914 newby side shifter problem fixed?, Shifting mystery Options

[Ratrod87]

So I recently within the past 5days purchased my first 914, I knew that the PO said that the transmission was stuck in 3rd gear but he thought it was something simple like a bushion or coupler. I posted a question to the great people of 914 world and had a lot of awesome people offer advice and information and even breakdown diagrams of what to look for, I was blown away by how nice and helpful everyone was. So tonight my son's and I got out in the shop and started first with a visual inspection, I looked while my two sons took turns moving the shifter. Everything seemed to move fine and had very little play in the bushions. Next I took the shift linkage apart at the transmission and moved the shaft coming out of transaxle and it seemed like I could feel everything moving freely so I jacked the back of car up to get the wheels off the ground and was able to manually shift into neutral, then I went through all the gears and everything thing seemed like it was working fine so I put it all back together and we got in and was able to drive the car and shift through the gears without any issues so now I'm baffled. I literally did nothing but take the linkage apart and put it back together and it works. Will it happen again? I'm puzzled, something somewhere has to be wore out or something. Anyway I just wanted to tell everyone who helped me or gave me advice or said welcome thank you I really appreciate it. The look my two sons face while we were driving the 914 was priceless and something I will never forget.

[Superhawk996]

I literally did nothing but take the linkage apart and put it back together and it works. Will it happen again? I'm puzzled, something somewhere has to be wore out or something.

These cars are 40-50 years old. You can safely bet that the bushings are worn. Replace with new.

It may have been as simple as the linkages not having been aligned properly and the R&R got things into the right position. If the cone set screws are not aligned and dropped into their respective pockets on the linkage, it will not shift right.

This is a blind operation and it's easy to be off a spline or two and assume the cone screw is in the the right place when it's not.

914 shifting is notoriously vague to start with as compared to a modern trans with a direct shifter (i.e. in/on the trans directly) like a Miata.

Order all new bushings, do at your convenience now that you have it shifting.