Boxster S 2000 Shift Cables – semi-Solved - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

I picked up a 2000 Boxster S (46K miles) about 2 years ago and was never satisfied with the shifting. My ’97 Boxster had silky smooth shifting while the ’00 was notchy and rather stiff when cold. I tried the usual cures – change tranny fluid & front engine mount & check tranny mounts for wear - all with no significant improvements. What I did notice it that when I tried to align the 2 shifter cables, the blue selector cable was about a ¼” short of properly fitting in the adjuster (as designed). The black shift cable fit just fine in its adjuster. What I did was to use my Dremel to grind off the back ridge on the adjuster so that the cable would lie in the adjuster with bit hanging out the back end. I secured the cable end in place using a small hose clamp. On my test drive this thing shifted like silk. I’ve driven it for a few days like this and I’m going to drive it for a few more days before reinstalling the console. Am I disappointed in Porsche for having to do this modification – yes. My ’97 which I bought new had no real problems but it was built in Stuttgart. The ’00 was built in Finland and I was the third owner. However, when I got the ’00 the rear speakers were not working. Cause of problem – when the car was assembled apparently the speaker harness was caught by the roll-over hoops and shorted out. Was the car in a wreck? No, I’ve been playing with cars for the last 40 years and I think I can identify damaged cars. This is my 5th Porsche. Hope this helps someone out there.

At first I thought you might have adapted an S2000 linkage, which is among the very smoothest shifting cars ever. Take any pictures?

Mark-Near_Chicago, It's great to hear that you've gotten your shifting mechanism smooth. I am very interested in making my car's shift smooth. have replaced the original with a shorter throw 997 shifter assy. Here's a photo of 997 shifter in my 01 5 speed. Can you elaborate using this photo? I think many members would appreciate it (I would like to get my car's shift smoother). it shifts a little notchy, but the throw is much reduced. did you use the centering plastic piece to hold the shift lever at "neutral" position when the cables were reinstalled? thanks in advance

As more information - I have tried to cure this problem for at least a year. I have several cars to drive so I am not all that diligent. The steps I took included putting in a 987 shifter (no change). What I did notice is that using the alignment tool the blue cable was about a 1/4 inch short of what it needed to be. I then checked for improper cable routing, damaged shift arms, frame damage, etc. I could not find anything. I just pulled the cable forward until it would latch and drove it that way until the wife went out of town a few weeks ago. Of course I did not do anything until the night before she was to come back. That night I pulled the console in 5 minutes. Played with the shift arms by the tranny. They naturally seek neutral so it is easy to position those. I said the " hell with it" and took my old 986 shifter and modified the adjuster by using a Dremel to hog out the ridge that catches the cable end. That took a whole 5 minutes also. Tossed it back in the car and used a tiny hose clamp on the end. I later moved the hose clamp further up the adjuster and basically the clamp is holding it all together. Problems - none so far but after having P-cars for 30years this is the first time that the "factory" part installed correctly does not fit properly. Coupled with the problem with my rear speaker cable I seriously wonder how well the cars were assembled in Finland. Maybe quality was a big reason why P moved production/assembly out of Finland? More notes on the shift cables - I noticed that the part number for the cable progresses each model year - is something going on that I do not know? My cable is 986.424.042-05 and my car is a MY2000. For MY2001 it is -06, for MY2002 it is -07 and the latest one MY2004 is -08. Only the -08 version is available so they all must supersede to the -08 version. Have the lengths changed? It would not be beyond my belief that P recognized that the length was wrong and corrected it in future versions without notifying owners of the older versions. Here is a photo of what my linkage now looks like:

my 2 cents, the shifter holding plate centers the shaft for 6 speed transmission. as such when installed onto a 5 speed box, the left/right neutral position is further to the right and pulls the blue cable side higher up that results in the cable being placed closer to the edge. have you tried installing the black cable and then taking the fixture off and re-positioning the shifter slightly towards the driver?

You lost me on that one. I have a 2000 S with a 6sp. There is no slop in the mounting holes for the shifter. Using the centering tool there is no other adjustment. Please clarify.

Quotes source post: 303738

my mistake. I did not realize your Box was a S (6 speed). What I concluded when installing the 997 shifter assembly into my 5 speed was that the 6 speed tranny has one more gate than the 5 speed tranny. That the plastic alignment piece was tailored more for the 6 speed. And that's the reason why the shift cable did not go as deep into the blue adjuster as compared to the original 986 shift box. so is the hose clamp to assist holding the cable tighter in the blue adjuster? as for"slop"??? thanks

Yes, the hose clamp captures most of the threaded section of the cable. If I used only the adjuster I would only cover about 1/3 inch of the threads. If I did that I can see it popping out and leaving me stranded somewhere. There really is very little stress on that cable so I think my solution will work fine for a long time. Now if I found out that the newer cables were 1/4 to 1/2 inch longer, I'd buy one and put it in. And put in my 997/987 shifter which is now sitting in the garage. The "slop" is what I thought you were referring to regarding the shifter mounting plate. In other words, any movement of the shifter after it is placed on the 4 studs that are used for mounting and before it is tightened down.

Quotes source post: 303629

You could solve this easily by adding this piece, a shifter linkage: Boxster 996 Shifter Linkage Upgrade By Schnell: Shifter Pedal Assembly &amp Shifter Assembly Related [IMG]http://www.****************************************.com/UserData/Images/Large/208315.jpg[/IMG] It allows at least an inch of adjustment….you have to re-align the cables but you will have enough slack. TIP: Mount the shifter linkage IN FRONT of the plastic threads on the cable. That way the cable CANNOT come loose. The part is pricey but worth it…you will not have to worry about failure!

I have seen ads for that but the installations shown shows that piece only on the shift cable (the black one) never on the selector cable (the blue one). BTW the ends that fasten to the shifter are different from each other.

Quotes source post: 303738

what is the centering tool? and how one can get it?

The centering tool is a plastic part that holds the shift lever in a pure neutral position, It clips onto the shifter assembly and is used only for alignment of the cables. After the cables are set you take off the tool. The tool is included with the purchase of a factory shifter assembly. If you need to buy one the dealer has them or you can get them off eBay. Price is around $10-$15.

Quotes source post: 304482

Thank you Mark.

Hey Homeboy981 where does that schnell part fit on the shifter?

Quotes source post: 304126

Part No. 000 721 961 91

Resurrecting an old thread. Has anyone else had this issue and solved it? I have the exact same problem. I thought it was the short shifter that came with the car so I installed a brand new 987 shifter using the alignment tool. I had the exact same issue connecting the blue cable so I stretched it to fit (about 1/4 inch). It was a little better than before, but still stiff. Wondering if I should break out the dremel tool.

Good thread find Danimal Shifting on my 03 base has sucked since I bought it with 70k miles. Is yours an S or regular?

Quotes source post: 657566

Mine is an S

Question. If I open my console back up, put the alignment tool back on, and stretch the black cable the same amount I had to stretch the blue one…..will the stretching on each cable cancel each other out? My understanding is that the cables act on each other. Is that correct?

I finally got back in there and played with the cables. I stretched the black cable about 1/4" to match how much I had to pull the blue cable to fit. It solved about 80% of the issue and now all shifts engage with a much firmer "thunk" and less guess work. I'm guessing my cables are worn and stretched or the newer version of the cables are slightly shorter than my originals. Maybe that's why the alignment tool on the 997/987 shifter doesn't quite work for me. I may make a few micro adjustments while I've got the console open, but I'm pretty happy for now.