Clutch Problem?

My other half was driving the car and upon approaching the stop light, she proceeded to shift to a lower gear (from 3rd to 2nd gear) the clutch would not return to original (up) position. The clutch pedal stayed pressed down to the floor and would not go back-up. So she was completely stuck and the computer dash was showing a code "CDS T 9". Good old 1-800-PORSCHE" towed the car to the nearest dealer but it's only Saturday afternoon which means no Cayman for me this weekend. The service dep't won't open until Monday. Any ideas what that code means?

No clue on the code, but some early owners had something like this happen. The problem was the clutch plate bolts not being tightened sufficiently. Ask about that particular issue when you talk to the dealer on Monday.

Pressure plate bolts or slave cylinder....maybe both.

The CDS T 9, means the cd player track 9 as far as I know!

Yea the CDS T 9 is single CD track 9. Its probably the slave cylinder.

Update? Car was picked-up yesterday afternoon and the dealer says, that the clutch was in perfect condition- no leak, no air and no visible wear. Before the car was check I informed the service advisor about all the problem that was mentioned here in the forum. So, if the manufacturer and some dealer knows about the clutch problem why is it not nationwide and let all the dealer knows? Also, confronted my wife again and she was on the stop and go freeway traffic and she has a habit of holding a clutch on the first gear. Looks like holding the clutch for a long time is a NO-NO for this senstive clutch. What do guys think?

This very same thing happened to me on my first day with 107 km on the odometer. The car was towed back to Porsche (the factory in Zuffenhausen) and they replaced the slave cylinder. It's been fine since. I now have about 1,200 km on the clock.

Art4xlt: You're correct about holding the car in first with the clutch. That shouldn't be done with any manual tranny car.

Do you mean, holding in the clutch while in first gear? Why not? With every manual transmission car I have ever owned, I always sit at a stoplight in first gear with the clutch depressed...

Blackbird: I should have worded that differently; without the "shouldn't" part. I've heard and read for over 50 years that keeping the clutch pedal depressed wears the clutch more, but maybe that's changed with the newer cars. Either way, feel free to carry on as before.

It has been my experience that the clutch wears out long before the throwout bearing. I always replace the pressure plate and throwout bearing while everything is apart for the clutch change which is why I have not had a problem...interesting point though!

Clutch Problems The same thing happened to me when I picked up my new Cayman and drove it home. The clutch stuck on the floor and would not spring back. I was able to lift the clutch with my hand. The dealer first replaces the master cylinder and the problem recurred. The dealer then replaced the slave cylinder and the car has been great since. This is a well documented issue by others in these forums. Also. I noticed a bit of hydraulic fluid dripping under my car in the garage. I caught it in a plastic container and showed the dealer to help them troubleshoot.

Throwout bearings and the fingers on pressure plates tend to receive the most abusive wear from riding the clutch. Fully depressing the pedal, however, while spinning the throughout bearing isn't that traumatic. The bearing is lubricated and sealed, so unless the seal is defective or worn out, the bearing should last a long, long time. And they almost always make it to clutch replacement. I have exclusively driven manual transmissions for the last 40 years. And I always keep the pedal depressed in first when stopped; and I have never had any clutch problems as a result. What hurts clutches is abuse. If the pedal is staying on the floor, it is either the slave cylinder, linkage, clutch cover sticking (unlikely) or some bizarre, but explainable reason. I have read other posts, where someone was trying to launch real fast and "dumped" the clutch. And at that moment, the clutch stayed on the floor and the car didn't launch. I beleive that is PSM doing its thing.

My interest in this car is diminishing with each post...

Three posts; three negatives; probably should be looking for some other car.

The complaints section should be taken with a grain of salt. Emotions run high when your $70K car develops problems. Nothing is without its problems and it is a very small %. I've had my CS for 6 months with zero problems.

Brought mine home to San Diego from Rusnak in Thousand Oaks (nice people) yesterday and had the same issue on the freeway in stop and go traffic 18 miles into the trip. So, that was not from "Launching". I'll tell you that was not a good feeling. Lucky I was in the slow lane just thinking about how glad I don't live in LA. First, chalked it up to being to excited about the car and getting it off the lot without scraping against the 911 turbo and not adjusting my driving position to get my feet away from the pedals. So, I'm thinking it was my bad. But, I still was not comfortable thinking I'd not want a repeat during an agressive mountain run. Then had it happen twice while engaging reverse in parking lots further down. So, it will be at the dealer as soon as I can make the appointment.

Hmmmmm...... This is very interesting. It seems like we haven't heard the pressure plate issue in a while, but now we are seeing slave cylinder failures. I guess that's a drastic improvement since a slave cylinder is very easy to replace. But it's interesting how they result in the exact same symptoms. I would assume that the same slave cylinder is in use in the 997s. I wonder if they are experiencing the same problems.

I pulled into the tech shed at VIR yesterday to air up the tires at the end of the day and there sat another silver CS in the next stall. The owner said that he had experienced the stuck clutch problem and was dead in the water until the tow truck arrived. I told him about the clutch problem threads on planet-9.com and asked if he had tried to pull the clutch back up with his hand. He said that he had pulled it up about halfway, but that it had just sunk back down again. After a few more minutes he tried again and got it to come up and stay; then he drove off. It was 102 degrees in the shade at VIR yesterday, so cold natured Michelin Cups heated up quick.

Clutch Paddle Issue As noted before I had a similar issue driving mine home from the Dealer. Finally, got the time after coming back from vacation in Vegas to drop it off to my local dealer. They had not heard of the issue but, it was exactly the same as others. The slave cyclinder on the clutch was leaking and fluid had gotten into the bell housing of the tranny. Doesn't make me happy to have my tranny dropped at 360 miles to clean it out but what can you do. So, it been at the shop since Thursday and I should have it back middle of the week. They didn't have a slave and could get one from any of the other SoCal dealer. It's coming from the Fatherland via air freight. Pioneer hooked me up with a nice '08 CayenneS to drive would of liked a 911 but who is going to argue went they're giving an almost new car to play with. Nice car but I don't like SUVs. Basically, the problem occurs when I would feather the clutch from 1st or Reverse to slowing move the car. The pedal would remain on the floor. The slave cylinder would not push the pedal back. It may be only a few cars but for all the things that they don't include on the car and make you pay extra. This basic stuff should never be an issue. They should trace the slave cylinders back by their serial number to see if they were made during Octoberfest. 8-P Next time I'm asking for a TT

Pnug, Did your dealer require you to reproduce the problem or was your car returned with the clutch pedal stuck to the floor. My dealer will not take my word that the problem exists. They are telling me that if it is not stuck when I bring it in, they can't do anything about the problem. Thanks.

Take a look under your car. If your slave is bad, it's very likely that you are leaking hydraulic fluid. If so, this should be enough to convince them there is a problem. You shouldn't have to reproduce the problem. Why don't they just call you a lier? What? They don't believe you? Give me a freaking break. Do you need to be stranded and towed in before they'll fix it? I'll tell you something, If this happened to me and they told me this I simply would not accept that as an answer.

I posted this in another thread, but I think it needs to be here as well. I noticed yesterday that there are a couple complaints on the NHTSA website for the clutch system and the pedal being stuck to the floor. Here is something I pulled off the site: I went to the complaints section of NHTSA and they do not have a listing for the Cayman hence the complaints are logged as the Boxster (987). Most likely these complaints are from fellow members. At least the word is getting out so hopefully it will get investigated.

Make a phone call to PCNA customer support and watch how fast they replace your slave cylinder. I would also suggest logging your experience on the NHTSA web site.