I’d purchased perhaps the world’s cheapest running, driving 981-chassis Cayman, buying this 2014 Porsche for just $15,000 last year.
Then my wife and I drove it cross-country back to our Florida home.
What’s the catch? Oh, nothing major–just two missing gears in the transmission. And after lots of dragging my feet and plenty of nice weekend drives in the …
I don't see what the big deal is. How much different can it be from that VW Fox you guys used to race?
(I can't even type that with out laughing...)
Good Luck! Been wondering when we were going to this, I'm betting it turns out great.
Okay, say you can open it up and you are able to determine what is wrong and even separate the broken pieces/parts from the rest of the transmission. How are you supposed to identify correct part numbers of the needed replacement components and where exactly are you supposed to buy those needed replacement components from, if Porsche says its not serviceable? Something like; "Well I suppose you can buy another broken transmission missing say 1st and 2nd gears and between the two broken transmissions you maybe able to reassemble one good unit."
Maybe the real question to ask is exactly why does Porsche say that this transmission is not serviceable? Something to do with magic fairy dust sprinkled in side? Or the fluid itself which is distilled from the tears of elves? Or was it because Uncle Fredric disappeared while hiking in the Bavarian mountains before he could complete his work on the factory service manual?
In reply to deaconblue :
OEM's are getting into assemblies for repair purposes. It cuts down on comebacks, especially transmissions. The amount of people able to fix in the field is small. To bring someone up to speed the individual dealership doesn't have time to invest into this person. If someone wanted to pay me to fix transmissions at the dealer level I wouldn't have left. It's all the other bs that forces people out.
deaconblue said:Maybe the real question to ask is exactly why does Porsche say that this transmission is not serviceable?
Don't ask, and don't notice the J-B Weld.
I've been looking forward to this!
We have to remember that they have a Bridgeport a Lathe and a welder. IIRC it could just be a pin from reading past threads about the ride home in it.
deaconblue said:Okay, say you can open it up and you are able to determine what is wrong and even separate the broken pieces/parts from the rest of the transmission. How are you supposed to identify correct part numbers of the needed replacement components and where exactly are you supposed to buy those needed replacement components from, if Porsche says its not serviceable? Something like; "Well I suppose you can buy another broken transmission missing say 1st and 2nd gears and between the two broken transmissions you maybe able to reassemble one good unit."
Maybe the real question to ask is exactly why does Porsche say that this transmission is not serviceable? Something to do with magic fairy dust sprinkled in side? Or the fluid itself which is distilled from the tears of elves? Or was it because Uncle Fredric disappeared while hiking in the Bavarian mountains before he could complete his work on the factory service manual?
The transmission is more or less common with the GT4 and also is basically just an audi trans minus the awd provisions. There's enough people working on the GT4s and some amount of service info/parts available on the audi side that people have figured out how to source most of the relevant parts.
This seems more like a "Time to drop our Porsche Cayman's broken transmission" article to me.
I came here for carnage!
You should set up a poll with several choices - "missing roll pin", "backed-off locknut", "split selector fork", etc, and let us vote on it. Those who guess right get...I dunno, sticker, a hat, some kinda swag.
My WAG? Some type of retention device fell out/wiggled loose/sheared, and is no longer performing it's designed function. Easy fix, once you find it.
Other posters beat me to it, but to answer the question of "where do I get parts once I figured out what's wrong?"
So, I'd prefer to just make whatever I need to fix the transmission. I've got a fairly decent home machine shop, so as long as the gears are okay I can likely make or repair the parts that move them around.
If that's not feasible, then I'll be hunting used parts or begging Audi people for part numbers.
earlybroncoguy1 said:You should set up a poll with several choices - "missing roll pin", "backed-off locknut", "split selector fork", etc, and let us vote on it. Those who guess right get...I dunno, sticker, a hat, some kinda swag.
My WAG? Some type of retention device fell out/wiggled loose/sheared, and is no longer performing it's designed function. Easy fix, once you find it.
Sounds like fun. Whoever correctly guesses the failure mode first gets a free T-shirt of their choice from the GRM store. Post your guesses in this thread, and be specific. Not "some type of retention device," instead let's see who can guess exactly what happened. I'll open the transmission up one night this week.
Broken fork 5-7
In reply to Tom Suddard :
OK - roll pin missing/sheared that secures the selector fork to the shift rail.
I have zero idea of how the inside of a Porsche/Audi transaxle is configured (despite owning a '66 912 with a 901 trans for over 30 years), I'm extrapolating from rebuilding Honda 3 wheeler transmissions and the Dana 20 transfer case in a '71 Bronco. Gears on splined shafts, forks on shift rails...a trans is a trans.
The part that is bolted is no longer capable of bolting.
earlybroncoguy1 said:You should set up a poll with several choices - "missing roll pin", "backed-off locknut", "split selector fork", etc, and let us vote on it. Those who guess right get...I dunno, sticker, a hat, some kinda swag.
My WAG? Some type of retention device fell out/wiggled loose/sheared, and is no longer performing it's designed function. Easy fix, once you find it.
I'm going with roll pin or whatever is used to hold the 5-6 selector fingers fell off. Not the synchro end, the shift mechanism end.
IMS bearing. There ... someone had to say it because according to the interwebz, the IMS bearing is "Everything Everywhere All At Once."
For the record, the interwebz may also give the same answer if the frunk didn't open. 
Anyway, good luck with the repair.
I guess you are lucky it's not a broken PDK, though I wouldn't want to deal with either one.
Coincidentally I am dropping off my wife's 981 Boxster for a transmission issue on Friday. Hoping Drivers Choice Motors in Longwood can take care of it. 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼
Broken or bent shift fork because of ham-fisted shifts.
I am so looking forward to this! A success story here would bring me just that much closer to buying a Porsche in the near future -- I can't wait!!! 
My guess
an assortment of triple square bits. (Hey, it is a modern Porsche, after all.)
That could also mean it's a 40 year old VW van :)
I say you leave it as a 4 speed, paint it brown and call it vintage. 4 speeds were enough for the 930.
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