Clutch Problems?
05-18-2010, 01:46 PM
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Clutch Problems?
Last week I spent some vacation time in Italy when suddenly the clutch of my 2007 GT3 completly broke from one second to the other.
I drove down a hill when without any warning I could not change gears any more and the clutch pedal went down to the floor without the usual resistance.
I limped back the 5 miles to the hotel (stop engine, engage 1st gear, start without clutch...). Next day my brother picked us (and the car) up and we headed back to Germany with the GT3 on the trailer.
As a first check my local dealer now removed the clutch slave cylinder (which looks good, no leaks) and flushed the hydraulics (no air in the line).... but did not have time yet for further checks or to remove the gearbox.
The car has only 4.000 miles on the clock and is not used on the track. There were absolutly no warnings like shudder / clutter / vibrations and since I was rolling downhill (behind a slow car) the clutch was not stressed.
Does anyone have an idea what the culprit could be? I assume there must be something 'mechanical' be broken, i.e. the fork or the flywheel...
Wolfgang
I drove down a hill when without any warning I could not change gears any more and the clutch pedal went down to the floor without the usual resistance.
I limped back the 5 miles to the hotel (stop engine, engage 1st gear, start without clutch...). Next day my brother picked us (and the car) up and we headed back to Germany with the GT3 on the trailer.
As a first check my local dealer now removed the clutch slave cylinder (which looks good, no leaks) and flushed the hydraulics (no air in the line).... but did not have time yet for further checks or to remove the gearbox.
The car has only 4.000 miles on the clock and is not used on the track. There were absolutly no warnings like shudder / clutter / vibrations and since I was rolling downhill (behind a slow car) the clutch was not stressed.
Does anyone have an idea what the culprit could be? I assume there must be something 'mechanical' be broken, i.e. the fork or the flywheel...
Wolfgang
05-18-2010, 04:00 PM
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If the hydraulics are OK, my guess would be something mechanical. Here in
the US Porsche has an 800 number to call for road service while the
car is under warranty. Haven't tried it yet, but I think it's free.
05-18-2010, 04:25 PM
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I had a similar failure on a 928 many years ago. A hydraulic line had internally failed in the clutch circuit so that whenever the pedal was depressed it would form a blister in the line to absorb the pressure without leaking or operating the clutch. The only way we found it was to repeatedly depress the pedal until the "blister" ruptured and leaked.
05-18-2010, 05:24 PM
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@ Andrew: you can start the car with the gear engaged, the starter is strong enough to move the car forward. You just cannot change gears then and you can only stop by switching the ignition off (we should tell this to Toyota drivers).
The road service was not an issue, as I am a member of the 'road assistance' club and the Porsche Extended Warranty Service would also help. But I preferred to take car for the car myself before it's left alone for 2 weeks in Italy waiting for a shuttle.... It can only be that such a problem is not covered under the warranty, as parts like clutch and brakes are usually excluded.
The hydraulics seem to be ok (albeit we did not test the cylinder on the pedal side), no leakage, no air.
We'll see what the dealer finds once they remove the gearbox....
The road service was not an issue, as I am a member of the 'road assistance' club and the Porsche Extended Warranty Service would also help. But I preferred to take car for the car myself before it's left alone for 2 weeks in Italy waiting for a shuttle.... It can only be that such a problem is not covered under the warranty, as parts like clutch and brakes are usually excluded.
The hydraulics seem to be ok (albeit we did not test the cylinder on the pedal side), no leakage, no air.
We'll see what the dealer finds once they remove the gearbox....
05-18-2010, 07:27 PM
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@ Andrew: you can start the car with the gear engaged, the starter is strong enough to move the car forward. You just cannot change gears then and you can only stop by switching the ignition off (we should tell this to Toyota drivers).
The road service was not an issue, as I am a member of the 'road assistance' club and the Porsche Extended Warranty Service would also help. But I preferred to take car for the car myself before it's left alone for 2 weeks in Italy waiting for a shuttle.... It can only be that such a problem is not covered under the warranty, as parts like clutch and brakes are usually excluded.
The hydraulics seem to be ok (albeit we did not test the cylinder on the pedal side), no leakage, no air.
We'll see what the dealer finds once they remove the gearbox....
The road service was not an issue, as I am a member of the 'road assistance' club and the Porsche Extended Warranty Service would also help. But I preferred to take car for the car myself before it's left alone for 2 weeks in Italy waiting for a shuttle.... It can only be that such a problem is not covered under the warranty, as parts like clutch and brakes are usually excluded.
The hydraulics seem to be ok (albeit we did not test the cylinder on the pedal side), no leakage, no air.
We'll see what the dealer finds once they remove the gearbox....
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05-21-2010, 08:12 AM
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Ok, my car is back on the road 
The dealer removed the gearbox and found the culprit. Refering to the service guy a bearing went loose. If I interpret the parts catalog correctly the release bearing (the only bearing there) sits on a guiding tube which is fixed with 2 screws. Those 2 screws were fallen out... (need to validate this again once I pick the car up).
Since the gearbox was never touched before, they assume that the car altready left the factory with the screws not tightened properly. Albeit the clutch is a 'wear and tear' part usually not covered under warranty they still cover the cost as it was not at all my fault (no excessive use, no overrevs...).
While they were at it they also replaced the pressure plate (no cost) and checked the RMS.
I was pleased to hear that the RMS is absolutly tight. Earlier this year I had a damp area and 2-3 oil droplets at the gearbox after the car sat for a few months. This again supports the common understanding that some oil may leak on cars which are moved rarely without having a technical problem.
Wolfgang
The dealer removed the gearbox and found the culprit. Refering to the service guy a bearing went loose. If I interpret the parts catalog correctly the release bearing (the only bearing there) sits on a guiding tube which is fixed with 2 screws. Those 2 screws were fallen out... (need to validate this again once I pick the car up).
Since the gearbox was never touched before, they assume that the car altready left the factory with the screws not tightened properly. Albeit the clutch is a 'wear and tear' part usually not covered under warranty they still cover the cost as it was not at all my fault (no excessive use, no overrevs...).
While they were at it they also replaced the pressure plate (no cost) and checked the RMS.
I was pleased to hear that the RMS is absolutly tight. Earlier this year I had a damp area and 2-3 oil droplets at the gearbox after the car sat for a few months. This again supports the common understanding that some oil may leak on cars which are moved rarely without having a technical problem.
Wolfgang
