Last930

The clutch on my '04 X50 TT is starting to slip when hitting full boost in 4th or 5th gear; it seems to grab well in the lower gears. Car has 37k on it; all street driven. No chattering or grabiness evident. How can this fail this fast? I've driven manual trans cars all my life; this is the first I've ever had to replace because of slippage. Car is stock, driven briskly but not abusively.

No plans to mod car anytime soon, but may flash and replace exhaust at some point in future. Any suggestions on what type of clutch to replace it with? Don't want all the rattling associated with a LWFW, from what I've read.

602996TT

I just replaced mine this summer I thought the same thing mine only had 38,000 miles it slipped twice in 5th and 6th took it to mechanic next day had it replaced with the Sachs 2.5 kit from Awe Tunning and reused my stock dual mass flywheel.

Last930

What kind of $ does this run?

Kevin

Mileage will vary.. Many folks have replaced there stock clutch before 30K... It really depends on the usage and driving style. Stop and go traffic and how many drag style launches with the prior owners.

I sell a dual mass clutch kit for our cars. Stage XYZ with the Sachs Race Engineering 764 pressure plate, disk and all the hardware including T/O fork bushings and bearings for $1,685.00

Kevin

This is also another option..

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-turb...-445-00-a.html

Last930

Thanks Kevin; I'll be in touch with you once I have a mechanic lined up. One other change that seems to have occurred at the same time as the clutch started to slip is the engagement spot changed. Now, the clutch starts to engage with the pedal just barely off the floor; before it was about 1/4 of the total pedal travel before I could feel the friction point on engagement. It starts to dissengage at the same spot as always, about 1/4 of the travel. Could this be a slave cylinder issue? The accumulator was replaced about 2 years ago; the slave was not replaced at that time. No signs of fluid leaks.

Kevin

You could be having a slave issue. Typically one will see Pentosin being pushed at the reservoir or leaks at the slave. Can't rule out the slave, I have seen two that have had piston/bore corrosion that caused travel/binding issues (rare situation).

With your engagement changing, I am wondering if you have a FORK or bushing issue. Typically as the clutch lining wears the pedal engagement point will rise. A rule of thumb is wear is evident once the engagement point moves past 50% travel. We are starting to see uneven wear with clutch forks, worn nylon bushings and dry needle bearings and shafts.

Last930

It is kind of a wierd change, in that the clutch starts to release pretty close to the top of the travel when pushing the clutch pedal in. But it doesn't totally dissengage until just off the floor; that is where it starts to engage also when releasing the clutch pedal. In other words it takes pretty much the full range of travel to completely engage, or dissengage. No chattering on engagement, but it does chatter some on a downshift if you don't match revs well.

Bates

Help me out here... how does a clutch grab in low gears, but slip in high gears?

dprantl

Maximum load on a fully engaged clutch happens at the engine's torque peak, and also when the tires have no chance of slipping. The higher the gear the less chance of tires slipping, hence more load going through the clutch. It's like imagining the stress on a bicycle chain's drive sprockets when you stomp on the pedals with the bike stationary. If you start to slip the tire, the load on the sprocket decreases, but if you put the bike in highest gear and stomp on it, the wheel is firmly planted and all that force goes straight into the sprocket. Higher gears also stay in the maximum torque range longer.

Dan

rmc1148

I understand how it works but agree it only makes sense when you add the science/physics of it lol.

SSST

I'm at 65k and believe I am still on the original clutch. The car came with detailed service records and was only serviced at the dealer I bought it from. I actually used that as a negotiating point with them so I'm pretty sure that's the case.

Clutch still holds fast under full load. I know I'm probably living on borrowed time. I still have the factory accumulator and slave as well. No stiffness in the clutch even after sitting for more than a week.

Am I just lucky?

drh

I'm not Kevin but I would like to mention I had his GT3RS/Turbo 4 Liter Clutch Kit installed when my engine was out.

My car developed a cooling leak from one of the tubes separating, so I had everything TIG welded. Also went with a new coolant tank, water pump, and a clutch slave. The accumulator was relatively new, so it was not replaced.

Bottom line was ~$7000 for everything by the time I was done, but my car is now bullet proof IMO.

The nice thing about working with Kevin (even though he's 200 miles away) is the attention to detail in the packaging of the clutch kit, the very specific installation instructions provided for the mechanic. He even spent time on the phone with the Sunset Porsche service crew when they were struggling with some issues.

Macster

Lucky. Or more likely you are just not that hard on your car's clutch.

As you might recall I had the RMS done in my 03 Turbo at around 120K miles. Or was it 115K miles? I can't recall now and I'm on the road -- currently in Wichita Falls TX (with the Turbo) -- and away from my service records so I can't look it up. Anyhow, the clutch disc showed no measurable wear.

BTW, my 02 Boxster's clutch is original and the car now has over 288K miles.

rmc1148

A clutch will last well over 100k in almost all cars if you don't slip it etc. I have never replaced a clutch in a car I bought new with some close to 150k miles. I have replaced many in cars bought used.