was a 'recall' on these cables - immediately before refusing to replace them FOC as the breakage 'must have been caused by driver error'! Nothing ever changes.....!!

 

[juliany27]

ORIGINAL: Ian W

My Indy said this was a common problem. More interestingly, the OPC he bought the replacements from (Bolton) said there was a 'recall' on these cables - immediately before refusing to replace them FOC as the breakage 'must have been caused by driver error'! Nothing ever changes, does it?

Why not write to the OPC for an explanation and refund, with a copy to Porsche Reading and HQ in Germany and to Top Gear or What car - or another motoring magazine. If it is common and subject to 'recall' there must be a problem and Porsche should pay for rectifying a probelm caused by their equipment!

 

[Ian W]

ORIGINAL: juliany27

ORIGINAL: Ian W

My Indy said this was a common problem. More interestingly, the OPC he bought the replacements from (Bolton) said there was a 'recall' on these cables - immediately before refusing to replace them FOC as the breakage 'must have been caused by driver error'! Nothing ever changes, does it?

Why not write to the OPC for an explanation and refund, with a copy to Porsche Reading and HQ in Germany and to Top Gear or What car - or another motoring magazine.  If it is common and subject to 'recall' there must be a problem and Porsche should pay for rectifying a probelm caused by their equipment!

At the moment, the Independent has flatly refused to pay the OPC. Ball's in their court!

 

[paf1]

Gear linkage broken this morning on my 2007 C4S, only 15,000 on the clock. Change into 2nd had been feeling strange for the last few days. Then this morning as i arrived at work i changed into 1st and then pulled away and as i moved into 2nd the selector went loose with the car stuck in 2nd. Porsche assist picked up within 20 mins, just waiting for the expert analysis from Porsche in Aberdeen.

Also waiting on replacement car from Enterprise, i am assuming it wont be as nice as my lovely C4S!

 

[paf1]

So it turns out it was a snapped gear selector cable. I have been provided with a mercedes clk for the 24 hours it wil take to get fixed.

 

[tscaptain]

ORIGINAL: paf1

I have been provided with a mercedes clk

Bad luck..........!
Does seem strange the cable should go at such low mileage though?

 

[DSM]

Sadly, the longer I own a Porsche and the more I learn about them, they're really not that well put together at all, are they?

 

[okellyt]

ORIGINAL: tscaptain

ORIGINAL: paf1

I have been provided with a mercedes clk

Bad luck..........!
Does seem strange the cable should go at such low mileage though?

Allan

Mine was a 2007 C2S and went on 21k miles. Maybe it was a dodgy batch job of cables.

Now fixed, OPC agreed with me that I had not abused the car and that just over 2 years is not what you would normally call fit for purpose so went to Porsche to see if they would make a goodwill contribution. Porsche weren't interested.

Any one else on a 2007 model have a gear linkage/cable failure?

 

[paf1]

The bad news is that a horrible jaguar x-type has been delivered to me!!

I think i can just manage 24 hours until i get my C4S back.

Luckily my Oct 2007 car is still under warranty. OPC did not indicate it was anything i had done, also said it was the first one they had seen fail like this. I have the short shift box, i wonder if that has any affect on the likelyhood of failure?

 

[DSM]

ORIGINAL: paf1

The bad news is that a horrible jaguar x-type has been delivered to me!!

I think i can just manage 24 hours until i get my C4S back.

Luckily my Oct 2007 car is still under warranty. OPC did not indicate it was anything i had done, also said it was the first one they had seen fail like this. I have the short shift box, i wonder if that has any affect on the likelyhood of failure?

Not the old 'it's the first one we've seen like this!?

Not good, under two years old and only 15000 miles? Really?

On the short shift point, I would have thought that the only difference this would make would be to the force required to be input by the driver, and wouldn't make any difference to the cables.

 

[paf1]

Stuff happens! it will be right as rain tomorrow.

More concerned about driving the re-badged ford mondeo home.

 

[okellyt]

Hmm, interesting. Mines a bit older at March 07 but also happens to have a short shift....

 

[tscaptain]

I'd go in under the cover of darkness if I were you. Yes, I love the "first time we've seen that" response.
What are these cables made of? Fuse wire? They should be able to stand any force a driver can reasonably put on them.
"Oh, sorry Captain that the control line to the elevators snapped, you weren't supposed to pull so hard!"