Macster

This is an oil leak...
OilLeak-1


Yet more sign....
OilLeak-2


Is there any doubt it is leaking?
RMS-3


Well?
RMS-4


Holding a very expensive engine up
EngineSupport-1


Always fasten your transmission's seat belt!
TransmissionStandStrap


NO need to drain the cooling system...
HosesClamped-1


HosesClamped-2


Lots of clutch disc life left...
ClutchDisc-1


ClutchDisc-2

dubyaTT

Great images, thank you for sharing.

NYC996x50

What he said!

James88

+3 great photos.

CincyScott

Macster, is that the original clutch?

Macster

AFAIK it is the original clutch.

I bought the car used with 10K miles on it and I've never put a clutch in the car. Maybe the 1st owner did but the research I did on the car before I bought it didn't turn up anything other than just regular services and some warranty work dealing with some rattles.

dubyaTT

Macster,

I saw you measured the friction material on the clutch disc.

Are you aware of a minimum thickness, or servicable limit from Porsche?

Thank you

Macster

0.3mm. Below this the disc should be replaced.

Macster

Visited the car this AM. Waiting on the needle roller bearings that fit on the clutch fork pivot.

Regarding clutch wear....

The reference I have says the dimension from the friction surface to the flanged side of the rivet is approx. 1.7mm when new. The wear limit is 0.3mm. For the metrically challenged this works out to 0.0669" and 0.0118".

Ok, so today I took my trusty depth micrometer and measured the dimension from the friction surface to the rivet flange at several rivets on both sides of the clutch disc.

Which reminds me: Those of you that say my posts do not count because I do not get my hands dirty... Well, today my hands got dirty. So if you still say my posts do not count you'll have to come up with another reason.

Where was I? Oh yeah, the measurement is 0.070" or a bit less. In mm that's 1.77mm which is a fraction of a mm over 1.7mm which is what the reference says it should be new.

Now some rivet depths measured 0.070" and some measured a bit less down to 0.065".

Thus it would appear the clutch disc has experienced little if any wear.

Now from the picture I posted one can see it has worn some. But not much. I was surprised to feel how lumpy the surface is. I would have thought that lumpiness would have gone away in just a few hundred miles of driving.

Also, I noted in a picture of the flywheel (that I did not post because to see this it has to be viewed in its original high resolution image (and this is a big image file!)) I can see the inner diameter of the flywheel still has its machining markings.

IOWS, the clutch friction surfaces are not making even contact.

Why? Well, I don't know exactly.

Here's some more confusion. I laid my trusty precision straight edge across the disc and noted the surface was not flat. It tapers down towards the outer edge. Not much. Maybe just a few thousandths of an inch (per each side) maybe starting at the last 3rd of the distance to the edge of the disc.

Hard to believe the disc didn't start out with parallel surfaces.

Is it because the pressure plate is not clamping with equal pressure across the face of the disc?

Who knows?

One WAG of mine is it might be the result of the difference in speed. The outer portion of the disc spins faster then the inner portion and it could be this bit of extra wear out there is normal due to this.

Anyhow, the parts department quoted me $478 for the clutch disc and $736 for the pressure plate.

My tech's advise is to not replace them. And I'm in agreement with that. The clutch was not slipping and appears to be barely broken in.

While the FW and pressure plate surfaces are a bit discolored (blue) they are not anywhere near the point they look like they need to be replaced.

The release bearing shows no signs of any trouble and all the rest of the hardware save for a bit of dust looks just fine.

The only thing that is getting replaced is the clutch fork pivot shaft needle bearings which were ordered via overnight delivery.

The ball socket in the clutch fork where the slave cylinder rod pushes is dry -- but not worn -- and this gets a dab of heavy duty grease.

If the bearings came in today and if the tech doesn't get distracted the car should be done/back together this afternoon.

jumper5836

You bought it with 10k miles. How many on it now? I've heard garage queens tend to dry up and leak. Would that be the reason?

Macster

110K miles. It has been no garage queen since I bought the car, that's for sure.

Hard to say what role lack of use (1666 miles/year average in the 6 years with its first owner) played in the RMS leak. I would think it low though after another 4 years and around 25K miles per year only then did the seal decide to leak.

Now if the seal had leaked shortly after I bought it, or at least sometime during the 2 years the CPO warranty was in effect...then I could blame lack of use.

CincyScott

To me, a RMS leak at 110k miles isn't a huge deal. Is it painful and costly? Sure, but not at all terrible at that kind of mileage. My car had one of the oil gallery plugs spring a leak...which required dropping the engine too. Sometimes parts fail, it's not a perfect world

jumper5836

ya I agree, 110 miles nothing lasts forever. I had my 996 C4S RMS replaced 4 times all ready ands it only hitting 80k miles.

Macster

Well, I'm a little spoiled. The replacement RMS in my 02 Boxster has nearly 245K miles on it (replaced at around 25K miles and the car is just coming up on 270K miles) and is oil tight still.

Ok. The original RMS leaked. At 110K miles. Actually it has been leaking for a while... at least 5K miles and probably closer to 10K miles. Even so, a RMS leak at 110K or 100K miles it is not the end of the world. I will be grumpy though if the replacement leaks any.