Chubs_McFunn

I did a search for Clutch issues on the 968, and didn't find this same issue. I've spoken to my dad, who had a similar issue with his 968, and my mechanic. My dad said he had to replace the clutch master cylinder, but my mechanic suggested checking for hydraulic fluid leaks, and power-bleeding the system before jumping to an expensive conclusion. I'm hoping for some insight here.

I'll describe in better detail the issue. The clutch seems to engage and disengage normally, without issue. However, sometimes (not always, although it is becoming much more frequent) the clutch pedal does not return to the fully upright position. I can slip my toe underneath the pedal and pop it back in to place with ease, and the pedal sorta snaps back up with little pressure. At 1st I thought there was just crud built up on the rod that goes from the clutch pedal to the master cylinder, but I now suspect that is not the case. I had a similar issue on a motorcycle's clutch cable. I scraped off the crud, and everything was fine.

Thank you

thomasmryan

If you do power bleed, keep an eye on the blue hose when you are pumping up the pressure.

chudson

If you experience a loss of pedal with NO loss of fluid, you are describing a textbook case of a failing master cylinder.

When the cylinder bleeds by internally the fluid returns to the reservoir resulting in no external loss. You need to insure that your master is not leaking out the rear into the cabin where it enters the vehicle under the dash and you need to insure that the slave cylinder, its hose and the bottom of the bell housing have absolutely no clutch fluid residue.

Sit inside the vehicle and push the clutch pedal down (or up and down) very slowly for only 1/2 an inch at a time and see if you can get it to the point where it will not return. If so, and there's no external loss of fluid that will confirm the master diagnosis.

And FYI, the same assessment and test works for the brake master also except if its leaking out the rear the brake master will leak into the power booster and not into the cabin.

tamathumper

It may have nothing to do with the clutch hydraulics... It's possible your firewall is cracked, and it is catching intermittently and keeping the clutch pedal from returning all the way to the top.

RajDatta

My $$ is on air in the system. Typical symptoms.

rude944

So, recently I recovered this from my clutch pedal... it had made a chirp for a while before I even noticed it was this bad, I'm ashamed to admit.


Missing the plastic bushes entirely. Symptoms, after replacing the clutch assembly with new everything up to the master cyl (part of a turbo conversion), included pedal wouldn't fully return as well. Crawling up into that footwell is not fun, but was mandatory to really understanding the failure. Replacement of the clevis pin, and master cyl adjustment screw pivot point was not fun either, but only took about an hour.

touareg

Wow that was a lot of wear! Good find! How many miles would you say on those parts?

rude944

Car has 95k, thats it. No indicator on this, beyond a small chirp when depressing the pedal... then, after changing the clutch, it just wouldn't return as it should, even after all adjustments.

When I poked my head in there, I could see that there was play, which wasn't clear to my foot at point of depressing the pedal.

touareg

I would have thought 200k

Guess there was a lot of clutch action on the car!

Will check mine when I get a chance, clutch seems fine now.