Got it. There's a part that must be unique to the S2, it's called a "protective cover" (#21 on illustration 301-00) that needs to come off. Once it's removed the clutch cover comes right out. The cover hangs on the flywheel, unless it's off you're stuck.

This is one of my problems, when I decide I know what's wrong, I fixate on it instead of changing my opinion. I was hung up on the idea the snag was something internal, it wasn't; it was the external shield, which isn't mentioned in any of the guides I've read based on earlier models or in the WSM. It moved with the clutch cover after I unbolted everything else, nothing said to take it off, so I didn't.

Oh well, a pleasant afternoon wrestling with my car anyway. I'm going to take pictures of the tool I used to get those ornery, cussed bolts on the sender housing out, and unless I get threats from the Illuminati real soon I'll post them and describe the process I used

I did have to jockey the torque tube around a little to get the clutch housing clear. I couldn't move it back any further w/o dropping the rear cross member, but I have it supported by a rolling jack on the lift, so I lowered the front end of it as far as I could and that did the trick!

Thanks again to all who contributed, especially FRPorscheMan who gave me the tip on the PET page and the size allen wrench I needed for those holder bolts. That was a life saver.

Next Step: Getting the clutch and flywheel off...

 

BTW Dimi, while noodling the clutch cover problem I decided to clean up my transmission. Got it ready for the LSD, oil cooler and short 5th install, just waiting on those parts now (hint ).

Three hours with Industrial Strength Simple Green (the car's in CA after all), brass toothbrushes and a power washer got it clean enough to work on I think. It isn't spotless, but she doesn't look bad for 30 years and 125K miles eh? I'd still buy her a drink

 

Very nice!
I should have some goodies ready for you this upcoming week.

PS: It seems you have quite the set up in your garage.

 

Nice catch!
I though you had already removed it though

 

Well, on to my next disaster.

My car doesn't have 8mm triple square heads on the pressure plate, instead it has 6mm Allen head bolts. I suspect the car has had it's clutch replaced before by the PO and whoever did it used the wrong bolts during the job. Probably a lot cheaper.

The first one came out, the second one stripped, so now it's EZ outs and drills. My technique is old and so are my eyes. I really don't want to screw this up (no pun intended) so advice is welcome.

 

One trick to remove a stripped Allen head fastener is to find the appropriate size Torx socket that provides a fit just tight enough that it will fit in with a few taps by a hammer. Follow that by driving said Torx socket with an impact driver and 99.9% of the time it'll come out. Of course a liberal, repeated dousing with penetrating oil will help as well.

I don't know what it is about these cars that causes them to suffer from stripped fasteners so much. I've always worked on old cars and never had too much of a problem.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. I don't have a full set of Torx bits so I tried hammering in an 6mm triple square, but there's too much metal to be moved so I'll try a torx next, failing that and EZ out. I'm hoping I don't snap off the head and I've heard of people doing that on this job. Thanks for the opinion and experience!

So far I've had good luck but I was very surprised by the amount of torque I had to put on the sender holder bolts. I couldn't fit a real torque wrench in or I would have just for more leverage, but even using an 8" gear wrench I couldn't put enough force on it to break the bolt loose and I was hopping up and down shaking the entire car! I ended up using a 1" steel pipe from underneath the car as a pushrod (not a breaker or cheater). I put one end on the side of the wrench and pushed up from below with everything I had to bust it loose. There's no way in hell that bolt was torqued to 15 Lbs. unless there was severe galling afterward, which I admit is possible when you're using zinc plated bolts in an aluminum block. But I agree, and it's not Porsches in general, it's this car (the 944) near as I can tell. I've never had the problem on a 914, 924 or 928. I don't get it.

 

I was teasing you about parts, at the rate I'm going I'm not going to be ready to install the transmission before mid April

Thanks for the compliment, I have to admit it didn't happen overnight. My first shop in 1980 was a lean to and a toolbox. Since then I've improved a bit. When I turned 50 I decided a lift was a must and I had this double height garage I built originally for an RV back in the 90's, so I converted it to the shop I always wanted.

Now I mostly live there. This picture taken this evening shows it in a little better light. The second bay has my bench and the machine tools, my parts donor 928 lives in there for now, at least until I finish the 944.

 

Now for the promised Sender Holder Bolt Removal Wrench and Procedure.

The tool is as I described earlier and consists of:

1 - 14mm gear wrench. A 3/8's might work better or not. Don't know.
1 - 3/8 Socket Cap
1 - 6mm Allen wrench socket.

Photo 1 shows the disassembled components, Photos 2 and 3 show the assembled wrench.

The procedure that worked best for me was to:

1) Lower the car and from the top of the engine set the tool on one of the two "pan head" or "socket head" bolts retaining the sender holder. This is a tight space to work in and you won't have room to swing the wrench once it's set. Don't worry. We'll fix that.

2) Leaving the wrench fully seated in the bolt. Remove your hand and raise the car. BE SURE TO OBSERVE THE CORRECT ORDER IN THIS STEP. DO NOT RAISE THE CAR BEFORE REMOVING YOUR HAND!

Another note: clean the internals of the bolt head with a good degreaser and a Q-Tip before seating the wrench into the bolt, otherwise it may not seat all the way and you'll strip the bolt (very bad).

3) From beneath the car, locate the wrench. Reach up to the top of the housing to place pressure on (and guide) the head of the wrench. With your other hand, reach up and hold the business end of the wrench. Apply vigorous pressure and maximum leverage to the end of the wrench you would usually use to apply leverage until the bolt busts loose. Repeat until the bolt has been completely removed.

Note: DO NOT ALLOW THE BOLT TO DROP THROUGH THE HOLE IN THE TOP OF THE BELL HOUSING THAT IS DIRECTLY BENEATH IT. YOU PROBABLY WILL NEVER SEE IT AGAIN AND YOU'LL LOSE SLEEP ABOUT IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, OR UNTIL YOU SELL THE CAR, OR UNTIL YOU SUCCESSFULLY REMOVE THE CLUTCH AND FLYWHEEL (which you're going to do in the next procedure anyway so it probably doesn't matter).

4) Remove the bolt and wrench.

5) Lower the car. Repeat procedure with second bolt.

Some comments on removing the sender holder once the bolts are removed: The holder doesn't just slip out. If you look at the PET, (89-91, Illustration 901-05, #21) you'll find there's a pivot pin securing the holder to the block; you can't just pull the holder up out of the engine. To remove it, use a long screwdriver placed on the seam between the block and the holder over the second (nearest driver's side and also nearest to you if you're doing this right) and gently tap it into the seam with a plastic mallet. The seam will separate. Twist the screwdriver to work the holder off the pin, then remove the holder.

And now you're done. My experience doing it the first time was it took me three days to figure out how to to it, and about 40 minutes to do it.

My hat is off to anyone who attempts this procedure without an auto lift; you're all heroes of your species.

 

It's really the same thing; you assumed I'd already removed it, and I assumed it didn't need to be removed !

 

I did in fact read Clark's, and I've now read it several times I also read a few others including the WSM. Clark's mentions removing the "speed" and "reference" sensors, the S2 only has a single pulse sender. While I was able to translate "speed" and "reference" to "pulse" eventually, Clark's doesn't mention removing the holder.

There's also no mention of removing the "protective shield" in Clark's. The S2 is a different car, clearly a derivative of the 944 and 944S, but not the same, which is why I felt it was a good idea to document the differences between the WSM and other guides to these procedures as I encounter them. With any luck, some people will find this record and not spend days trying to cook up their own solutions to otherwise lost information.

 

Thanks Arominus, explaining why that shield exists is useful. My guess is there was a sudden and very late disagreement/loss of contact between electrical and mechanical engineering sometime in the late 1980s and we're all now paying for it.

 

I'd planned on that just from reading the trials and tribulations in various threads on the subject of removing clutches on these cars. Tom M'Guinn made the same observation. You can trust I'll be doing it.

 

I should also mention the entire estate goes on sale in about two months, lift and machine tools included in the sale. 5 years of business records, cash positive... If you like the garage, you'd love the pool, barn and riding arena...

It almost never snows here Dimi. I washed my transmission in 80 degree weather wearing shorts and no shirt! A guy like you might do well in a place like this. I'm retiring. I just want a small place with a nice shop near a good track.

 

Nice tool combo. One can also use a stubby 6mm allen socket in 1/4" on a 1/4" flex-head socket wrench. I have neither but my buddy does.

That shield is SUPPOSED to just slip out. Sometimes they get hung up on the sensor and they get partially pulled out (which is lucky, unless the sensor is so hung up it won't come out).