Gearbox Issue

At the risk of sounding like i have completely lost my marbles I will relay what happened to me this morning to see if anyone has any ideas. Coming back from Hexham i was doing about 70 going up a long bank and overtaking a heavy goods wagon. When i went to change into 5th my gear lever was completely useless! It was waving all over the gearbox right / left/ circular wherever. At this point i panicked a bit! I had nearly 20 miles to go to get home and was stuck in fourth. I managed to just keep going, regularly moving the gear lever in disbelief hoping that i had imagined it. I then got to a point where i had to slow down to turn off the A68, i dipped my clutch and coasted round the corner doing about 30. i then raised the clutch hoping that the car wouldn't stall and guess what.... my gearbox was back! When i now moved the gearlever there was no play and it was engaged in fourth. When i plucked up courage i changed down the box and all was normal again. I had no further problems movingup or down the gearbox and returned home and reversed into the garage. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before in 35 years of motoring, does anyone have any ideas please before i ring the porsche garage tomorrow and they laught at me?

My advice would be not to go back to Hexham! [ ] Seriously, I would get someone to check the cables are properly attached at the gearbox end, and the shifter mechanism at the front, for something obvious.

thank you Richard, Hexham is one of my favourite haunts so i guess i'll have to just get the car fixed! When the car went back to Aberdeen for all the remedial work, they replaced the RMS - could this problem have anything to do with that work do you think as they would have to take the gearbox out or am i just being paranoid? I haven't done many miles since but it will be couple of months ago now. I'll ring th OPC at Newcastle tomorrow for them to have a look

My advice would be to try and keep on the road! [ ]

Yes, the gearbox will have been removed to change the RMS, and that will have involved removing the cables. The cable clips are notorious for breaking, so it wouldn't surprise me if that's what's happened.

As i have to drive through the centre of Newcastle to get to the OPC do you think its likely to happen again before i get there? The wimp factor is creeping in now!

I wish I could give you a definte answer. See what the OPC say - if you tell them your concerns, they might come and pick it up.

i'll let you know what happens. Shame the roadside rescue won't work as the car is actually ok at the moment i can't plead broken down!! Well actually the roadside rescue did work! They came out and inspected the car this monring, couldn't identify the fault so its being recovered to Newcastle OPC for investigation this afternoon cheers Julie

Just an update on the gearbox. The OPC at Newcastle have told me that the linkage wasn't secure which they have corrected. They tell me (and i'm no mechanical whizz so I have to believe them) that this would only happen if the linkage was worn (which it isn't) or wasn't correctly secured when the gearbox went back in after the RMS was replaced (at Aberdeen). The work has been done under warranty (along with a lower horn) and the car will be delivered back to me later today or sometime tomorrow. so hopefully all the teething problems are over - i'm almost beginning to wonder if i should have parted with the old one!! The only other thing to add is that the service from Porsche Assist via the RAC was absolutely fantastic and i couldn't fault them at all.

Good to hear its been fixed without quibble. What did they give you as a loan car?

Glad to hear its sorted Julie, not sure your supplying dealership in Aberdeen have covered themselves in gloryhowever, lots of things that should have been picked up through quality control

That's funny, last time mine went in for remedial bits and pieces they replaced the "lower horn". How spooky! Tony

I declined the courtesy car as i have the landie for day to day use but because of that they did offer to pay for a taxi for me to get back into the dealership when it was due for collection. However the dealership are delivering it to me on friday at no charge so no need to take that up either. Top marks for Newcastle OPC in all this and zero marks to Aberdeen for missing so much especially after my last purchase there which was handled so well. As for the lower horn i had no idea it was off but as it was all covered under the warranty i saw no reason to question it! Right now i am just pleased it has all been sorted and looking forward to getting it back - even if we are under six inches of snow by then!!

I guess the "lower horn" is a common failure. When I bought my car, the lower horn was noted as not working on the 111 point check, but they issued a warranty anyway - and, as the horn (in general) was still making a sound, I didn't bother having it replaced. Then when it was in for service about 18 months later, they automatically replaced the lower horn free of charge under warranty... how cool is that?!