Glen Glen

Does anybody know when people usually have a clutch job done on these cars? How long do they last before they should be replaced and how much are they to replace?

I am asking because I went and looked at 85.5 944. The car is great shape, 2nd owner owned it for 9 years, 92k miles, all original, interior is an excellent condition. The owner just had water pump and T-belt done.

The only flaw is that the paint is a little faded.

I test drove and everything worked and ran well. The owner had told me he has never had a clutch job done, thats why I'm asking.

Any insight Appreciated!

944Play

A complete clutch replacement at a shop will run about $1500.
As a datapoint, I bought my '88 in '00 with a nearly-blown clutch cushion.

Bruce '89 s2

If he was kind to it you've got a long way to go.

MHT

clutch life is entirely a function of the way the car is driven. I have seen a clutch destroyed in a weekend, I have seen cars with 150,000 miles and the original clutch still in place. The clutch in my car was replaced at about 35,000 ml. by a p.o. I now have 115,000 on the car and the clutch still does not grab or slip.

Kurt

in general, 100,000 miles is "usually" the lifetime of the original clutch, provided that it has not been beat to hell

Scootin159

my original clutch has about 109k on it and is still going. I'm pretty good with it (although I have dumped it a handful of times in the last year), but the previous guy liked to slip it alot.

Anyways, the clutch in these cars is pretty solid, but the rubber centers on the N/A's (non-turbos) has a somewhat shorter lifespan. If you feel any "chattering" in the clutch, it's a sign that it is in poor health.

A clutch job is extremely expensive (about $1500) in these cars though as it involves removing everything south of the clutch to get it out (transmission, driveshaft, etc.). It's not so much parts as labor.

iloveporsches

Someone hear has over 200k on the original clutch, so like said above it really depends on what kind of life it's seen. But 100k is normal expectancy.

Clayton Smith

The clutch in my '86 944 went out at 130k. She was also kind enough to 'tell' me that the clutch was about to go out prior to it happening. Just be sure and listen to her when she tells you these things. :-P

Bad news: Couldn't drive the car for a couple weeks.
Good news: Another chance to upgrade.

MM951

186K on my clutch, still goin strong!

Randy_J

Yep, I've seen / experienced rubber centres failing before the actual clutch surface wears out. Just did the clutch on my son's 50,000 mile 85.5 NA that was stored for several years. These things fail from age more than anything else I think!

Paul C 944

The age is enough to make the cluth fail,mine had the rubber rot right out with no warning.Due to age I would expect it to go within a year.

slevy951

Can I say "ditto" to everyones comments so far? If it's the original clutch, it's 18 yrs old. The rubber center is most likely dried out and cracking. No telling how long it may last, but it may not be long. A PPI may not reveal any problems with the rubber center either.

bet

As for the paint fade, don't be immediately turned off by this. Have it looked at by an experienced detailer or wonder over to AUTOPIA and see how to restore the shine. Most of these cars just suffer from oxidation (sometimes very severe) that look like paint fade. The proper use of some detailing tools or just Klasse All-in-One can make a huge difference, especially if it guards red (this color really seems to suffer from oxidation - looks sort of pink or orangish with red).