FRporscheman

I got the clutch apart on the blue 968 in about 4 hours (I love 968s). It was making clunking creaking noises, only while engaging the clutch. If the pedal was all the way down, or all the way up, there were no noises.

Anyway I took it apart to find the problem, and nothing was apparent, except the flywheel and pressure plate surfaces are scorched pretty dang bad! One problem with this car is the pedal engagement point is very low to the ground, and this would freak my mom out when driving uphill, so she'd ride the clutch pretty badly... and we live on top of a hill...

Checking the service records, the dual-mass flywheel is quite new, as is the clutch disk and pressure plate. I can still see the manufacturer's machining lines on the FW and PP. I don't want to replace these items, since the CHEAPEST clutch kit online is $610 and the cheapest flywheel is $700. I know people resurface flywheels all the time, but they replace pressure plates. Can't I just get the PP resurfaced too? Do I have to remove the TOB?

I've already been through the 944 clutch job 3 times so I know all the WYIAT items. TIA!

nine-44

The pedal height is adjusted bedind the pedal up by the fire wall. Be sure to leave about an inch of play on the pedal before it starts to load. You don't want constant pull load on the throwout bearing. The throwout fork pin may be your sound or where the pushrod meets the fork. I used anti-seize on all points of contact. They are all high stress items and pressure points. The clunk may be due to the low pedal possibly allowing slack in the components. Be sure that the air is bled out of the clutch, it will cause a low and soft pedal. Good luck

marky522

neither the pressure plate or flywheel can be machined.

Mark

V2Rocket

^^i had my flywheel surfaced....

Spidey944

Almost ALL flywheels can be turned. Dual Mass flywheels are the only real hard ones to resurface out there.

FRporscheman

A friend of mine with a 968 (i.e. with a dual mass flywheel) got his flywheel resurfaced at a local machine shop about a year ago for less than $100... I can't remember the exact amount. They also did the outer edge where the PP bolts to. They called this a two-step.

I just went to a local place that does a ton of american cars, they look like a big fancy place. They did an excellent job on the 968 head I took them 2 months ago. I took them the flywheel/clutch/PP today, and they said the following:

-can't do the outer edge on the FW... they sounded like they have never even tried
-can't balance the whole assy because they'd need a porsche crankshaft to mount it to
-they never resurface PPs.
+they confirmed the scorching was pretty bad, and the source of my chatter and other noises.

OK forget those jokers, I need to find a place that deals with Porsches. I know there's a place in Sunnyvale but that's kinda far.

FRporscheman

Oh, and the system is bled, and the pushrod has been adjusted already, and it won't adjust it far enough. I'm thinking the low pedal is caused by the shims on the PP/TOB. I'm going to move one over to the opposite side, as they are both on the side that would lower the pedal grab point.

Spidey944

We have a machine shop at my shop and we do all the flywheels for even the dealerships in town. $50 bucks or under for most flywheels. Dual mass is more of course!

FRporscheman

Do you ever do PPs?

Spidey944

Never.

marky522

Sorry, I am a Tech at the p-car dealer here and didnt know you could turn a dual mass flywheel. Before you do make sure you check the play between the two to make sure its worth it, i dont know the spec for a 968 off the top of my head, i think a boxster is 30mm.

Mark

FRporscheman

The flywheel has 10k miles on it, and it still looks new; same with the PP. Well, it looks new except for the scorching. The metal itself has no cracks or physical wear.

I took it to 2 machine shops and they both told me
1. we can resurface the main friction surface
2. we can't do the narrow outer surface (where the PP bolts to)
3. the flywheel looks good and only needs very light machining
4. just get a new PP

I'm sorry but it's just dumb to throw away a PP with only 10k miles on it, especially on a car like the 968 where the clutch can be serviced so easily. The second machine shop actually told me to just clean the surfaces with 600 grit sandpaper and that should be good.

FRporscheman

OK, I tried 600 sandpaper, and it didn't do anything. I went to 400, and it started to clean up a bit. I went down to 220 and it really did the trick. I sanded the FW and PP completely, to the point where the surfaces look clean and even. Some of the discoloration from the scorching remained, as it seemed to be deeper in the metal than just the surface. For that, probably .002" needs to be shaved off but I think it's good enough for me as it is. The clutch was working fine, just chattering like crazy. Now it looks clean enough to work perfectly.

I didn't bother polishing the finish with finer sandpaper as I felt a slightly rough finish was probably better. The finish is smooth to the touch, but there are some fine scratch marks visible.

Doing the rear main seal now. The pilot bearing is only 10k old so that stays. Same with the clutch fork needle bearings and TO bearing.

PorscheDoc

We turn dual mass flywheels on almost every clutch job we do (where there is a dual mass present). You can't do it on a traditional lathe per sae, but I guess they use what is called a surface grinder? You can not resurface a pressure plate though, been there, tried that. (at least our machine shop that does all our work could not).

marky522

Cool... Learned somthing new

Mark