First of all, hope everybody’s weekend is off to a good start and thanks and advance for any ideas.

I’ve had a long standing shift issue in the ex-turbo car that has me stumped. It’s extremely difficult to drive the car, because I never know what gear I’m going to get despite all of the couplers and bushings being new, including the firewall bushing.

I know how to rewind the shifter and haven’t had any trouble getting a good shift pattern on the other 914s so I don’t think that is the issue.

On our morning drive today Gabe pointed out that my shifter moves laterally back-and-forth as if it’s a neutral, even when it’s in gear. In other words even after you select a gear and get a clean shift you can wiggle the shifter as if it is in neutral.

Does that trigger any ideas as to the problem? I’ve swapped the shifter itself but for all I know the one I swapped could have been bad/off.

Trying to rule out anything external before I pull the box.

Once in hear it holds gears and syncros are good and the box is quiet and oil stays clean.

Thanks!

Lateral is usually a knuckle bushing, so think twisting. You need to have someone move the shifter and look for things moving that shouldn't. I'm assuming the linkages were not modified? If so that could be the problem.

Good morning and thanks for the response.

There is no slop in the connection between the shift rod in the cabin, and the shifter assembly, any movement in the shifter, directly translates to movement of the shift rod that goes underneath the center consul, and then exits the firewall.

Bruce, kindly checked the dimensions of the long shift rod that goes underneath the engine and that was correct, I don’t believe the coupler, nor the linkage at the rear has been modified, or at least it’s not jumping out at me as having been modified.

This is one of the hazards of having a bunch of cars but I believe when I rebuilt the coupler, I put brass bushings in it so I’ll need to double check it, but as long as I install those properly, it seems unlikely that’s the issue. I’ve rebuilt a bunch of those, including for one of the 911’s recently without issues so I’d like to think I’m competent to enough to do that although those that know me would probably argue against that. Ha.

2 easy checks: Shifting rod bushings (rear and center), or maybe you have clutch/speedo cables bunching up in the tunnel.

Misread original post.......i have no idea

But there are some screws in the shifter that may have come loose.

Is the cone screw on the knuckle missing or loose?

Thank you again for the ideas and suggestions, I have to double check that the locating screw on the rear Cylindrical shaped extension from the shift rod is in place and fully tight. I did put a new setscrew in when I was coming through and placing all the cup bushings but it’s possible that I didn’t see it properly or it somehow vibrated loose.

If you find that any of the the cone screws came lose, cinch them down with a drop of blue Loctite on the threads

Hello people - hope everyone finally had a dry weekend.

So here is the update;

1) the rear cone screw had worked its way partially loose, and I've got all the gears now

2) the odd side-to-side zero resistance play at the shift did NOT go away even with the rear cone screw fully tightened

3) double checked the coupler cone screw to make sure that didn't back out and sure enough it had also partially back out.

Neither the coupler nor rear cone screw appeared backed out at a glance but they both took additional tightening.

I'll go back and add a touch of Loctite to both.

Fingers crossed but think that will likely take care of it.

I appreciate both the help and patience - Thank You

Oops - neglected to report one other thing I found and fixed. The prior owner used too long of a bolt to mount the seat belt receiver stalk so the shift rod was making contact with the bolt which wasn't exactly helping the shifting action.

Dont use loctite replace the cone screws.
Folks dont realize they are a single use Nylock patched fastener & once removed wont always hold.

A dab of red locktite has worked well for me in the past. Just enough to keep them in there, but not too tight for the screw to strip if you try to remove it.

The shifter itself could be loose. Sometimes the rod (and I’m talking the part that the shift knob attached to) works itself free of the base. Some folks JB Weld it back into place, others weld and grind the weld down. But if it is this issue you’ll see movement where the rod enters the half spherical portion of the shifter base. May have to remove the shifter mechanism to see it. Will definitely need to remove it to repair it. Good luck finding and repairing your issue!

Play can exist anywhere along the shift linkage, from the stick itself all the way back to where the rake engages the fingers inside the transmission case. You will have to find where this play is.

You can pop the plastic cover off the side-shift console and grab the shift rod head--the "T" piece that the rear shift rod goes through. Then have someone wiggle the gear shifter and see if it moves without the shift rod head moving. If so, you have a problem between the lever and the rod head. If not, the problem is the rod head, or the rake and fingers inside the transmission.

Similarly, you can grab the U-joint where the front shift rod bolts to the rear shift rod, and have someone wiggle the shift lever. This helps isolate the problem to in front of or behind that. And so on.

The base of the shift lever has an epoxy joint in it somewhere. That can start to fail and it will cause problems. Often the lever will start to rotate when the epoxy fails, but it's worth checking anyway.

It's unlikely for where the front rod goes into the couple under the shift lever to have play, but it's worth checking. You can open the access plate in the top of the center tunnel to make sure the front shift rod turns with the motion of the shift lever.

The firewall bushing can fail. The shift coupler can fail or have slop in it. The cone screw in the coupler can back out. The castle bushing on the side shift console can fail or wear--and it often does not fit that well, and needs shimming or gluing to stay in place solidly. The shift rod head can be loose on the rear shift rod, the cone screw can back out, the bushing inside the coupler can wear or fail. There can be slop where the selector mechanism goes through the side shift console into the transmission case. The rake and fingers can have slop in the engagement between the two.

Those are the possible wear points that can cause slop like you are experiencing. You need to check all of them, or check enough stuff around them to rule them out.

--DD