Hi out there-

It's been just over two years since I owned a 914 and my wife and I just bought another this weekend.

It's a 1970 1.7L and seems to be reasonably stock. I have an issue I'd like to work out sooner rather than later and hoped someone could help.

I searched the forums first- didn't find what I was looking for and so here goes:

The fifth gear on this '70 pops out - especially under load (upon giving it gas to go faster). I recall my '73 having a similar issue- but it was with a different gear and it was the side shift tranny - not the tail shifter that's in this early car. I had a 71 tail shifter as well- never had an issue with that one.

I plan to commute in this car this summer and my commute is 40 miles one way- so I'll use 5th gear a lot! I'm hoping to NOT have to hold the shifter in 5th all the way to work!

Any ideas or suggestions on how to remedy this issue would be great. Of course being a 914er I'm budget minded- don't mind the sweat and elbow grease methods though! So what's the least expensive but SAFEST way to resolve the issue? Should I check linkage first? Any trick to that? I've not played with tail-shift linkage yet.

Thanks!

Likely a worn synchro. Sounds like a need for a transmission tear down. After all the ride is close to 40 years old.....

Has the fluid been changed lately? Checked the bushings?

Likely that it is internal...a tear-down takes about 2x the $$ and 10x the time as finding a good, used replacement and swapping. I went through a side-shift conversion on my '72 and it took 1-2 days to swap transaxles, bushings etc and the refresh of that box (for better synchro rings and new gear ratio) took 3 months.

Inspecting bushings and transaxle mounts are the best first step. If the trans mounts at the back are busted inside on the rubber (most are at 40 yrs old!) then the entire assembly twists more under load...maybe not the root of the problem but no doubt making it worse. Mounts are easy to replace, jut jack up and support the transaxle and swap the mounts.

Good luck

Try adjusting the shifter first. It might be not fully engaging because of a misaligned shifter.

And what Chris said. Check the bushings. Your early car has two at the shifter, three at the firewall, and one at the rear. All need to be in perfect condition to maximize shifting potential.

Good Luck! Keep us posted, so everyone can learn.

No time to address this now, but click my links below and see if any of it makes sense. I can help with your gear box problems

I'd plan on replacing the 4/5 slider and syncro rings on 4th and 5th. A used slider is in order and new syncro rings.

For all of you thinking that 4/5 parts are worn out before the lower gears, I can tell you that I have NEVER seen that happen in over 100 gear box tear downs. Its not impossible, but common things are common.

In my link is a list of things to check. Links, bushings, shift rod adjustment.

Are 1st and third giving you any fits at all? They are in the same plane of travel and would point to the shift rod in the cabin.

Is 4th giving you any fits? If so then this again indicates the cabin shifter as the 4th and 5th are in the same plane.

The only way I can figure a 5th gear dying before 1, 2, or 3 is if someone was in the box messing around and did something cheap and dumb.

I think you are on to it-

No problems in any other gear- and in going through the paperwork that came with the car today- I found lot's of receipts and diagrams for transmission parts. I'll gather up a list of the parts the previous owner ordered and post them here tonight or tomorrow.

That way perhaps more insight can be had into what's going on with it.

I'll try to get some pics too- the tail of the tranny has gobs of gear oil and goo all over it- it's very messy as if someone was trying to lube it up too much.

Thanks a ton everyone!

I's actually quite common as a cheap "fix" to rotate the 4-5 slider when 4th won't downshift properly. One of my boxes started popping out of 5th, it was apparent that 4th syncro was badly worn, but the slider was worn on 5th. Of course 5th syncro looked a lot better than 4th since the worn slider would barely touch it...

Like I said, not a naturally occuring problem. I commonly, with the permission of the owner, will swap 2/3 and 4/5 sliders as the 4/5 tend to be in excellent shape. To swap a 2/3 in shitty shape into the 4/5 slot would yield bad results instantly. I would be suspect of any work on this box. Did it just start with htis problem or has it always been this way?

You still need to check the external stuff or you may end up in the same spot.