Stiff Gear Shift - Manual

I've been having difficulty finding gears (particularly 3rd) on my 996 lately and I was wondering if there's a simple fix or list of things I should check. The gear leaver doesn't self centre particularly well either so I'm thinking it's related. Do I need to look at replacing or lubricating the gear change cables or is there something else I could look at lubricating or adjusting first? I've found a couple of threads relating to stiff auto shifters but not for a manual. I'd imagine this if quite a common issue so perhaps I simply need to brush up on my search skills. :?

It may just need the shift cables adjusting?

I have the similar issue and have been told that the shifter cables need replacing. i can live with it, but my boxster felt a better shift. However i had the gearbox oils changed and that helped with the cold shifts and the shift felt a lot more positive. i will get them swapped at some point cheers

The movement of the shift cable as it goes forwards and backwards is identical for going in to reverse, 1st, 3rd, and 5th. So if 3rd is stiff but the other aren't then it would point more to the 3rd gear selector mechanism in the gearbox than the cable to me. If they are all stiff, but 3rd is just a little stiffer, then could well be the cable and you just notice it more in 3rd. MC

Worth a call to Mike at Sports & Classic. He knows gearbox issues inside out.

I had this problem with my gearbox. It's not the cable or the box internals, it's the ball joint on the shorter of the two shift arms that come out of the side of the gearbox that the cable end fits onto. The shorter arm is the one that is spring loaded and resists the side to side movement of the gear stick. The special Porsche grease eventually works its way out of the ball & socket joint and water gets in. Porsche/Getrag (because they were ultimate penny pinchers when speccing the 996) made that 10mm ball out of mild steel, and once the grease is gone, it rusts. The rust pits and the rust powder combine to scratch up the nylon that the socket on the cable end is made of, and the whole joint just goes stiff. Changing your cables will not restore your pitted balls on the gearbox shift levers. You need to get new balls. I cut my balls off and then drilled out the hole to fit the m6 shaft of a new 10mm stainless ball stud which I had welded onto the arm. I did this when I had the gearbox out to replace the clutch. However, if you're feeling lucky, you could replace the balls with the gearbox still in the car, with the front mount removed and the rears loosened and lowering it down on a jack. You would then need to use a lock nut to secure the ball on its back side. The cost of the studs and the welding came to about £20. I can't remember how much Porsche wanted for new shift arms, but probably hundreds. You'll probably still need new cables because of the ruined nylon sockets though. Google 10mm ball stud to see what I used. The absolute best solution would be to replace the nylon socket cable ends with threaded rod, which would allow you to use a rose joint which would feel really nice and precise. Check out the latest Project Binky video on YT to see what I mean. If you read any innuendo in this post then that's all in your head, not mine.

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. Tbh it's fairly tricky getting 1st, 3rd and 5th, just more noticeable selecting 3rd, so I'm thinking it's more likely to be related to the cables or a dry gummed up ball joint (thanks Martin :thumb: ). The gear stick doesn't move freely from side to side either, so another reason why I'm thinking that ball joint is the likely culprit. Replacing the ball on the gear selector sounds like quite a lot of hassle, so can't I simply pop off the cable, remove any signs of corrosion from the ball with wet & dry, re-grease and refit? Surely that would improve things significantly? I watched the Binky YT video (episode 27) so understand what you mean by replacing the nylon cable ends with a threaded rod and a rose joint. The mod doesn't look too difficult and perhaps worth considering if replacing the cables anyway. I've also seen Porsche sell a tool to aid gearbox cable adjustment. Is it necessary to purchase said item, or can it be done without one? Thanks again!

The Porsche item is very cheap and IIRC about £3 so don't try setting it up without one. However, it won't work with the aftermarket Chinese assemblies.

Hi Adam, Yes, it's absolutely worth trying seperating the joint, cleaning up the ball, and reassembling with new grease. I tried this myself and it didn't help, but it still makes sense to have a go, as if it works it would be the simplest and quickest solution. It's possible it didn't work for me because I used a different grease to the one Porsche specifies. Here is the Porsche part number for the grease: 00004320593 I didn't bother using the green plastic jig to set up my new cables, I just did it by eye and although I needed to make a few small adjustments, it wasn't hard. However, given how cheap this tool is, it makes sense to get hold of one if you can, as it will get it right first time.

I've never been happy with my shift, it's notchy in all gears and certainly not the smooth shift I'm expecting. Related things I've done so far are new clutch, powerflex gearbox mount inserts, new engine mounts, 997 shifter set up with tool, new gearbox oil, remove clean and regrease ball joints and all moving parts at the gearbox end none of which have made any difference at all. It's going in shortly to fix my other gearbox issue so I'm hoping they'll sort the shifting too!

Got around to removing, cleaning an re-greasing my gear linkages today and am pleased to report the shift has improved significantly. Still need to adjust the cables inside the car but that's a job for another day. Thanks for all the info guys. Invaluable as ever!