Has anyone ever experienced a creaking clutch ? When i depress or release the clutch pedal in my 94 C" there is a creaking sound from under the car towards the rear. I hadnt noiced it before, but today i happened to dip the clutch pedal with the engine off and heard it creaking away. Any ideas as to what it is? Inpending doom ? Clutch failure pending? Is it going to fail in traffic ?

 

I've had that happen before, but it went away the next day. No idea what it was though.

 

Possible that your clutch slave cylinder is going bad or it may just need to be bled.

http://p-car.com/diy/slave/

 

Forgive my total lack of knowledge regarding my clutch, but is it cable operated or otherwise ? Im just a bit concrned that the cable(if there is one) is going to snap and dump me halfway accross the bridge on my way to work tomorrow !

 

Most likely (i.e., 90+% probability) the hydraulic clutch slave cylinder - a very common 993 malfunction. However (apart from the noise), you can live w/it for a long time w/o further problems. It's not likely to leave you stranded, no cables to snap & is not very expensive to repair. US repair cost to replace the slave cylinder is approx $250, but it's a PITA DIY, especially w/o a lift.


From the Road & Race website:

 

Thank you all very much - i can now sleep easy.

 

Swiss,

To add to Dan's post above, my car has had the "creaking clutch pedal" syndrome for the three years I've owned it, 17,000 miles to 27,000 miles. The clutch slave cylinder is bled annually and I clean and lube the pedal cluster annually as well.

The noise remains and, as you noted, is only noticed with the engine off. It appears to be just one of the idiosyncrasies of the 993 and I just live with. It isn't something that appears to get better or worse and won't turn into a "stranded" problem.

 

My car was doing the same. Kind of sounded like a rusty spring on a screen door.
I assumed that it was the slave cylinder, as that was the general area of the sound.
I took the car in to TRE for a new slave cylinder and a flush.
When they got into it, the noise seemed to be more the result of a VERY dry, dusty, crusty contact point between the slave cylinder tip and the throwout bearing fork. I had them put in the new slave cylinder anyhow (easy decision, as the labor was already on my tab, and the new slave was only about $65), and they also cleaned and lubed up the contact area with some high tech grease.
All is well, and silent, now.

max

 

This board is unbelievable with its timing relative to concerns for my C4S.

Pulled out of the driveway yesterday morning and heard this creaking from under the rear of the car as the clutch was depressed.

Was meaning to post....but like magic....someone beat me to it with the same concern.

I, too, can sleep at night now........THANK YOU!!!

 

Mine been "creaking" for about 8 years. Every year I ask the same very respectable tech to change the slave cylinder. He states it is not necessary "just bleed bleed brakes and slave cylinder about every other year". So still creaks and no adverse problems.

 

My tech told me exactly the same and not to worry about it. I heard this noise even after the slave cylinder had been replaced.

 

My was creaking so I pulled the slave cylinder and lubed the tip up...no change. I then replaced the slave cylinder. No change. My clutch pedal was getting pretty heavy so I pulled the engine and replaced the clutch with a used one I have that had 95% of the disk left (being on a budget and all). Now no squeaks or creaks. Nice light pedal too. BTW, the clutch disk was 99% gone and I would have been down to the metal in another month's driving....still not sure what was creaking though.

 

MIne started doing it, and got worse and worse. Especially noticeably after shutting off the car after a drive. Then the clutch pedal engagement point started becoming uneven and erratic (altho no real change in pedal effort). From digging in the archives it seemed to indicate the slave cylinder was going. Talked to a shop; they agreed with my probably diagnosis. Had them replace the slave cylinder (was in an impossible location for me to do). Fixed the pedal problem and quieted the squeak but still have it a bit.

This was at 56K miles; now have 82K miles on car.

 

Mike J, how many miles did youget out of that clutch disc?

My clutch squeaks a little, but it's no big deal. I flush my brakes before every track event and also flush my slave at that time too. So I've done it 3-4 times in the last year. First time I did it (about 2000 after I got the car and the 30k miles service had just been done), the fluid looked like used motor oil. It had never been touched, even though I had a receipt for it. So I keep on top of it now, so often, in fact, that when I bleed it, the fluid still looks fresh coming out. It's a lot easier to bleed it 20 times than it is to replace once. BTDT with my Carrera and it sucked!

 

Hi Rick,

The mileage on the clutch was about 32,000 miles of which 90% was the PO. I suspect he was very hard on clutches since it should not have gone that fast. I drove with him on the test drive and he seemed to handle it fine...maybe he blew it on a hill. The flywheel looked fine and so did the pressure plate so I put in a near-new clutch disk and lets see what happens. He should have gotten at least 60,000 miles (or a lot more like other rennlisters) before it wears out.

Cheers,

Mike