After a year and a half of ecstatic ownership of my '04 MCS with JCW Kit and later JCW Intake/Injector upgrade, today something truly weird happened !

On the freeway, trying to upshift from 4th to 5th, I went into 3rd gear instead. Also the shift lever felt very "floppy" in its side-to-side movements. Try as I might, I could not engage either 5th or 6th gears.

I already have an appointment to take the car to the dealer Thursday morning. I have added the Alta Short Shifter to the car but for the life of me I can't imagine how this would affect, adversely or otherwise, the internals of the transmission.

From you mechanics out there: Any suggestions about what might have gone wrong ?

From you lawyers out there: What should I say if the dealer tries to blame the Alta Short Shifter for the trouble?

Thanks for all your thoughts . . .

Joe

 

Sounds like one of the two shifter cables has broken, detached from the shifter lever, or popped loose from one of the actuator levers on the transaxle housing. If so, it should be an uncomplicated fix. I'd suspect a loose cable on the shifter side, since you mentioned that the car is fitted with an aftermarket shifter modification.

If my hypothesis is correct, though, there is a possibility the repair may not be covered under OEM warranty, depending on how "mod-friendly" your dealer is.

That said, even if the dealer tech believes your shifter mod to be the cause, the dealer might cut you some slack, if it's the one where you had your JCW kit fitted. After all, they made a lot of cash off you for that. And those who start down the JCW path usually look to JCW first for future mods. It's in their best interest to keep you happy, so you come back to them when you're ready to do the suspension...and the brakes...and the...

That's one of the seldom-mentioned benefits of opting for the JCW upgrade path.

:smile: