Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Driving home and suddenly 2nd gear 4th gear and reverse are not available.

Is this an easy job and is it common?

Can anyone help with advice please?

Just sounds like a linkeage to me, those with great knowledge will be along in the morning but from experience with other cars that's been a linkeage.

It could be jammed. More common on crashed cars. An experienced tech can unjam it through the inspection port.

How was your gear shift feel before it stopped finding those gears? Sloppy? It could be either the nylon block on the rear shift mechanism has broken, which can happen when they become excessively worn.

It could also be the pinch bolt on the rear linkage which goes onto the shaft into the box.

It could be an obstruction, even as simple as a stone, or something else stopping the rear linkage from rotating backwards.

It could be a lot of things, but I suspect it is linkage related.

Although.. Did it happen immediately just after the car had been used in reverse? I can not remember all the details, but when these cars were still being made and sold new, I do remember one car which had similar symptoms as yours, but it was brand spanking new, and after it was recovered to the workshop, we noticed that the reversing lights came on and off as it bumped off the recovery truck... With that one, we removed the reversing light switch to look inside to see why it had come on and off (especially seeing as it was one of the gears which was not even selectable), I put my finger inside and felt something click, and then all the gears worked fine again, and, to my knowledge, never played up again.. I always put it down to a new transmission and was sticky enough for the reverse mechanism to be disengaged, but a selector fork to not have fully returned home... its a long shot, but something like this may have happened to your car.

Jim (TVRV8) on here was a transmission man, he might know if this is a common problem, likely to be anything like your problem, and if my experience of this one car many years ago is either rare or more common.

Umm I've done a few gearboxes & diffs over the years but I'd not call myself a transmission man!

My guess as it has a few miles on it is linkage. I suspect something has worn or broken which is limiting travel on the gear linkage & stopping it selecting some gears. If it was a bent fork or internal I'd expect noises.

Thanks folks I have taken the front lever boot up and found what seems to be a new shift rod and no visible problem so its got to be the linkage at the box.
It had been fine with the occasional difficulty selecting reverse no noises and it went as I accelerated smartly and tried to get 2nd but found the lever sloppy and just getting 1 3 & 5th. But with difficulty.
I have another car a Quantum 2+2 RSturbo so I used that to get to work and while driving through a puddle found a 100 mm deep pothole which sliced my new tyre . Changed the tyre, got to work....................at lunch time imobiliser decided to fail making car inoperative and setting off said alarm.

Not a good day really.

I am close to retirement and have had many sad and bad days one of which was the worst that a parent hears, in conclusion they are only cars and it is no bother, soon fixed.
If it was not for problems life would be boring.

Umm I've done a few gearboxes & diffs over the years but I'd not call myself a transmission man!

Jim the tranny man

Sad to hear that life is throwing an avalanche of horrors your way, well done for being philosophical about it all.

Thanks for the positive comments

Well its not so bad today I am having the alarm and imobiliser removed from the Quantum
I declined to do it myself because I would rather lay on my back under a 944 than twist sideways under a poxy dashboard.
The 944 merely has the rod pulled out on the selector (seems a mite poor in design though!)
The locking bolt is supposed to be wired but is not and it all seems a bit solid so might need some brute to dismantle and put together properly.

Watched my daughter on ITV4 tonight where she co presented a Porsche special.

Jon?

Yes I am known by that name, and spelt correctly too....have I guessed that you are a racer?
Hi again folks, well I am not impressed by the design of the gear linkage where in the first picture the silly circlip has popped out of its groove and caused the failure of gear selection.

The second picture shows an alloy tube that I have slid over the shaft which then is used to push it into gear and the circlip although there has no role to play.

It now changes gear snickerdy snee.

No, I'm a Pistonheads member. That's how you have spelt your Christian name in your trackerjack profile.

Ah ha I assumed you to be one of the 924 racers who also has a 944 he also comes from the frozen north!
Strange I have been to Rome but not Sheffield.
I was amazed that when you cross a road in Rome cars stop where you are but wisk past in front and behind you..............it is literally a leap of faith stepping onto a crossing.
Only done Pickering up there, which was nice.
Last week was a Piston Heads track day at Goodwood (10 miles from me) and I was surprised at how few cars there.
We will be trackdaying the Quantum there later this month but have no plans to use the 944 for track.