CrossT

You can stick a pin or nail through a hole in it and this holds it in the compressed position - while depressing the clutch pedal. Then it is easy to pull out. I haven't looked into this for a while, but it would be nice from my experience having it both ways that a less aggressive spring would be my choice. Too stiff for traffic with it out and too aggressive for a good feel with it in.

Todd
99 coupe

AndyK

I would bet replacing your worn motor mounts would improve clutch action even more dramatically. Worked for me, with my helper spring intact.

mklein9

This thread is of course the reference for this mod with all the pluses and minuses.

Background: I've had this '02 996 for only two months, and one of those months all my spare time was spent selling my '87 911 (whose clutch I loved, BTW). Only in the last week have I been able to spend enough time to work on the '02. I've put about 1200 miles on it, all commuting or around town, so have used the clutch plenty.

Last night at about 9:30pm I finally decided to go do the mod. It took me about half an hour grand total (I have very little room on the side of the car to maneuver myself in and out, couldn't wait until morning).

I just took it on two test drives. OOOO MMMM GGGG. This mod completely removes the biggest, by far, complaint I had about the car: the clutch was just numb and the engagement point wasn't a "point", it was about the size of Nebraska. All the problems everyone else mentioned I had also: stalling on start, rough shifts up (especially into second gear), little feel compared to my '87. Marshmallow describes it well. What a disappointment, but OK the rest of the car is pretty nice :-).

Now with the mod done, this thing can be driven like a bat out of h#ll. It took me a mile to figure out the difference (it's a LOT stiffer and the engagement point seems further down than I was used to), but after that there is absolutely no looking back. Shifting is outrageously fast and precise, I don't even need to waver either gas or clutch pedals looking for engagement in any gear, either upshift or downshift. I would say my shifts are twice as fast and they are much less jerky. For the first time I can say it is superior to my '87 in every way.

The only drawback is that the pedal is really stiff, even stiffer than my '87 with turbo clutch. I do have to remember to push the pedal *all the way* down every time and not get lazy. I have not yet tried to see if the cruise control is flaky.

Thanks Rennlist!!! What a HUGE improvement to this wonderful car!

ONDMTN

Great post mklein9. Good to hear that removing the spring from your '02 did the trick. I've never stalled my '02 cab, but marshmallow is a great description. The other strange thing is how the spring pushes pedal the last 20% when releasing. I'm ready to do the mod and was wondering if you had the same issues with cruise control and pedal play/looseness with spring removed...and what you have done to resolve. Sounds like the '02 and newer 996's have less issues when the spring is removed.

Diablo360

Don't worry, after about a month you won't notice the stiffness anymore. Every once in a while my mind plays games with me and I go back and check to make sure the pedal isn't loose; but it's just me being accustomed to the stiffness.

ONDMTN

That was easy! Using the broom trick to depress the clutch, it took no more than 5 mins to pull out the spring assembly. As others have noted, it definitely feels significantly stiffer the first time you press in the clutch, but it's so worth it and I'm already used to it. Gone is the marshmallow feel and so is the annoying push back at top when releasing the clutch. Test drive proved the time invested was well worth it. From the very first release I was a happy man. It does seem like it engages sooner and shifts feel much tighter/accurate. Only issue remaining is play/looseness where the pedal doesn't have spring keeping it tight when fully released. Not noticeable when driving although cruise control doesn't work as others have noted.

Back in 2010, Frisbee91 posted to this thread the following, which sounds like a good way to keep the new feel while also having a tight clutch pedal that works with cruise control.

"To fix the wobbly clutch and cruise control, I removed the compression spring from its housing using a vise (be careful!). I picked up a smaller spring at Home Depot (P/N 684838, $3.98 for two). I had to open one end slightly using pliers, but it fits fine."

Has anyone done this? Would be great if someone can post step-by-step instructions and some pics on how to do this. Looking at the spring part I just removed, it's not obvious how to do it. Thanks in advance for help.

mklein9

Hi ONDMTN,

I have 1.5 commute round trips with the springless clutch now, and a little around town driving, so here is a preliminary report on the various issues.

First of all there is no way I'm going back to the spring. The clutch feel is so dramatically improved it is like a completely different car. I guess Porsche, at some late point in the design cycle, decided they had to have a "marshmallow clutch" in by default to appeal to the majority of their customers, while still being able to return the clutch all the way up. Therefore the multi-stage design that produces the odd mix of forces we have noticed.

There are a couple of effects of this change as I think most others have noted.

1) Way firmer pedal. Not a problem. Much better than the alternative. Took me about a mile to get used to.

2) Flaky cruise control because the clutch pedal doesn't return all the way to the top and doesn't reliably engage the switch. Yes, this happened to me and was initially fixed by pulling the pedal up with my foot while driving. But there is a simple solution that so far appears to work, which is to force the switch to readjust. It is really easy to do, as outlined in another post here: depress the clutch pedal, find the finger of the switch that sticks out and meets the pedal, and pull the finger out from the body of the switch a couple of clicks. Release the clutch pedal and let the switch readjust itself. Easily done from the driver's seat. So far so good.

3) For some reason that I have not identified, the entire cruise control system disabled itself during the morning drive to work yesterday (the first longer drive after doing the mod). Couldn't turn it on, and no indicator light on the dash. Fixed itself after one power cycle (ignition off and on). Hasn't appeared since. Will report if it happens again.

4) Barely pushing in the clutch pedal, just touching it really, produces a vibration sensation in the pedal. It only occurs at that point. You would expect some vibration at some point along the clutch travel, so I don't think this is a problem, it just wasn't easily felt before.

Overall this mod is utterly and totally worthwhile. My shifts are, quite literally, twice as fast and much smoother. This may even imply a substantially longer clutch life. I can even dare shift (up or down) in a turn now.

*UPDATE* -- one week of commuting and around town driving and the cruise control has been working flawlessly.

*UPDATE 2* 2/13/13 -- about 9 days and the cruise control stopped activating. Pulling the clutch switch finger out to readjust it fixed it. So it is not a 100% reliable solution, but it is so easy to do it may be acceptable long term. A weak spring to pull the pedal back out without affecting the positive feel of the spring-less clutch would be a nice solution.

-Mike

iain3915

Is anyone able to give me some advice.

I'm trying to replace the spring in my car and I've managed to get the old one (which was in 4 pieces out) but I can't get the new one back in!

My problem is in trying to get the two lugs that stick out from the spring housing into their brackets. It seems like an impossibility to me! It looks to me like you have to get the housing in between the frame brackets and then turn it 90 degrees so the lugs can go in!

I can't seem to manage this!

Anyone any advice? Do you do this with the clutch pressed down or not?

wucash

I put mine back in after about 2 months, it was just too hard to press the clutch, it took away the enjoyment. Maybe with the new clutch it will be lighter. Either way after putting the spring back in none of the old problems appeared, no stalling, 2 nd gear engages great, I know perfectly where the gears engage.

rpm's S2

I like the clutch in my car... Firm but not stiff with very positive engagement about midway through travel. Had a new clutch installed when I bought the car at 38k. 62k now and feels the same.

ONDMTN

Quick update. I was able to pick up the softer spring that Frisbee91 suggested. Was easy to install in the clutch spring housing as well as getting it back into the car with help of the broom trick. Now have the benefit of better feel like when clutch spring was removed, but the wobble is gone and the cruise control works great. Highly recommend this mod. Home Depot P/N is still 684838. Cost was $4.38 for two springs so I have an extra if anyone wanting to do this lives in San Diego.

mklein9

Funny, I had the spring described by Dscott at McMaster-Carr in my shopping cart for weeks and just yesterday added enough other items to make it worthwhile to order it. I may do this just to try. And, like Dscott, I got 6 springs so am set for my next 5 996s :-). Or anyone else who wants a free spring.

ONDMTN

LOL. Good for you mklein9. It is well worth it.

AeroGT3RedWing

I found this thread very helpful and would like to add a tip:

The cruise control will not work after you remove it, or at least not reliably. What I did was add a thick furniture pad from IKEA to the end of the piston that's part of the sensor. That extended it's reach and now it works great!

mklein9

Last weekend I installed the weaker spring and I have the following observations:

• Engagement point is just a small touch vaguer than with no spring
• It's still quite precise and a big big improvement over the stock spring
• Pedal comes all the way up, so cruise control is not an issue at all

Overall it's an excellent mod. I could imagine using even a slightly weaker spring, but this is fine.

Here's a comparison of the original (blue ends) and weaker spring (all silver) along with the disassembled body.