So i just picked up a 2000 S and the car was fine driving home yesterday. However, I tried to move my car today and getting into reverse was really difficult. I thought it had finally went in and when I tried reversing, the tranny grinded. After that, I was not able to move the shifter into ANY gears at all!! Engine on or off, the shifter won't go into any of the gears. What am I looking to be facing at here?

 

Your going to get a million responses from everyone claiming to have a answer but what you should really be doing is finding a good independant porsche mechanic and getting it towed in. GL I hope its nothing to severe.

 

The first thing I would check if you have a jack, get it up in the air. On the right rear of the transmission will be 2 cables coming down from the engine and they are clipped on the side with retainers and snap onto a small ball on the end. Make sure bother the outer cable retainer are secure and the inner ball is snapped on tight. If that's OK then the second think would be the check the center console behind the shifter, there is a plastic connector that sometimes brakes. If none of those are the problem then you have a more serious problem. Take it to your mechanic

 

I checked under my console and the linkage is connected. I also jacked up my rear and took a look at the cables. Both of them are still in their brackets and they move. However, I'm not sure where the ball is. If they move, does that mean the cables aren't the issue? This is what I see

 

YUp looks like it's all in place. Check to make sure you don't have a broken cable, another words climb under the car (not running) and have someone move the shifter side to side and back to front to make sure both cables are moving at the trans end. If that works OK then it's internal and unless you have mechanical aptitude I would give it to an expert.

 

just picked it up?
Sounds like you should take it back to where you bought it and give it back.
While it's possible that *hit happens and it was simply time for something to break, if you just got it, previous owner needs to step up.

 

so i tried one last time jamming the shifter with force yesterday before getting it towed, and for some reason it went into gear. I rowed through the rest and they also worked. Not sure what happened there with the gears not engaging but somehow it seems fine now

btw i did email the previous owner when this occured and he said there was nothing he could do and there were no issues prior.

 

i still haven't tried with the engine on yet though... planning to do some maintenance work before i drive this thing. previous owner didn't do much maintenenace on the car. could the tranny fluid have anything to do with this- even with the engine off?

 

have a qualified person do a check on everything including all fluids - is there oil in the engine?

 

lol.. im actually replacing the engine oil, fuel filter, air filter, and plugs this weekend. after i get that stuff done, i'm bringing it to a porsche specialist to get a second look at everything.

 

I would also change the transmission fluid change.