boldlybold

I'm a recent new owner of a 2007 Boxster S 6 speed with ~80k miles. Got a PPI and it came back mostly clean, but clutch engagement point was close to the floor. The last owner hasn't done the clutch and nothing in the service records I have about it. I knew I might be in for a clutch replacement at some point, I just didn't think it would be so soon! This car could realistically still be on the factory clutch, in which case it doesn't owe me anything. Here are the symptoms:

- Became hard to shift, especially into first and reverse. Ordered numeric racing shifter and cables thinking the stock ones might fail, but haven't installed them yet
- Over the course of one day this went from an annoyance to a major problem, where I can't get the car in gear. Ground the gears a few times, found I can shift fine with the engine off, and limped it home rev-matching and rolling the stop signs in 2nd.
- On flat ground, in gear, with the clutch pedal fully depressed, the car will creep forward or backward (when in reverse). Shifting with the engine off is still easy.

To me, these symptoms suggest the clutch is not disengaging when the pedal is pressed. I've searched around and found some other posts with similar symptoms, and the takeaway seems to be check and replace things in this order

1. Bleed clutch hydraulics
2. Replace slave and master cylinder
3. If all else fails, replace clutch

I have a few questions about this plan of attack

1. Today I bled the clutch. I didn't see any air bubbles in the line, and performance is the same as before. Does it make sense to do master/slave and then clutch replacement, or should I bite the bullet and skip right to doing the whole clutch?
2. While I've got the transmission out, what else should I be replacing? So far my list is
   1. Flywheel - I'll probably just do this rather than waiting to see if it's bad enough
   2. Pilot bearing
   3. RMS
   4. slave/master cylinder
   5. Change transmission fluid

Anything I'm missing? The pelicanparts clutch super kit has a lot of extra seals and parts I'm not familiar with.

I've owned Saab cars for the past ten years (my other car is an '08 9-3 Aero with a 6-speed) and worked on them up to doing brakes and suspension. Have never had a clutch fail or dropped a transmission, but I'm looking forward to learning in this process! Any tips and tricks are appreciated.

jscott82

Sounds a hydraulic problem to me. Air in the line would certainly be my first plan of attack. I'd run a full can of fluid before I jump to step 2
​​ Step 2 is replace the master and slave... I have no idea how to do it with the trans in the car, it can probably be done, but dropping the trans really isn't that hard.

boldlybold

Thanks for the reply. I did bleed it today, but not a full liter. About 60 seconds with the pressure bleeder. But I can try pushing more fluid through as a test.

fast1

Your approach is reasonable but after 80K I expect that it may be time for a new clutch. I've never had to replace a clutch on a Porsche but I've never put 80K miles on one either. The last clutch I replaced was on a Triumph many decades ago and my recollection is that it had just about the same symptoms as the ones you listed. Good luck.

Sub

Wedge a board on the clutch such that it depresses to the floor and leave it overnight. You can use the seat base front to prop the board but use thick towels on the seat so it doesnt indent. Its an old school trick and may help you get some air out and wont hurt anything to try. I was about to give up and have one of my BMWs towed to a dealer, but tried this as a last resort and it worked amazing! I think its hard to refill the master... needs some time.

adam_987.2

Sounds more hydraulic. Clutches tend to slip when worn. I've had the seals go on slave cylinders, not in my Porsche, before with the same effects you have.

jscott82

And if you do end up replacing the slave, be careful with part numbers "S" has a different slave than the base, and PET is not real clear about which one.

BTW I have a brand new slave for a base 987 sitting on my shelf if anyone needs one.

RGS

I had this happen with my 981S. At a stop light and something felt weird. After that, the clutch would not engage and if I did try it was creeping forward, smell of clutch. I would need to shut the engine off at stop lights, put it in 1st and then start it just before the light turned. Then clutchless shift home. It was the clutch. They tried bleeding first, no avail. Mine went at 62k miles, I only had the car for 30k miles so I don't know the history.

jscott82

Unless I misunderstood the original problem, they are opposite.

OP has an issue getting the clutch to dis-engauge
Issue above is getting the clutch to fully engage.

Engaugment is done by the clutch springs, fully engaged is the default position. Only when the hydraulics apply enough pressure does it disengage.

To the original problem, the slave cylinder acts on the release bearing via a lever arm. If you can remove the slave, you should be able to access the end of the arm with a dowel or screw driver.

ChicagoSpeed996

In my situation with the bad pressure plate (fingers were bent), the clutch was fully engaged (pressure plate in default position) and depressing the pedal would not disengage the clutch (pressure plate).

boldlybold

After some serious work to drop the transmission, I'm back with updates! For anyone who reads this in the future and embarks on the transmission removal journey, please know that you NEED a M10 tripplesquare socket for one bolt. It's in an extremely hard place to remove and will give you lots of trouble. I was able to get it with the and a low-profile ratchet.

As of now, I believe the slave cylinder was the problem with the clutch disengaging. It looks like there may have been DOT fluid leaking out into the transmission. See the pool of fluid in the bottom of the transmission in the second photo.



I'm also concerned about all the black around the IMS housing. This doesn't look like a leak from the crankshaft seal to me. Can this all be explained by a leak of DOT fluid from the slave cylinder?


The clutch plate still had some life on it, and the pressure plate was fine. I'm replacing clutch, pressure plate and flywheel anyway for peace of mind. I'm also putting in a new crankshaft seal and replacing some other parts in the clutch release mechanism that are described in the pelicanparts article.

Is there anything I should do for that IMS other than clean it up?

Sub

[Note: I'm not a mechanic]
Slave cylinder on my Mini went too. I think they are kind of a common wear item. (This is how I knew how to bleed the system. )
That debris could be road, or shredded clutch!

I dont think the 981 has ims issues..

deilenberger

The 981 doesn't have an intermediate bearing to have issues with. Unfortunately perhaps - this isn't a 981 or a 987.2.

deilenberger

@boldlybold

Am I correct in assuming you just hadn't listed the clutch throwout bearing in your list of parts? That's certainly a good thing to replace - it's a sealed baring with a finite life. Ditto on the clutch input shaft bearing in the middle of the crankshaft/flywheel (I'm guessing it comes in the flywheel?). Some people will replace the clutch release fork and spring, but I haven't heard of these being a high failure rate. And most of the bolts holding the assembly together and to the engine are one-time use bolts. It's really good practice to replace all of them.

boldlybold

@deilenberger Yes I will doing the release bearing (included with the clutch kit). As well as the release fork and spring, and new bolts for pressure plate and flywheel. You mention the "clutch input shaft bearing", is this also called a pilot bearing? Got that too.