mel_t_vin

Does the clutch pedal in the G50 pedal cluster have a tension spring that keeps the pedal in the up/retracted/disengaged position?

Was driving my car the other day when the clutch pedal snapped to about half of normal travel after engaging/disengaging the clutch. In other words, instead of having about 3" of normal travel with continuous resistance, after the pedal snapped down, there was only about 1.5" of travel left. Initially thought the slave cylinder may have given out, but the remaining pedal is not soft and the clutch still functions. Am able to pull the pedal back up to its normal position and still shift/drive the car, but once the pedal is up and the clutch is engaged to shift, it snaps back down to this halfway point and stays there until it is manually lifted.

Was running late, put the car back in the garage, and did not have time to investigate further. Have any of you encountered a similar scenario?

bweSteve

Subscribed. I too am interested in whether others have experienced this.

Once, a couple yrs ago, I had what seemed like a similar experience,... but turned out it was just my aftermarket floor mat slipping forward and moving up & under my peddles causing me to feel a distance issue. I got rid of those aftermarket mats.

Now {when I'm not using my original mats for Concours, but rather spirit driving the car..} I run Llyod mats that have the straps that pull it back & keep them in position.

=Steve

mel_t_vin

Steve, same thing has happened with my 944...aftermarket floor mat getting balled up under the pedals.

In this case, there is certainly something mechanical happening with my 911. Searched the forum and saw Paul mention something about the 965 having a spring inside the clutch slave cylinder. Am now wondering if the 930 slave is the same as the 965 slave. Need to do a little more investigating to determine if there is a clutch pedal return spring under the floor board.

cobalt

The 930 and 965 are different setups. They don't have the horse shoe shaped assist spring that the earlier cars have. If you aren't getting full pedal travel could be your clutch needs bleeding.

mel_t_vin

Anthony, are you saying the 930 does not have the same clutch slave, with internal spring, as the 965?

In my case, while driving, the clutch pedal snapped to about half of normal travel after engaging/disengaging the clutch in the middle of a drive. So, instead of having about 3" of normal travel with continuous resistance, after the pedal snapped down, there was only about 1.5" of travel left. Initially thought the slave cylinder may have given out, but the remaining pedal was not soft and the clutch still functioned. It was as if an over center return spring let go. As such, was able to pull the pedal back up to its normal position and still shift/drive the car, but once the pedal was up and the clutch was engaged to shift, it snapped back down to this halfway point and stayed there until it was manually lifted again.

Agree with you...certainly wouldn't hurt to bleed the clutch. Think I need to pull the floor board and poke around a bit.

cobalt

It has been a while since I worked on a 930 and there were many changes over the years. I am assuming the one year of the 930 with G50 is like the 965 but AFAIK the 4 speed box used a cable driven clutch with a horseshoe shaped helper spring at the tranny. These have a tendency to break over time. or loose a portion of the spring.

The 964/965 uses a hydraulic clutch slave which does have an internal spring but I haven't heard of these failing and not sure it is your problem. There is a helper spring in the pedal assembly which could be your problem and I would start there but the pedal would feel very soft all the time if that broke. I have seen the clutch hang up when it needed to be bleed. It will not return all the way but still operate the clutch. If you put your foot under it and lift it will snap back into place or sometimes pumping it several times and releasing quickly will see it snap back to full travel.

I would inspect the pedal cluster first and see if the helper spring has let go. If not I would pull the clutch slave since it is just as much work to pull it as it is to bleed it. You can always bleed it if nothing shows as an issue and see if that helps.

Picture of a 964 clutch slave disassembled.

Metal Guru

I had this issue and resolved it with a new slave cylinder.
It was easy to install once I created a second elbow in my forearm to reach it
Probably the best way to remove/install one is the disconnect the linkage and the front transaxle body mount and drop the the nose of the transaxle down to gain access. Remove the old one and install the new one,
put the transaxle back up, connect the hydraulic hose (good time to replace this too) and bleed the cylinder.

urquattro20Vt

Hmm are you sure, Paul? I replaced my clutch slave a few years ago and it required no theatrics - super easy. I didn't disconnect anything else - just jacked the rear of the car up and replaced it.
My symptom was the pedal would not always fully return.

mel_t_vin

Correct...the 4-speed box was installed through MY '88. MY '89 was the last year in the 930 evolution and it was fitted with the hydraulically-operated G50/50.

Good advice...will be my plan of action.

Thanks.

mel_t_vin

Thanks for that tidbit, Paul.

mel_t_vin

Wouldn't that be a nice surprise...

Metal Guru

Not even the hydraulic line?
Also, the return spring in the cylinder has to be compressed as you try to get the cylinder on the studs. So given that the cylinder is on top of the tranny and you have to fight it also, I wouldn't rate the task as easy. It's easier than installing and timing cams but it's somewhat tougher than putting air in your tires