Help. My 901 side shifter (its connected to a 2.7l 6) has suddenly (within a day) gotten very sloppy. It was actually working pretty well as 901 boxes go, but now I've got 4-5 inches of play when its in gear. Any ideas as to what happened?? Thanks

1) set screw on the shifter coupler came loose
2) firewall bushing broke and left the building

those are usually the 2 big ones that can happen in an instant ...
Andy

Those both seem intact. The shifter rod as it passes through the firewall moves very little. Most of extraneous movement seems to be at the shift lever. Thanks for the reply.

mhmmm, i have heard of shifters itself brake, but never had that happen myself.

if you have access to a replacement shifter, i would try replacing that.
good luck,
Andy

There are 2 bushings and a spring inside the shifter itself. Replacement of these run around $45 from Porsche.

Goto the last section of

rebuild

I just had a similar problem with my car. The problem turned out to be the shift rod. Get under the car and try to change gears by moving the shift rod. I found that the very end of the rod, closest to the rear bumber, had broken loose. It was still holding on, but it was sloppy. When I had the rod repaired the shop said that it was a common failure.

Good Luck.

Looks like you'll have to check everything. I suggest you check the shift rod universal joint at the engine firewall. If the bushings in the joint are old and brittle they can break down and literally fall apart in chunks. Mine did this several years ago. Should this happen the amount of play in the linkage immediately increases greatly.

I agree, check your 2 bushings in the yoke. when mine grenaded it immediately doubled the play and shifting was a nightmare at best. I would recomend replacement of all bushings you won't believe the difference Also I have seen the lever with the ball out of the tranny come loose from wear in the hole where it is pinned to the tranny shaft Good luck

Thanks to one and all for your help!