6 speed shifter "locked/stuck in gear" when running. Normal shifts when car is off!?
 

Hello,

I have utilized the Search function to it's fullest potential without any luck to my specific problem.

It's a 2001 Porsche 996 turbo with approximately 83,800 miles. Bone stock. No modifications. (One day, I'll catch the bug again and start modding the heck out of it).

Up to date and always Porsche dealer serviced/maintained by previous owner. I'm the 2nd owner.

Records show there was a 2nd clutch installed by the Porsche dealer at 47,900 miles on odometer (35,900 miles ago). Porsche records show: "clean and replaced clutch plate, pressure plate and bearing. Touch up Flywheel". Clutch still runs strong today, no slipping.

At 77,127 miles on odometer: The dealer found "Clutch slave cylinder leaking internally and pushing power steering fluid back into clutch fluid reservoir and overflowing". Porsche dealer Replaced clutch slave cylinder and reservoir and clutch accumulator/Clutch operating cylinder. This was 6,673 miles ago.

Recent coolant and clutch bled at 80,999 miles on odometer (2,801 miles ago) due to other engine work performed. Again, ALWAYS Porsche dealer serviced & up to date. Fully documented. And I'm just mentioning those records pertinent for this post.

Here’s my problem and it’s definitely causing some good conversation with several enthusiasts I know:

Was driving around locally (no major high spirited driving) for about an hour and everything was fine and normal. Got into some traffic. Got to a stop light and did my usual: press down the clutch pedal and apply brakes to come to a stop and tried to shift out of gear & into neutral. But it was stuck in gear! Had to shut down engine and then I was able to shift out of gear very easily into neutral. Fired her up again while in neutral. Then when light turned green, I was unable to get the shifter into 1st gear. We were stuck. Had to turn ignition off again and shut down the 996tt, then it easily shifted into 1st gear and then started her up yet again and drove/limped it to safety. So here's some details:

Shifter will not get into or out of any gear when car is on and running.

Shifter will smoothly go in and out of gear when car is off. No problem at all, shifts like butter. (ruled out shifter linkage issues?)

In order to move/limp the car around, I have to turn car off and shift into the gear I want (For moving purposes: Reverse, 1st or 2nd gear). Then start her up in that specified gear in order to drive/limp around. So, I'll be locked into that specified shifted gear in order to drive. And once I get to a stop light, I press down the clutch pedal and it acts normal like it should as if it's in Neutral til I stop but I'm unable to get it out of that gear it's in until I turn the car off. And only then I can easily shift out of the gear when car is off. Then repeat. Apologize for the redundancy but just wanted to be clear in my explanation.

Clutch pedal feel is normal. Before this "locked up shifter" issue started, the car ran beautifully. No slipping. Clutch seemed fine in local driving as well as 3rd gear pulls at higher rpm's. Holds up strong. No slipping. Normal clutch pedal feel with a slightly annoying squeaky sound when pressing down and releasing pedal. Otherwise, feels normal.

Power steering / Pentosin and brake Fluids are topped off & recently freshened with no evident leaks on ground. Plus as mentioned above, the dealer took care of and replaced the clutch slave cylinder and reservoir and clutch accumulator/Clutch operating cylinder recently (approx. 6,673 miles ago).

Once again, I apologize for the redundancy and long post but I'm just trying to make this as clear as possible since this is such a unique issue.

Any thoughts considering all that I mentioned above?

Sounds like a typical hydraulic failure, but if you're convinced otherwise, it could be a failed pressure plate, or a bent clutch fork (unlikely in a 996). Your pressure plate is definitely not releasing your clutch disc. If there is a way to measure the movement of the slave cylinder rod, that will tell you if the issue is hydraulic in nature. If the rod is moving the clutch fork at full stroke, then the pressure plate is the problem.

Perhaps the throw out bearing is damaged?

I missed this part. You're saying you can come to a complete stop in gear if you push the clutch in?

Yes. Complete stop and clutch pedal pressed down to the floor but still stuck in gear.

I don't know then. If the clutch is disengaged, the transmission should behave exactly like it does when the car is off. But if the clutch were still engaged, you would not be able to come to a stop.

Hence, our dilemma.
But thank you both (XR4Tim & B8 RDC) for your responses.

It's almost like there's an obstruction in the shifter gates. but then when the ignition is off, it shifts thru the shifter gates effortlessly like it's butter. So that rules out any shifter obstruction, correct?

We are truly baffled by this issue.....

any other thoughts?

This exact thing happen to me. I had a bent tooth on my pressure plate and had to replace the entire clutch assembly. It just happened completely out of the blue!

wow. gotta file this one under "hope that never happens". bummer.

Update: when I originally posted, the 996tt was at normal operating temps & was driven in quite a bit in traffic. And I was able to come to a stop in gear when I pressed clutch pedal down & stopped. So the drivetrain was already warm/hot from driving around.

Several weeks have gone by (996tt is not my daily driver). Now that it's cold & has been sitting for awhile in garage: on a cold start keeping it in neutral & warming up the motor to almost normal operating temps it will lunge forward in 1st gear (once I turn ignition off, slide it into 1st with clutch pedal down to floor then start.....it will lunge forward)

So as XR4Tim originally suggested: thinking its a hydraulic issue?

So please note the following:

Still cannot put into gear when running. now when I try going into gear gently, the 996tt creeps forward. I'm not forcing through the shift gates.

So when ignition is off, easily slides into any gear when off. Chose 1st gear to slide into. Turn ignition on & tried to turn her over and now she would leap forward! Good thing E brake was on.

So now I cannot drive/limp her around like I originally posted.

Clutch pedal feels normal. But I did hear a bubbling sound when sitting in drivers seat & pumped the clutch pedal. The sound came from the front firewall area...assuming it's the master cylinder. Confirmed reservoir was bubbling. No leaks on ground, all fluids topped off.

Again fully documented by Porsche showing several internal & external parts related to clutch being replaced in the past (please see my original post for the list). Some under warranty & some not.

Truly appreciate this forum & valued feedback from it's members. I joined years ago & did a whole lot of research about our platform. Not much of a poster. Finally found this amazing one & bought it awhile back & enjoyed it thoroughly over the summer. Just an amazing beauty. Hopefully, I'll get her back on the road soon.

master may be bad, they are not that expensive, try changing it and after that, bleed bleed bleed. The slave cylinder is the worst ***** when it comes to bleeding it. The smallest amount of air won't disengage the clutch, ask i know...

here is a test you can do, jack the car up, remove front driveshaft and put bolts on the flange. Have someone push the clutch and see if the flange will turn when turning it with a pry bar on the bolts. If not, clutch didn't disengage and you are not able to turn the flange because you are also trying to turn the engine.

That's how i did it to see when finally all the air came out, instead of putting back everything everytime and starting the car to see if it works. Quicker that way.

Sounds very similar to my situation last winter, My throw out bearing had broke, the difference in my situation is that my clutch pedal was hard as rock as the fork was siting on the clutch with no bearing.

My DD (with a traditional Dot 3 hydraulic system) had a very similar issue. Would grind when shifting from neutral to Reverse, 1st, or 2nd. Would "hold" 1st and reverse in gear with the clutch pedal to the floor. Turn the engine off and shifting was perfect. Clutch wasn't fully disengaging. This didn't happen when cold but started after about 45 minutes of driving. Was the master cylinder.

With that said, the clutch hydraulic system in the 996tt is a known weak point. I have the the master, slave, and accumulator all fail in my car. So take my experience with my DD with a grain of salt.

Sounds like throw out bearing issue