911-TOUR

Well guys,

I had the car in the shop today for state inspection, and had a look with the tech at the oil leak with the car on the lift. After careful observation we concur...rear main crankshaft seal....spewing like a stuck pig

So, it's obviously got to be replaced in the next few months - which means engine & tranny out - which means might as well look at a new clutch on my 70,000 mile Porsche. So, having looked through the archives, my questions for this evening...what's the best price/performance clutch kit around? What to do with the flywheel...does it really need to be replaced with the clutch (I've never heard of this on any other 911). Just to keep the thread on track, I'm *not* interested in specialized setups like the RS flywheel & clutch. I like stock just fine thank you - and don't care to track down stalling problems. However, I might prefer a little more "robustness" on behalf of my suddenly frail 911.

Let the on topic discussion begin.

Thanks gang,

sean

H. Miller

Sean,
Make sure you check out the post started by Viken on 7-8-01 on gearboxes called "Close-Ratio Gearbox & Lightweight Flywheel - Report". I know you're thinking about clutch and flywheel but this post is one of the best I've seen on transmission stuff.

Ray Calvo

Sorry to hear about the oil seal.

Now, re clutch: keep it simple. YOu got 70K on old clutch - why mess with success?? You have to pause right now during upshifts for engine speed to drop to RPM equiv. to next higher gear? You out trying to knock a few milliseconds (maybe) off a quarter mile accelleration run? I say keep it stock for a street driven car.

RE the need to change the flywheel: can't answer this. Shop manual sez nothing. My own opinion is that unless the face is gouged/cut, could probably reuse it.

Tito

Does the flywheel have to be changed with the clutch?
Where did you hear this?
I had my clutch changed recently without the flywheel , the guys that did it seemed happy that the fly wheel was OK.
Tito.

scott watkins

Sean,

Sorry to hear about your leak, after just getting your car back. Sounds like my '99 996, which had 4k miles Why don't you, Robert, Matt, Gregg, and myself do the clutch one weekend???

Scott

911-TOUR

Scott,

Book time on R & R for the seal & clutch is 14 hours total (13 seal, 1 clutch) I'm not so sure it's a weekend project unless someone among us has done a this job several times before. I'm also not sure how easy it would be without a lift, since the engine needs to come out for the seal.

That said, If you guys would be willing to help me try & tackle it...well, saving 13 hours in labor charges to replace a $30 seal would be nice

Miller, I'm going to check on Viken's thread now...

cheers,

sean

Greg Fishman

Sean,
I have the stock clutch and flywheel that came out of my race car. It had 13K miles on it. If you are interested let me know.
Greg

Randall G.

The 964 shop manual says to only replace the DMF if it shows signs of being defective. The manual has a procedure for testing the DMF, along with a flow-chart for determining if the DMF is faulty.

FWIW, I had a clutch job performed last summer, and reused the (then) 57k miles LUK DMF. No problems so far ....

All this said, Greg's 13k miles clutch and flywheel may be an attractive option. Greg .... do you also have the pressure plate? From personal experience, you don't want to skip replacing the pressure plate ... could lead to very annoying clutch chatter. Of course, you then have to pull the tranny again.

Greg Fishman

[quote]Originally posted by Randall G.:
<strong>
All this said, Greg's 13k miles clutch and flywheel may be an attractive option. Greg .... do you also have the pressure plate?</strong><hr></blockquote>

I think it is there since we didn't use it when I went to an RS set up. I will look for it tonight.
Greg

tom_993

Flywheels and clutch disks are very much like brake rotors and pads. When the friction material on a clutch disk wears out, you replace it, just like a brake pad. Flywheels will wear and gouge over time, just like a brake rotor. The mechanic will measure the remaining thickness of the flywheel or rotor. If it’s above a minimum spec, it can be turned and reused. On most cars, flywheels typically last the lifetime of the car, unlike the rotors. This is probably also true of 993’s. I’ve heard of people replacing flywheels because the dual mass element was broken, but not because the thickness was below the minimum.

Tom

E. J. - 993 Alumni

I wish someone would explain to me why the motor needs to be removed to remove the tranny. I am pretty sure my mechanic said he could remove the tranny by itself to replace the clutch and LWF. It just seems to make sense to me. But what the hell do I know.

Sean, sorry to hear about your woes. Don't bother with the LWF even if you need to replace the flywheel. If its just for street, just put the stock stuff back in. Mine is still going on 105k and aobut 20 track days so far. But of course the LWF and turbo clutch are sitting in the garage waiting for the inevitable failure (hurry up would you).

E. J.

Randall G.

Hey E.J.,

No doubt the transmission can be removed without pulling the engine. My last clutch replacement was done that way, and ANDIAL does it this way, too. Some shops/dealers continue to pull the engine, as well. Guess they're looking to make more money.

I believe Sean has to pull the engine to repair his seal .... a good opportunity to go after the clutch.

Here's hoping your clutch fails soon, E.J. <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

E. J. - 993 Alumni

Thanx for the toast Randall, but I thought the main seal was between the tranny and the motor. Can't you just take the tranny out to get to it?

E. J.

Randall G.

Good point, E.J. I'm no mechanic, but I do know the flywheel is attached to the crankshaft, so the rear crankshaft seal should be looking right at ya' with the transmission removed. Dunno'.
<img src="confused.gif" border="0">

911-TOUR

EJ,

The engine must be pulled to replace the seal because there's not enough space with just the transmission off to get things seated properly. If it was just the clutch replacement, then the shop (a dealer shop) would just drop the tranny.

I'm gonna have the wiring harness inspected carefully while the engine is out as well.

sean