Has anyone got any experience of gearbox failures on 997S.1 cars?

I was just pulling away in 1st gear and heard a metallic 'ping' from under my car. 1st gear is now very noisy (rattly) as is the gearbox when in neutral with the clutch engaged. 2nd to 6th are all quiet (but I only drove a few hundred yards to get the car back home). The gear change is still normal (even into first). I'd noticed the gearbox was getting harder and harder to get into first over recent weeks, especially when cold.

My local independent is collecting the car tomorrow and tell me they can get parts for these 'boxes. Just wondered if anyone was familiar with the internals and might have any idea what might have happened?

Thanks

 

wow! Ian you have to have some of the worst luck of anyone on this forum. Sorry to hear about another problem with your car.

 

do not drive on 1st any more, if it got a tooth cracked or completely separated it may (and probably already did) damage other wheel it gets in contact with. you better tow car now.

if broken out metal piece will get into other working gears it may(will) destroy entire gearbox. if you`re lucky you may need to replace a single damaged wheel only.

 

One of those things..... To be honest everything else has turned out to be quite minor - an ECU reflash and MAF solved all the rough running and the stuck valve lifter freed itself so - 'touch wood' - it's not been too bad.

My independent has a feeling the first gear problem might not be too serious either as it's separate to the rest of the gear chain in the box (apparently) and more accessible than the others. Fingers crossed......!

 

Thanks for the (excellent) advice. I think you're absolutely right so the car's being trailered to the shop tomorrow.

 

Ian,

If they do have to pull the box off the engine now would be the time to look at the clutch and at the very least replace the throw out bearing.

Sorry to hear and I hope it does turn out to be something simple.

 

Hi Ian,
I've seen you've experienced issues with the gearbox on your previous 997 and would be interested to hear exactly what the issue turned out to be. The reason I ask is that my local independent has diagnosed a kind of ticking noise (when rear wheels are in motion) to be something wrong with the gearbox, ring and pinion he is assuming.

Having done lots of research speaking with OPC and gearbox recon specialists they are all telling me that the 997 gearbox is bullet proof and it is very rare to have issues with one.

What is the indipendent you use as I've considering taking my car to one up your way in Knutsford who have good experience in Porsche gearbox rebuilds and either have the box rebuilt or get an exchanged one fitted.

Cheers for any info you can provide me with.


Jake

 

Ian, it's been a long time, but would you mind telling us how this turned out? What was the diagnosis, what fix did you perform, and how much (roughly) did it cost at the time?

 

It has been a few years, yes!

The outcome was a tooth had broken off one of the gears inside the 'box and had done a lot of damage. Rather than repair the 'box - a job that involves a lot of hours and attendant costs - the Porsche specialist I used back then managed to source a good-condition used gearbox. IIRC it was about £2500 in 2009 money, plus the specialist's time to swap the boxes over.

The used 'box was still working perfectly when I sold the car on in 2011. (I traded it in against a 9 month old 997S.2 with a PDK 'box. That gearbox was nothing but trouble too, but that's a whole different story........)!

 

There is a thread over on Rennlist right now about the PDK gearboxes in 997s. If you're a member there also, maybe you could contribute to the poll and a message with your experience.

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...l#post15110520

Still have the 997.2 or have you moved on to something else?