Hale yea! Was thinking that all weekend while doing an upper (outer) engine reseal on a 25yo motorcycle.

Doing a clutch with a lift is doable. Doing a clutch on jackstands would be a MAJOR pain in the ****.

 

OK car back. I need to sell the cat, lava lamp, and various body parts, but it was less than expected.

Total: $3616 w/dual-mass flywheel. He said the flywheel was blue from heat.... I believe them, but honestly, I had no warning this thing was going and I just drove on it for maybe five miles.

Doesn't feel as touchy.... maybe the touchyness I had was evidence of a pending failure?

Dual mass flywheel: $1307.62
Cheese-HD: 2.86 (WTF? who the F ordered head cheese?)
Release lever: 33.97
Realease bearing $196.90
Clutch kit: $782.54
Torx screw: $.63
-------------------------------
Total parts: $2353.41
Labor: $1085.00
Tax: $204.72 (oh yea, give it to me again!)
Other stuff: xxxx
Vaseline at checkout: $0 (nice touch!)
-------------------------
BendOver: $3616.63

Peace
Bruce in Philly

 

Too bad about the lava lamp. Did you get to keep the PTX?

 

I'm not anti-dealer and will use the dealer or indy depending on the repair. On a clutch a good indy can sand a flywheel and avoid a replacement. The dealer's business model is part replacement oriented so if a new flywheel is needed it would be purchased new. That is why I favor indies for clutch work. FWIW

 

FWIW,

Looking back, now driving on a new clutch and flywheel, I did have symptoms but they were not like any failing clutch symptoms I have heard of. Usually, the classic symptom is slippage.

I suspect I did not have the classic symptoms because Porsche has a "self-adjusting" clutch... at least on the 997.2 S model.

Does anyone know what exactly is a "self adjusting" clutch is?

The new clutch is easy to work with grab coming on nice and gradual. Prior to my failure, about a month ago:

1 - I remember thinking that I am losing my touch as the clutch was real grabby and I had to be careful or I would jerk the car forward from a dead stop.

2 - About a week before failure, I would occasionally hear what I thought was a wheel bearing going or an engine pully ... a rumble squeal.

I never heard that what I experienced above would be symptoms of a failing clutch.

Experiences?

Peace
Bruce in Philly

 

Usually the symptom of impending clutch failure in a 997 is a very stiff pedal. You may not be able to tell without having a second car to drive and compare it to, but my wife's car at 95,000 miles has a much stiffer clutch pedal than mine at 50,000 miles, which is why the clutch pack parts are already in my parts cabinet, as I'm guessing about the time she hits 100,000 miles, we'll be doing a new clutch, which will be my first time on that particular repair in a 997.

 

I think mine is going. Pedal is feeling gritty and the clutch shudders on engagement. Makes me think pressure plate failure more than clutch plate. Any suggestion in Palm Beach Clunty, FL for a place to do replacement?

 

for the tow to the indy you can just get AAA. They tow up to 100 miles for free with the membership. I think the membership was 80 or 100 bucks, but you get 3 service calls so. it ends up being worth it.

 

The Sachs SAC (self adjusting clutch) is designed so the as the clutch disc wears down and gets thinner, the pressure plate shifts on a ratcheting ramp to keep the leverage the same as new so that the clamp pressure and peddle effort pressure does not increase, like it does in the standard diaphragm pressure plates.

That's why on the Sachs SAC system you cannot just replace the disc, you must replace the disc AND pressure plate or it will not release. Or have the pressure rebuilt/reset by a good clutch rebuilder. I have had a few Porsche pressure plates rebuilt/reset and some Kevlar discs made that are on the road. I may make a little side business out of it just for a few extra bucks while I'm enjoying my retirement. So all you guys that are replacing you clutches right now, save your old parts I may want them to recycle in a few months/year.

 

^^ cool, and by the way, perhaps my favourite avatar!

 

Thanks !!

 

 

Thread from the dead...mine went yesterday while at NJMP Lightning. After bowl/turn 9 onto the main straight, shifted 4-5 and...revs but no acceleration. Damn. As others have noted the engagement point immediately became much higher and pedal felt strange. I bought the car with 55k miles and it ticked over 72k yesterday while at the track. Similar to @Bruce In Philly I can blame myself or the POs...naturally I will choose to blame the POs. I love to heel/toe and do it all the time, street or track, and try to be as gentle on the clutch as possible. No hard starts. The clutch has been rather stiff since I got it so perhaps this has been a long time coming. I've also noticed that, after the car is warm, there is a fair amount of flywheel noise when in neutral with my foot off the clutch - not sure if this is fairly typical for these cars or if that means a flywheel is also in my future. If there is any question I'd rather just do that now as well. Points of reference are never having replaced a clutch on any previous cars, mileage of which was highest on my '03 VW GTI that I got with 18k miles and drove to over 130k before selling with solid clutch.

Sigh - dropped it at Protosport - I was able to limp it there with very very light throttle application - anything more than that and it was slip city. Will report back on total cost for another datapoint.

 

Just had my clutch replaced at 47,536 miles.

Around $2,000 from my independent. Also had the rear shocks replaced at the same time. Free flatbed to shop via AAA.

 

Not that it will help any of you, but I did mine on jack stands and it was the easiest clutch job I have ever done. Took a day and a half as I started late on the first day.