HELP: 997s wouldn't move this AM, dealer says clutch gone at 8800 miles? Advice??
07-04-2008, 10:39 AM
#16
How many miles did your car have on the odometer when you bought it? Around five years ago, one of my sons worked as a lot boy during the summer at a local Porsche Dealer. He told me that on several occasssions he saw guys literally burn rubber as they drove the 996 off the Dealer's lot. When the cars went down the road he could hear the engines winnning to red line in the first two gears, and all of this on a cold engine.
I would never buy any high performance demo because of the potential of abuse during the test drives. Maybe the abused 996s didn't have any problems down the road, but I wouldn't want to take the chance.
I would never buy any high performance demo because of the potential of abuse during the test drives. Maybe the abused 996s didn't have any problems down the road, but I wouldn't want to take the chance.
07-04-2008, 04:05 PM
#20
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Hmmn. Hadn't considered the possibility that I suddenly lost all of my gear shifting skills. 56 years old, have only ever owned one automatic transmission. About 70 days on the race track with manual transmission Porsches. Have never had to put a new clutch in a car.
But I guess anything is possible.
But I guess anything is possible.
07-04-2008, 04:34 PM
#21
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Answers! I'm not happy about it, but at least I now know what happened.
I talked to the head mechanic at the dealer about the car and what I learned is that the clutch crapped out as the probable result of a single over rev on a downshift. On my first or second track day with the car I missed a 4-5 shift, going to 3rd instead. The car rev'd to about 7800 rpm before I pulled it out. That, according to the head tech, probably was the source of the failure. Subsequent driving caused deterioration until final failure yesterday. What surprised me was that I have had 4 - 5 track days with it since, but he felt that with the single shock the failure was imminent. The distortion in the clutch mechanism is in the right direction to be a result of a downshift, with no chance of it being a result of jack rabbit starts.
I don't like the report -- but am responsible for my missed shift.
And I will pay the price for the repair ... cannot be as bad as my buddy who is rebuilding the transmission on his 996 TT this week!
In terms of my confidence in the car, the tech reports that there is absolutely nothing wrong with it . . . all other systems are fine, so get out and enjoy it on the track. And I am glad that I don't have to worry about our house sitter having done something really inappropriate.
One other bit of data ... I got the DME report and there were 600+ level 1 incidents, and a few at levels 2 & 3. The tech advises that a level 1 is a result of hitting the rev limiter ... probably a result of the track driving. Levels 2 & 3 probably a result of the same thing. What was really interesting was that they don't worry about any of those reports. But if you come in with an engine failure and they get a level 5 or level 6 report, they are going to question whether it is a warranty repair. Good info to have!! He also noted that he has seen cars with level 6 reports and the car is just fine.
Now ... they just need to get a part in. The 4th of July holiday seems to have messed up parts delivery for today, so at best I will get it back on Monday.
Thanks for all the advice on this, and the sympathy.
Lorne
PS ... one other tidbit. He told me about a Carrera GT clutch that was destroyed with less than 1000 miles on the car. Serious abuse by the driver. Cost of repair .... $30,000. Ouch!
I talked to the head mechanic at the dealer about the car and what I learned is that the clutch crapped out as the probable result of a single over rev on a downshift. On my first or second track day with the car I missed a 4-5 shift, going to 3rd instead. The car rev'd to about 7800 rpm before I pulled it out. That, according to the head tech, probably was the source of the failure. Subsequent driving caused deterioration until final failure yesterday. What surprised me was that I have had 4 - 5 track days with it since, but he felt that with the single shock the failure was imminent. The distortion in the clutch mechanism is in the right direction to be a result of a downshift, with no chance of it being a result of jack rabbit starts.
I don't like the report -- but am responsible for my missed shift.
And I will pay the price for the repair ... cannot be as bad as my buddy who is rebuilding the transmission on his 996 TT this week!In terms of my confidence in the car, the tech reports that there is absolutely nothing wrong with it . . . all other systems are fine, so get out and enjoy it on the track. And I am glad that I don't have to worry about our house sitter having done something really inappropriate.
One other bit of data ... I got the DME report and there were 600+ level 1 incidents, and a few at levels 2 & 3. The tech advises that a level 1 is a result of hitting the rev limiter ... probably a result of the track driving. Levels 2 & 3 probably a result of the same thing. What was really interesting was that they don't worry about any of those reports. But if you come in with an engine failure and they get a level 5 or level 6 report, they are going to question whether it is a warranty repair. Good info to have!! He also noted that he has seen cars with level 6 reports and the car is just fine.
Now ... they just need to get a part in. The 4th of July holiday seems to have messed up parts delivery for today, so at best I will get it back on Monday.
Thanks for all the advice on this, and the sympathy.
Lorne
PS ... one other tidbit. He told me about a Carrera GT clutch that was destroyed with less than 1000 miles on the car. Serious abuse by the driver. Cost of repair .... $30,000. Ouch!
07-04-2008, 04:48 PM
#22
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The rationale of one bad downshift blowing a Porsche clutch is possible but a bit hard to swallow. Regardless, I'm relieved for you that it was not your house-sitter....that would suck.
07-04-2008, 05:04 PM
#23
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Was it the pressure plate or the actual disc that sheared off the bolts? I ask because in my Cup Car it is known that the pressure plate will blow up if you miss a shift and hit 9k PRM's or so. It's considered a safety buffer in that it blows hopefully before your motor grenades. 7800 RPM's is not very high, but then redline on these cars is what about 7000? (mine's at the market right now)....
07-04-2008, 05:12 PM
#24
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So the DME scan showed only a few ignitions in range 2 and 3. I can't believe that a brief money shift into Range 3 could yield a fried clutch much later in time. Seems odd to me.
My Durametric software tells me the operating hour at which the last overrevs were recorded which you can then compare to the total operating hours. If the Porsche scanner can tell you this info as well, it might help you determine if your house guest had gone wild in your car as well.
My Durametric software tells me the operating hour at which the last overrevs were recorded which you can then compare to the total operating hours. If the Porsche scanner can tell you this info as well, it might help you determine if your house guest had gone wild in your car as well.
07-05-2008, 08:40 PM
#25
Like i said before I would look at this as a freak accident, and not a reason to be leary of the car. As you were told by your tech, level 1-3 Porsche doesnt really care, thats just a run to redline, or slightly over. But 4-6 is mechanical over-rev and that is bad. And FYI while 600 sounds like a lot, remember thats the number of ignition events, so that really is only 100 revolutions of the engine, which is merly a split second.
Mark
Mark
