Yogii

I was 120 miles from home, visiting some friends, while backing into a parking space. I heard a bang, and my clutch instantly went dead. The pedal was all the way to the floor, or should I say all the way on the firewall.
I assume it was a cable that broke, otherwise I assume the failure would have taken a little time to happen.
Is this any easy fix for a German Indy who might not be familiar with 968's?

Thanks in advance. Still not sure whether I will get it fixed by somebody near the car or have it owed a long way. I took Amtrak home.

-Yogii
AKA 968 Novice

KevinGross

Your 968 has a hydraulic clutch, no cable. Not sure what broke.

Eyeman

I thought I broke my clutch cable once. Maybe it was something else that they fixed?

Karrera Coupe

@Yogii sorry to hear about your clutch. Was the bang too loud to be caused by the pop when the clutch master or slave cylinder ‘blows’ a seal? I have had that happen in a Saab 900 some time ago. As the master cylinder is in closer proximity to you the driver it may be the culprit. But in my case, from memory, it was more of a popping sound than a loud bang.
If the clutch master cylinder is the culprit I imagine a decent ‘German’ indy mechanic should be able to deal with it. I don’t think there is anything unique about the master and slave cylinders of our cars.
I am sure there are many others on this site with much more insight than me who will soon jump in with better advice.
Good luck and please let us know the eventual prognosis.

Yogii

Wherever I have it fixed, it will need to be towed in. I assume that I should insist on a flatbed tow truck?
Just checking my AAA towing policy now...

-Y

dlearl476

Flatbed, yes. I don’t think I’ve seen any other kind, except for the bottom feeding NYPD Parking enforcement, for 10 years.

Personally. I would find a shop with transaxle car experience. If it was a loud bang, and not the MC hydraulics failing like suggested above, I’d guess it’s a clutch yoke or something mechanical that let go. Hopefully, they don’t have to pull your trans to fix it, but if they do, do a clutch while you’re at it.

Yogii

Yes, at 90K miles it soon time. I was planning on NEXT YEAR doing the clutch, rebuild second gear syncro, have the LSD gone through, and install the twin bearings in the torque tube, Biltiens all the way around.
What is the correct part # clutch with the rubber damper in the middle(OEM). I DO NOT want the stiffer alternate clutch. Like I said, I hope this is next year expense and not this years.

-Y

PS the clutch fork would not be cast by chance?

PPS does anybody know and good transaxle shops in the Sacramento, Ca area?

thomasmryan

Do you have a tow eye?

You will need the master, hard line, flex line, reservoir feed line and slave cylinder.

It bleeds easier with the tail in the air.

Some, including me, have had better success adding fluid from the bottom.

Mine failed due to the flex line being mounted in such a way that it was rubbing the brake booster.

Zirconocene

I'll probably get this wrong as another thing that's different with the 968 vs the S2 but, if it's mechanical, my money is on the clutch fork. Unfortunately, even some of the rebuilt/reconditioned units have shown a tendency to break. 944 Turbo owner @Dan Martinic had a series of posts on some issues that he was having due to, he eventually found out, a bad clutch fork.

ETA: I have also read that there are cases where the firewall gives way where the clutch pedal attaches but I don't know if this is a problem on the 968. If you're in the Bay Area this is probably not a likely possibility but it would be easy to diagnose.

For others reading, on the "standard" 944 the rubber centered clutch disc seems to be generally distrusted. Is that just due to age of the original units? I thought that the recommendation was to move to a more modern spring damped clutch disk for all these cars. I don't think that this will affect the hardness of the clutch pedal but I would welcome some education on this.

OP, I don't mean to hijack things and I very much hope that you can get this straightened out reasonably. For what it's worth I think you're lucky to have a 968 in this regard as from what I've read this kind of work is significantly easier than on the 944.

Good luck

Daniel S

Yogi,
When the slave cylinder on my clutch went out on my Audi, it was perfectly fine one minute and on the floor the next. Luckily, I was in a parking lot at the time. Was there any fluid underneath the car?

Yogii

No fluid that I could see. I do have my underbody front piece attached.
My clutch did not fail in a minute, less than a second. Boom, clutch pedal all the way up on the firewall. Had to get out and look underneath the steering wheel to even see it.

-Y

Yogii

thomasmryan,

When I got the car, I unrolled the tool kit. In it was a tow hook, circle more correctly. I tried to install it in the front after I found the cap to open. Perhaps the PO bought a SAE replacement?
Because I could not get it to thread in properly. I put it back in the roll and did not give it a second thought, UNTIL NOW!

Without the front tow hook what is the best way to winch it onto a flatbed truck?

AAA would not waive the requirement that I be there when they pick-up my car. So back on Amtrak to Sac.
I did find a route back to SF that Google Maps says in 88 miles to the repair shop. My free towing limit is 100 miles.

-Y

thomasmryan

the Porsche tow eye has an acme type squarish thread.

the brake fluid reservoir has an internal dam to isolate the brake and clutch systems.

the clutch cover has an inspection port to see if the fork moves when the pedal is depressed.

you do not have to pull the transmission to change the clutch on a 968. broken forks or cracked firewalls can happen but that may tie to heavier clamping force pressure plates. Possible but I would suspect and inspect the hydraulic system first.

royalschwarz

My 87 did this just this past spring. Pedal was fine until I was at a stop light and then to the floor it went. No warning, it just snapped to the floor. It made a loud snap sound from the force of it. Tried pulling it back up but it would just snap back to the floor. Changed out the master and slave (and the line between) and it's been fine since. My slave didn't have any signs of leaking but pretty sure the seal went bad from not using it over the winter. Not a hard job, just tedious from the cramped quarters.

Yogii

Well it turns out is was a blown Mater cylinder. Having both master and slave replaced.

-Yogii