Grinding into 2nd gear... Considering using Lucas additive

I put a SSK in my 996 C4 about four months ago and it worked great. Recently, the car now is rough shifting into secong gear when the car is cold. I was wondering if the Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Additive was worth trying to keep the syncros lubed during start-up. Has anyone used this product before? I may go back to the stock shifter to keep from ruining my transmission.

the shifter wont hurt your transmission.........are you sure its adjusted properly?

Very common in the SSK installs. This might very well be a shifter cable adjustment.

Question: Since the problem is with second gear, should I adjust the right cable further towards the shifter? That direction of adjustment seems like it would help me engage further into second gear with the lever action of the shifter. Also, what does the left cable do to adjust the gear engagement, if any. All it seems to do is position the shifter left or right to center its position. Should it be centered between the 3rd and 4th gear position? That's where it is now.

Mine is in the shop with this very problem. I was thinking synchro, but did not hear from them today. Mine started with the cold weather as well about a month ago. Will post outcome when i know.

Thanks, please keep me posted.

you should set the adjustment with the bridge tool

Not sure which SSK you have, but the OEM "tool" does not work on the B&M SSK due to the larger shaft. See here for more details: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=7778

Your problem is most likely the heavy and thick viscosity of cold trans lube. Install a short shifter that requires more effort and this situation is made worse. You may try a lighter viscosity synthetic oil that has less drag when cold or try to match engine and trans revs carefully when shifting until the trans is warmed up. If it was an adjustment problem it would happen cold or warm.

That's why I was thinking about using that Lucas stuff to keep the tranny lubed when it is still cold. If that doesn't work, I will probably do a fluid change. The car has 47,000 miles on it but who knows if it was ever changed and refilled with non-Porsche approved fluid since I bought it with 39,000 mi on it from a wholesaler.

I still have not heard anything from the dealer. But, Why would it ever be normal for a transmission to grind; cold or not? Something has to be not working properly. My car did not do this last winter when it was -5 degrees out. BTW i have 70K miles, new clutch at 60K.

How far from the floor is your pedal STARTING to engage the clutch?

I actually have the same problem as well when it is cold. It is weird because it doesn't happen when it is above about 50 degrees, but if it is colder, then it is very difficult to get the car into 2nd gear. I guess I never really throught about it, just thought it was a quirk of the car, if anyone finds out why, I would be interested.

99...I have been without for the last few days, but i think about 1/2- 2/3 of the way up. Why do you ask?

Will call dealer tomorrow for an update. I am thinking new tranny...it will be a week.

no new trannies anymore all 9x6 trannes are now rebuildable by your freindly neighbor hood porsche dealer

New tranny to be installed. I spoke with the dealer quickly, assume it is remanufactured from Germany. It took 6-7 days for them to get it. Will post complete details when i get the service info.

Bad Synchro(s). Also found Intermediate shaft seal bad as well.

A quick return to topic regarding the lucas additive. Yes, it will help with climbing cold gears, BUT it also foams like mad when exposed to the agitation of the inside of a gearbox. I would not put this in your transmission. If you are concerned about cold protection, you could try something like swepco 201, although you will get a notchy 1-2 shift until things warmup, which is par for the course when running thicker fluids.

I decided to drain and re-fill the tranny with Mobilube 75W-90 SHC gear lube that I ordered from Lufteknic. I will see if that smooths things out. As mentioned before, the car has 46k on it but only 10k of those are mine. Who knows if the previous owners did a tranny fluid change with the wrong fluid.

There is a test for the not-uncommon 2nd gear transmission problem found in some newer 996s. During constant acceleration, shift 1-2 at 5000 RPM, shift 2-3 at 5000, then shift back to second when you reach 5000 in third. No need to engage the clutch, just shift from 3 to 2 at 5000. If it grinds, even occasionally, you have a problem.

Thanks, I will try that. I have wondered if I didn't properly "break-in" the SSK that I installed. Recently, I have been shifting into second with a good strong 'pull' on the shifter and this has been working very well to eliminate any grinding. Doing this until the tranny warms up has worked for the past two weeks. I will try this over the next 1000 mi, much like the break-in period for the SSK to get past the initial notchy gear shifting.