My 997 C2S is my first car with manual transmission, though I did occassionally drive my wife's manual car more than a decade ago.

Overall, with 1500 miles now on the 997, I love using the manual, but occassionally (less than 5% of the time), it's hard to get into 1st gear - it just gets stuck and doesn't go in until I jiggle it forcefully for a while. It happens randomly, with no apparent relation to whether the car is hot or cold, and with no apparent change as the miles on the car have increased.

I asked the Porsche sales guy about this today and he said this is normal for these Porsches and for every other manual car he's driven. He suggested quickly shifting into 2nd before 1st to make the problem go away.

What do you guys think? Is this normal? Does the idea of shifting into 2nd first make sense? Should I have their service people look at it (it's under warranty)?

Thanks.

 

I do the second then first for the longest time

 

This has happened to me in a huge range of vehicles and is totally normal for manual transmissions. 2nd to 1st is a good way to take care of the problem. Some cars need to be put into reverse and moved just a tiny bit. On my motorcycle, sometimes I have to rock it forward and backwards to get into 1st.

-Matt

 

Just to clarify, you're completely at standstill when you try to put it into first, but it's hard to get it in gear? Is that correct?

There's a couple of things I've noticed from teaching my wife how to drive the manual on the 997 when she's had trouble going into first:

1. Not depressing the clutch all the way in
2. The car is still rolling forward

If the car is moving, it's difficult to put into first gear unless you double clutch to match revs.

 

Yes, the problem occurs when trying to engage 1st from a standstill. I believe I'm depressing the clutch all the way, but will make sure in the future and see if it makes any difference.

 

I have this problem occasionally too - chalked it up to "one of those things" and lived w/it. 2nd then to 1st def helps - or pumping the clutch in and out once.

 

I have this happen every so often too, can't get into first from a standstill. I would not force it - last thing you want is the gear shift cable to break and then you get stranded. I usually clutch "again", i.e., leave shifter in neutral, release clutch all the way, depress clutch again, and the shifter usually moves into first no problem. (sort of like a double clutch but you're not moving)

Hope that helps...
Ron

 

My car has the same issue every now & then. Yes, the quick shift down to 2nd and back up to 1st solves it every time. I have owned several manuals (BMW, VW, Ford & Jeep), all which had the same problem (most prevelent in the Ford Mustang).

I beleive it just the way the gears align when coming to a stop, that some time they just randomly stop at the point that does not line up.

Here is a good example on how a manual transmission works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzYGc...feature=relmfu

 

I am driving my 2nd 997.1 in a year. The first one with 40K mi. was difficult to shift into 1st about 50% of the time. This was especially true when the car was cold. The 2nd car is a 997.1 S with 15k;it has this problem about 5% of the time. I haven't experienced this type of difficulty with the manual BMW's,Nissans and Toyotas I've owned.

 

Got my 06 997 C4S Cab since July Last year. I had the same problem. While this is normal for Porsche, I would say this is how stick shift is like. At least, that's not happening to my 06 STi and 00 Miata.

Here is my finding.
1> My 997 is my daily drive, and had 13K when I bought it, now it has about 24K on the clock. I have less of this issue than I first bought it, so I wonder if this may be related to driving it more = less issues. Then I probably can't confirm this under winter time when the temp is much lower int he morning.
2> You don't have to shift to 2nd. Just release the clutch, and press on it again. It fix it 99% of the time, and I may have to do it twice at that 1% (Probably because I didn't release the clutch all the way before I press on it again.

Hope that helps.

 

Did u check the "Poll" forum????

J/K........

 

Hes got more posts in 2 months then i had in 5 years on this site i havent seen any polls in a while your past due manifold lol

 

Same thing happens to me at standstill. I normally lift off the clutch, then push it back in. I'll try 2nd to 1st next time.

 

I'm surprised this is so common. Is there anyone out there who never has this problem? I wonder if this is something which varies from one transmission to another, versus being universal to all of them. Thanks for all the input so far.

 

It has to do with the dog gear being in just the right (wrong) place which makes it hard to engage. Re-engaging the clutch once usually does the trick, as does going into second first as it realigns the dog gear.