Reverse Not Engaging - Tiptronic

Hey guys - Having a strange issue with my 2002 Targa with Tiptronic that has roughly 127k miles on it. I went to pull out of the garage this afternoon, with no issues. I put the car into park in the driveway to get something I left in the house. After coming back out, the car would not engage reverse - however, D and M still operated properly. I rolled into the street and drove it for roughly 10 miles, only to return home to see if it would work (sometimes I like to think cars will "heal" themselves). I took it to an empty parking lot near my house to test things out. Sliding from drive into neutral, everything was fine. I then slid it up into reverse, and the car actually began moving forward. Giving it a slight amount of gas, and it was clear that the gear was engaged... I began moving forward at a faster pace. I came to a stop and slid it into park - only to find that the park was acting as a neutral. I re-tried this scenario maybe 7-10 times - It only rolled forward while in reverse two of those times - The reverse gear operated properly a grand total of 0 of those times. No recent modifications have been done to the vehicle. All routine maintenance has been kept up. A few weeks ago, I did remove the entire center console - which including removing the shift selector. To my knowledge, it was re-installed properly as everything went back together well and I have had no issues since then. Has my Tip finally grenaded itself at a random time? I am very confused by this. Im considering removing the center console again and messing with the shift selector. Or potentially just driving it over to San Diego Porsche. Any thoughts or potential solutions would be appreciated. Thank you.

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my vote is check the LAST MOD you did before the current problem came up. P.S. Has the tranny fluid/filter ever been changed at all?

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I'll take it apart this afternoon and see if anything looks odd. The tranny fluid and filter have been changed twice in the life of the vehicle. The last one... Roughly 20-30k miles ago if memory serves correct. Thanks for the suggestion.

To update; I removed shifter **** and cover and looked around in there, everything seems to be connected. Shifted through the gears a few times without the **** and cover on, and still no luck. Also checked any fuses related to Tiptronic, which I found to be B1 and B8 - both of them were fine. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I've exhausted all options to my knowledge - Next step might be taking it to an independent or Porsche of SD.

My vote is a mechanical misadjustment. Most likely it happened when you were in there doing whatever. If the tranny shifts okay in your forward gears (which are more likely to fail when the tranny gets old than reverse - which is seldom used), chances are the tranny is okay.

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^^^^THIS^^^^^

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Well, **** Just contacted a local independent Porsche repair place. I hate when relatively "small" things like this happen as I assume the shop will just want to take the easy way out and tell me the trans is smoked. Any other suggestions or things I could try before taking it in would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

Yeah, make sure your mechanic is first "an indie" because any Porsche dealer is going to take the easy (and expensive) way out and say: "need to replace the tranny - $10,000). Then make sure your choice of indie is someone known to your local PCA chapter as an "honest" place. I'll also relate an experience I had when living in greater Boston. I owned an older Mercedes S class turbo diesel. My "indie" Mercedes mechanic referred me to a transmission place (no not Aamco - also an independent). The tranny was not shifting propertly. Turned out it was only a partially obstructed vacuum line. About $100 later I was on my way.

Yes - Thanks for the heads up. Many of the staff members of Black Forest (the repair shop of my choosing) are PCA members themselves. But even still... It makes me nervous. I will keep you all posted with an update.

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Fingers crossed my issue is something this simple. I was getting ready to have some PSS10's installed. Hopefully that install isn't put off too badly by this repair. Time will tell - thanks for the bit of optimistic relief.

Sounds like you didn't put things in the linkage back together correctly. When you take it into a shop, be sure to confess your DIY tinkering that preceded the problem.

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That's the thing, the linkage was never touched. It was merely the gear selector unlock botton, and then the leather **** itself - only so the console could come out to install an AUX cord. Any linkage or other items related to shifting were left alone. That being said, I still do intend to tell them exactly what was removed.

Were these steps from the WSM followed? Removal 1. Lever off locking button with an angled pipe. The locking button must be pressed so that the pipe section can be inserted between the shift lever and the locking button. To do this, turn the ignition key to "1" position. 2. Remove the compression spring and spring clip and pull off the selector **** Installation 1. Assemble the selector **** with spring clip, compression spring and locking button. Note! � Fit conical compression spring with the small diameter facing the guide peg. 2. Press the complete selector **** onto the shift lever until it bottoms. 3. Check the function of the locking button.

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Those EXACT steps were followed with no issues in removal or install. To update, I've scheduled an appointment for Friday to have the issue examined.

I see. Good luck with it and keep us posted.

An update: The shop found that the vehicle (ECM) is recognizing the different gear selections, however the trans is not responding appropriately. They have confirmed that when in reverse the wheels begin moving forward, and park does not hold the vehicle in place. All external items have been ruled out. They are suggesting a rebuild (starting $9100) or new (starting $16,000). I'm between a rock and a hard place here, and wanted to get some opinions from the community. As a car with almost 130,000 miles, I cannot see $9100 as a worthwhile investment on a 996 Targa with those kind of miles. I have asked the shop to source an used trans and give me a quote on that, although they were reluctant to do so. I'll more than likely also get a second opinion from a different shop. What is everyone's thoughts? Depending on price of the used trans (if this is even a good idea) my options are as follows: 1. Replace with used trans 2. Sell as a rolling chassis 3. Put into long term storage - with the thought that 996's will increase in price in the future (long shot?) 4. Drive it off a cliff All opinions welcome. Thanks guys.

I second getting a second opinion. It seems to me that a transmission that went 130k miles wouldn't just "break completely". I would suggest that some "control module" - whether inside or outside the tranny is defective. And I'd ask around amongst indie Porsche repair shops for the name of a transmission specialist.

I just had my Tiptronic in for slippage in fourth gear. The shop opted not to fix it because it's not that bad at this time. They said a rebuild would be about $6000, which is still a lot, but much better than $9100. Ask for a recommendation of a shop from a trusted indie. Btw there are things that can be tested/replaced without rebuilding the entire transmission. Did they pressure-test the valve bodies?

Try calling Dieters or KonigMotorsports if they can give you a quote over the phone. Best of luck.

Thanks for the great replies thus far, you guys are giving me confidence that this thing hasn't completely **** the bed yet. Given that the shop I took it to was going to just remove the transmission and freight it to a "specialist" somewhere north of San Diego, I am weary - the only plus side to this was that it included a 2yr, unlimited mileage warranty. After just now getting off the phone with an actual trans shop, I've gotten some interesting info. In the state of California, for a trans to be considered "rebuilt" there are many things that actually need to be replaced. I am more interested in having it "repaired", which is a route this gentleman is willing to explore. He also informed me that because of the fact that both reverse and park started acting up at the exact same time, it is more than likely something related to electronics as these two gears do not correspond internally. Furthermore, looking into his computer he informed me there are no more "new" transmissions of this sort being built, and Porsche is offering "refurbished" ones for $8k... so where the previous shop got the $16k figure from, I am unsure. After talking to the manager at this particular shop for nearly 45 minutes, I am inclined to take it there. The prices and uncertainty associated with where I have it currently is frightening. Thank you all for the suggestions. Further opinions and thoughts are welcome!

Update: Wow - Unsurprisingly, the original "Porsche Specialist" I took it to was way, way off. I ended up taking it to a guy who only does transmissions, specifically automatics. He told me a bolt had fallen out of the linkage, and once they replaced the bolt, reverse and park then engaged properly once again and the car drives fine! How great, for only $200 I am back on the road. Before I hung up the phone, he informed me that he doesn't think the electronic mechanism that controls the tiptronic is operating properly - What he explained is that the gear that the vehicle is actually in, is not being displayed properly on the dash. However, I am not buying it - I have not had this issue with the vehicle ever, as it shifts through all 5 gears properly and did so when I drove it to the shop. So a) they are mistaken or b) they sabotaged it. Anyway, I'm picking the car up this afternoon and will report back here after driving it for a few days!

That is great news! He may think that the car starts in First which would mean that the gauge is wrong when it shows Second

That is great news! It does further my distrust of 95% of all mechanics out there. It's just really tough to find the good ones.

This the another "switch-a-roo" story in recent months regarding tiptronic transmissions. You should read the story from KrazyK (NC krazyK that is, not the one from Texas).

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Excellent point. I think you're correct, because when I picked up, he told me he took the car on a short test drive and everything was working properly for him. I haven't had a single issue with it and have already put roughly ~50 miles on it. Hmmm... I'll need to find this. Thanks for the clarification on which KrazyK Ha! Do you happen to remember the title of the thread? Thanks.

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https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...ersection.html I actually suggested that he contact you since I have a hunch your problem may be similar to his (or vice-versa)

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Thanks for sharing Krom. Just read it. How terrible. Here's to hoping his fix ends up as simple as mine! It pays to do your research (in terms of mechanics) and get second opinions! I went from a quote of upwards of $8000-$9000 to a fix that ended up being $200, all because I found a mechanic with the knowledge and legitimate interest to do right by his customers. A shame that this is so rare to find now.