Tuscany964

Last Sunday I finally got a chance to do my first track day of the year. Had a great time and my nearly 18 year old, 2 valve, air cooled, 4 wheel drive showed up a lot of younger healthier youths including 2 430 Scuderia's, a 997 and an Evo X... I got a thumbs up from the Evo driver at the end of the day, the others didn't take well to being overtaken by an old 964

Anyway personal gratification aside, I was wondering if anybody else giving their c4 some serious stick suffered from clutch smoke coming in through the air vents or smoke coming from the rear right hand wheel arch after you stop. My oil hoses/tank don't leak, nor does the power steering and engine oil leaks are minimal for a 964. I took the undertray out today and couldn't see any sign of what it could be.

I'm getting a bit worried that the oem clutch on a c4 can't handle the strain of serious track use (i.e. when the PDAS is constantly shifting the power to wherever if finds some grip). Under normal use my clutch shows no sign whatsoever of slippage, the problem occurs when one or more of the tires break traction. Has anybody else had this problem? Does an RS clutch/flywheel combo fix this?

Thanks

boxsey911

First, congrats on your first outing of the year. Mine's in a couple of weeks

When I first start tracking the car I too had the oil smoke coming from the right wheel arch (and through the spoiler grill). It was both concerning and embaressing . I eventually tracked it down (no pun intended) to the seal on the oil sender on top of the engine. It only leaked when the engine was put under high load and then dribbled down onto the hot exhaust i.e. when tracking the car. There's a DIY on replacing it if you find that's your problem too.

race911

I ran my '92 C4 extremely hard and extensively from '98-'00 with no clutch issues. Not sure if it was the original or not........bought with 75K and sold with 115K.

Tuscany964

Thanks Steve, I'll search for the oil sender DIY. That's exactly what happens to me.

Race911 I'm glad to hear that - at least it means in one way or another the problem can be solved. Maybe my clutch is just getting a bit tired... time to start saving for an RS clutch/flywheel combo.

boxsey911

Here's the DIY for you:

oil sender O ring DIY

964rh

Well done for getting your C4 on track, haven't booked my first one this year yet

Re the clutch issue, in over 15 TD's, never had any kind of clutch slippage or smoke (oem clutch and f/wheel installed by the PO at 102k, now at 134K).

I have however, tried to do a flying start (ie loads of revs and dump the cluctch) and then I had loads of clutch smoke in the cabin, only did it once!!

I did have smoke in the rh wheel arch after having new pads and discs fitted and pasting them on my 1st TD, adjusted my braking style and never happened again.

Rob

Tuscany964

Thanks, much appreciated. You guys really are amazing!

Tuscany964

I tried it once too on a damp road and the same thing happened. Same as you I never did it again!

This time it happened during a big sideways moment (my tyres are pretty much finished). I got it crossed up trail braking and the only way to make it out facing the right direction was to hold a big slide on the power while all wheels lost traction. The clutch didn't appreciate that in the same way it didn't appreciate the flying start.

Just for the record my car has 120K and is probably still on the original clutch which works fine under all other conditions.