numeric cable roughness / breakin?

Hey guys, thought I'd do a quick poll here for those who've installed numeric cables in a 987. When they were fresh, did anyone experience a scraping feeling, like a fine-grit grind as you shift? I think it's the internal rods scraping against a braid, and feels a bit like scraping your fingers over sand paper. Background: 987.1 6-speed First set of cables had this scrape, and sent it back to Numeric. They confirmed there was a problem, and sent another set back. I installed the new ones, and it's the exact same feeling even though they checked & lubed the new pair. Both time, it's the vertical action only. Horizontal motion's completely smooth and feels like butter. I suppose there's always a chance that lightning can strike twice and that I got something bad... but before being too much of a complainer, I thought I'd check in here to see if anyone else felt that, and if it goes away on its own. This upgrade's logged 0 miles due to so many debugging steps, but i'm considering a swap back to the OEM cables right now... sigh.

Mine is a 987.2 6-speed. I had no such feeling. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

I installed my Numeric cables almost 6 yrs ago and I'm still happy with the decision. I do remember an odd feeling at first. It was so long ago I don't know if I'd describe it the same as you. However, after a couple days, I removed the shifter boot and sprayed WD-40 on the exposed cable ends and probably got a few other parts. It seems to of fixed it. It's possible your problem is caused by friction in the shifter that wasn't obvious due to the extra slop. These cables, being beefier, are stiffer. Do you still have the stock 987 shifter? Mine is a GT3 shifter with metal bushings.

No scrapping feeling from my Numeric system, shifter and cables. I'm happy but the shifter is getting a little broken in. Not sure there are ways to tighten it up the bolt action, Shifter wheel on the transaxle is fine.

I've got the numerics and that doesn't sound normal, no. It's possible you're just feeling something else now that the cables are more direct. Fore-aft is the left input on the transmission: maybe go back there and take another look? There is a 5" diameter weighted wheel that's behind the transmission input and attached to the input with a link. The wheel is just free-spinning and doesn't do anything but add some "heft" to the shift throws, but some folks have had an issue where the shaft on the wheel rusted and caused problems. If that's seized up a bit I suppose it could be causing your problem?

I'm another long-time Numerics owner, and I've had zero problems. Any roughness in the throw of the shifter is not correct. I would start by popping the rear left shift cable connection off at the transmission. Now see if the shifter has any roughness (it should be completely free). If so, you have a problem with the cable routing or in the shifter itself. If there's no roughness with the cable off, your problem is with something on the tranny, quite likely the weighted wheel as gubi suggests.

So, the shifter's only got 20k miles on it, and without the cables connected, moves in all dimensions fluidly. I also tried grabbing the linkages at the back, and rotating the wheel to see if the grind originates there. I've done this both with, and the without the cables connected and can confirm that the transmission's not the inducer. This all points towards the cable yet again... sigh, all these re-installations are both downtime and money consuming!

I felt there was some scraping when my racing numerics cables were new. I applied a little grease to the metal of the cable where it protruded from the cable sleeve. That seemed to help -- either that or I've just gotten used to it.

In related question (shifter noise), I'm still getting some transmission gear whine at high RPM transmitted through the cables even after installing the rubber insulation from racing numerics. Is there something more I should do? I think there are non-metallic end caps that that connect to the transmission, but I haven't tried that.

Check to see if you have any metal rubbing against the cables over the engine that could transmit the vibration. Use Zip ties if necessary to pull the cables up away from the intake runners, plenum and throttle body assembly. No touching of the cables in the engine compartment to any hard surface. That should help, but not take away the transmission gear whine. The new OEM cables will relieve that whine, but more time is involved in the install of these cables compared to Numeric 's and the gear detents are not felt with the new OEM product.

Thanks for all the replies, folks. I'm fairly confident that lightning struck twice, and I got another bad cable... not only is there a gritty feeling, but the cables are so caught up that I can't even shift 5th and 6th smoothly. It's because at those positions the shifter-side end is deflected to the side before sliding in and out and it mechanically blocks the gate with whatever's scraping within the cable innards. Pretty disappointed since there have been so many great reviews on this forum and everywhere else, but in my case it's created so much downtime for my car just from the install & reinstalls.... Near my wit's end, contemplating a retreat back to OEM. Super jealous of all those others who are enjoying their rifle bolt! Mine feels like a mortar and pestle filled with rocks.

I had similar problems in the beginning with 5th and reverse. The trick was to adjust the shifter to a position that was slightly forward. In other words: when in neutral, my shifter is very slightly angled forward instead of perfectly vertical. I had previously bought the OEM "sport shifter," which came with the green alignment tool. I used the tool first then adjusted the turnbuckles to be slightly forward. It seems counterintuitive, but that was miles better then if the shifter was aimed slightly backwards. After driving around for a week making various adjustments to get it just right, I finally put the console back together. Then I finally got around to installing insulation on the cables (in the engine compartment). Unfortunately, that insulation slightly threw off my "perfect" adjustment. I haven't gotten around to tearing apart the console again to readjust. Oh well.

Bit late to the party here but interested to know what you did given it's been a couple of months now? I just installed (3 weeks ago) the Numeric setup in a 2011 Spyder. I had initial routing errors where I had a kinked line using OEM routing. Switched the path but wonder if now I'm still hung up on the IPD Plenum/TB. I can set cables to where they reach all the gears but that scraping sensation you describe is present in most gears. LR cable is spot on, North-South cable is where all the pain lives. I have, like you, adjusted and readjusted until the cows come home but cannot shake the 'scrape'. Maybe use is the answer? Maybe the lube will run up the cable from the ends? Anyway, curious for follow up.

I ended up making some slotted spacers from 1/8in aluminum to index the cables where they routed along the transmission. ... Apologies but it's been a while since I've looked at them, but the problem I was dealing with was the car didn't feel like it was quite completely shifting into some gears. Effectively changed the length a bit and since then (3yrs) I haven't had to think about it - but was definitely off when initially installed. If someone needs more info I can put the car up in the air to get pictures. -PM.

Good to hear that I'm not alone or crazy! Since last posting, I put some more lube on the cable, at the console end. After that, I'm able to use 5th and 6th (most lateral case) without it binding. The vertical grit still exists however, on the left side (r,1,2,3). Adding more lube on the transmission side didn't help this either. Playing devil's advocate, I got a transaxle fluid flush done, and refilled with Porsche fluid. It's going back in this Tuesday, and I'm changing out the brake fluid as well (since it is shared with the clutch, playing devil's advocate that it might be due to some kind of lagging coupling that makes us feel the synchros more). I'd give myself a 30% chance of success that the fluid will fix it. After that, I don't know what's left to try; the entire car is only 30k miles and shouldn't have problems with the transmission yet. I can report back after with results. You said that you had binding with the OEM routing?? That's surprising to me. Any pics/description of what happened, and where you routed it instead? To my eye, the sharpest bend is down low on the entire. There's an almost 90deg turn right where it mounts to the bracket that's inevitable. I have a feeling it's either there, or the firewall entrance that's binding, neither of which we have control over Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

I'd love to see any solutions you came up with that helped. I'm having a hard time visualizing what you meant from the text. Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

I posted video to YT which will detail the routing paths I took. Just enter my user name into YT and you'll be able to search videos or just go for those posted most recently. Due to Plenum/TB setup from IPD I had to move cable over to left side (facing from rear of car to front) around the aluminum intake that comes with the setup. If reaching gears is the only issue I believe that adjusting the cables (at either or both ends) will ultimately yield results from a 'reach' standpoint. Just go to most extreme setting (that favors where you need reach and moderate back until you can hit 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 and feel the fully seated gear selection. For the 'scratchiness' however, I'm at a loss on my setup. I don't see any issues with where I pass the cables through the firewall, just that it seems 'squished' when it passes between the intake pipe and the trans tunnel (again, watch video to see in all its glory). I refreshed my trans fluid just weeks before this change so, not to be a negative Nelly, I don't know that it's a panacea, but it cannot hurt either. Let me know if you see anything intriguing in the video that helps you or could help me. Cheers.

"If reaching gears is the only issue I believe that adjusting the cables (at either or both ends) will ultimately yield results from a 'reach' standpoint. " Ok, that shook some dust off my memory ... My aluminum spacers were added to the mounting bracket on the transmission so to move the ends closer to the transmission. I tried the threaded adjustments but didn't feel I had enough threaded steel rod screwed into it's aluminum fitting to handle the stress of use - especially given steel into aluminum. As far as feel goes, you may be feeling something in the transmission masked by the softer stock cables. Mmmv, -PM.

I remember one more thing when I was initially troubleshooting: The clamping force from the e-brake housing onto the cables presumably squished the diameter ever so much, and also affected how smooth they were. Also, rotating the cable before tightening it to the shifter also affected my grit. I pictured a burr in my head, which catches in a certain orientation but not another. Generally speaking, it felt best w/o the handbrake completely. Perhaps you can try loosening the e-brake as well, and see if your pinch point might be there.

Sorry to bump an old thread but I am having an issue very similar to the OP and I thought this info might help others, and I'm also trying to get some help on my end as well. The "grindy/gritty" shifting feeling seems to be caused by a protective sleeve covering the cable near the shift housing. The video below will help illustrate this, but this sleeve seems to cause shifts to be more difficult and much less smooth when it gets pushed in, which also seems very easy to happen on its own. When the sleeve isn't pushed in everything feels fine so I'm confident my cables are adjusted correctly, I'm just not sure if there is something I should do with this protective sleeve. Should I add grease? Will this issue work itself out over time? It's almost as if the shift housing needs to allow for this cable to be angled slightly more to the left which would allow for less binding/tension when shifting into gears like 5th/6th. Check out 0:30-0:40 in the video, you'll see and hear what I'm talking about. Shifting into 5th/6th here. Also this video was sent to Dan at Numeric so apologies for the awkward format, I'm waiting to see if Dan has any input on this.

Did you get any response back from Numeric? I have a 5-speed variant and I'm having a similar issue.