Back in a 914 - and have one question now- more to follow I'm sure Options

[Jona Gold]

Hi out there-

It's been just over two years since I owned a 914 and my wife and I just bought another this weekend.

It's a 1970 1.7L and seems to be reasonably stock. I have an issue I'd like to work out sooner rather than later and hoped someone could help.

I searched the forums first- didn't find what I was looking for and so here goes:

The fifth gear on this '70 pops out - especially under load (upon giving it gas to go faster). I recall my '73 having a similar issue- but it was with a different gear and it was the side shift tranny - not the tail shifter that's in this early car. I had a 71 tail shifter as well- never had an issue with that one.

I plan to commute in this car this summer and my commute is 40 miles one way- so I'll use 5th gear a lot! I'm hoping to NOT have to hold the shifter in 5th all the way to work!

Any ideas or suggestions on how to remedy this issue would be great. Of course being a 914er I'm budget minded- don't mind the sweat and elbow grease methods though! So what's the least expensive but SAFEST way to resolve the issue? Should I check linkage first? Any trick to that? I've not played with tail-shift linkage yet.

Thanks!

[Dr Evil]

For all of you thinking that 4/5 parts are worn out before the lower gears, I can tell you that I have NEVER seen that happen in over 100 gear box tear downs. Its not impossible, but common things are common. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

In my link is a list of things to check. Links, bushings, shift rod adjustment.

Are 1st and third giving you any fits at all? They are in the same plane of travel and would point to the shift rod in the cabin.

Is 4th giving you any fits? If so then this again indicates the cabin shifter as the 4th and 5th are in the same plane.

The only way I can figure a 5th gear dying before 1, 2, or 3 is if someone was in the box messing around and did something cheap and dumb.

[914Mike]

For all of you thinking that 4/5 parts are worn out before the lower gears, I can tell you that I have NEVER seen that happen in over 100 gear box tear downs. Its not impossible, but common things are common. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
...

The only way I can figure a 5th gear dying before 1, 2, or 3 is if someone was in the box messing around and did something cheap and dumb.

I's actually quite common as a cheap "fix" to rotate the 4-5 slider when 4th won't downshift properly. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif) One of my boxes started popping out of 5th, it was apparent that 4th syncro was badly worn, but the slider was worn on 5th. Of course 5th syncro looked a lot better than 4th since the worn slider would barely touch it...