Mike1982

I have a '86 944 Turbo with about 117,000 miles on it. I bought it about 4 months ago and have always wondered how you can tell the clutch is going out. Is there a way to check the life on my clutch without taking it out? I know how much of a pain in the @$$ they can be, I don't have the time or skill level to attempt such a task, so who can replace the clutch on these cars and how much is it? How much do dealers charge? Where else can I go?? Thanks

rhesus

hmmm if you can find a good shop that would most likely be preferrable to a dealer, price-wise. most of the dealers that i've seen ream you on price. i think i've seen clutch work done on average for about $1500 on here. i'm not from ohio so i don't know of any good shops. hopefully someone on here does though.

v944god

Maybee buying the clutch yourself will save you some money.

AlexE

Normally the clutch will start to slip in gears.............. and if its the original clutch the rubber center may just begin to deteriorate......

I managed to squeeze 150K out of my previous 2 clutches..... so you may need one soon depends on your driving style....

ninefiveone

Turbo's never had rubber centered clutches but the springs in the centers of turbo clutchs sometimes break and jam up the clutch.

I don't hear of many 944 clutches actually wearing out. It seems that throw out bearings, spring/rubber centers and needle bearings tend to give out first.

There is an inspection hole in the bellhousing (usually covered with a rubber plug) that will allow you to see how much friction material is left on the clutch. I've never done it myself so I can't help you much there.

I recently had my clutch done because the throw out bearing failed. After having it all apart, the clutch had plenty of life in it but the pilot bearing, needle bearings and throw out bearing were all at end of life. Those parts had about 70K miles on them. I've only owned the car for the last 28K miles so I can't speak to previous usage but I'm generally quite gentle with clutches.

Jason_86_951

Take a look at the inspection hole around the down tube area.
There is a bullet shaped piston in the hole. Measure the distance from the far side of the hole to the tip of the piston. If its over 34mm its time to replace, 18mm is the distance for a new one.

I just did this last night and mine is 33-36mm, slip city. So YES you can wear out a clutch on a 944. I looked through my records and the last time it was replaced was at 74000, its now at 108000.

HTH
Jason

facboy

how can u tell if the throwout bearing has failed?

Peckster

There's nothing the matter with it and you're worrying about it? Relax, something will break sooner or later and then you can worry about that. I don't think there's much you can do about preventative maintenance for a clutch. When they go, they go.

Eric Wiebrecht

Try brake torquing it to test for slippage - at about 5000 RPM in 2nd, floor it and at the same time hold the car back from accelerating (at a constant MPH) with the brakes. RPM shouldn't increase (w/turbo spooled vs. not) when holding a constant MPH with the brakes.

caveat:
Watch out for front tire lockup - the car will actually push a locked-up front tire along while doing this test if not careful.