'91 C4, 70,000 miles....just got the estimate:

--New clutch (slipping)
--New flywheel (tech says "burned" in three places?)
--Fix oil leak on PS pump belt cover
--Replace cracked axle shaft boot
--New starter (won't engage when hot)

* * $4,344 total * *

Still needs valve adjustment and spark plugs, but they will have to wait.

The good news? I still get excited when I drive the car. Can't wait for it to get out of the shop and back on the road. One day, when I'm old and feeble and can't drive or **** without help, I will surely forget about the cost of owning and operating the car, but will never forget the fun of driving it when I was younger.

 

Sorry to hear about the expensive bill! If it makes you feel any better, on my last sevice, in addition to the sevice I needed:

1. New Clutch & Flywheel
2. New Oil Cooler - leaking
3. 2 new front wishbones - bushes worn out
4. 1 new coil
5. Fixing a a dent in the drivers door that someone had done whilst I wasn't looking!

Andy

 

Dear Robert,
I do not believe the flywheel thing. You cannot burn metal. The question you have to ask is "Is the double mass flywheel failed?" He has to test it. It might be just liner residue. I would hate them to replace a perfectly serviceable flywheel. Go and see if for yourself. Get them to show you that it is actually failed. The test is easy.
Ciao,
Adrian
964C4

 

Maybe the technician means the surface of the flywheel has been damaged by a slipping clutch? The dual-mass part may be within tolerance but if the clutch surface is damaged, a new flywheel is required.
Last week we replaced the clutch on a '99 996 where the dual mass part
was good, but the slipping clutch had worn the surface of the flywheel so there was a clutch disc size wear groove. We replaced the flywheel.
This problem seems to be more apparent in 993 models as drivers seem to slip the clutch more. For some reason, we have repaired several C4S models with less than 20K miles that needed not only the clutch but a new flywheel because of heat damage.
For 964 models, we actually do not need to replace the flywheels often, recently we changed an early flywheel that had 115K miles, the only reason was the driver had driven the car with a slipping clutch (it was worn out) and damaged the flywheel surface. The dual mass was still within tolerance.

 

Robert:

Was the DMF upgraded to a LUK, or is this the original Freudenberg?

If it is the original Freudenberg and you got 70K miles out of it, I think you should probably consider yourself one of the few lucky owners that's managed to survive. My DMF went out at about 30K miles, and I know of three other owners who had them fail at similar or even earlier mileage. Another guy I know had his clutch replaced at about 50K miles, and then, six months later his DMF failed. There were no warning signs. He had to have the clutch job redone AND put a new LUK DMF in it as well and the total cost for both jobs was over $6000.00.

You're getting a LOT of service for that money. Just make sure the new DMF is a LUK and not one of the old Freudenbergs that still seem to be floating around.

 

The service records from the previous owner showed the car getting a new flywheel and clutch @ 33,000 miles. It does not indicate it was a LUK version. I will call the shop today and verify they are installing a LUK this time for sure.

I think the comments about slipping the clutch and burning the flywheel surface are right-on. My wife does drive the car now and then, and on the few times I've been the passenger, she is very agressive with the throttle, and very delicate with the clutch. (aka slips it a LOT). Worst case was one day she was backing the car up our moderately steep driveway. She stalled it at first, but then throttled the engine up to 5k, and S-L-O-W-L-W-Y let the clutch out. I instantly smelled and saw smoke, and tried to diplomaticaly tell her about the evils of clutch slipping like that. Perhaps this repair bill will convince her it's better to sometimes stall than slip/smoke.

 

Oh yes, make sure you need a new clutch ... it's about 1/3 of the tab!

Sorry for the bad news, Robert, but at least it's not an annual tax and you'll be loving your car afterwards. It will probably be easier for your wife to drive, too--I imagine the pedal is pretty heavy right now.

 

Only the LuK Flywheel has been available for several years, it comes with new flywheel bolts; part number 964 114 012 02.

 

Is that the # for the flywheel, GMS ... or for the bolts? J

 

The flywheel and bolts come in one box.

 

Robert,
I hope that you have "shopped" other mechanics in your area. There seems to be a very wide range of labor costs with Porsche shops. While many expensive shops do excellent work, they're simply overcharging because "it's a Porsche". There are several "less" expensive shops in the northwest that also do escellent work for a fraction of the cost of the big name shops.

Erick

 

Actually, I did not. This shop has been recommended by so many other Porsche owners, I felt very comfortable letting them work on my car.

Of course, I don't have the car back yet, but I hope not to eat these words.