Clutch Bearings

Hello All, I thought I'd share my day today; Well first, let me say that I enjoy reading the forum on a regular basis.. I don't have much to contribute since I'm a new Porsche owner and have little mechanical knowledge. Anyways, back to my day. Took my 911 to work today and had to make a few stops on the way. On my way in the clutch starting feeling odd. I turned the radio off and listen to it making a screeching sound. Even more so when the petal is down. I ended up making it to the Porsche dealer where they no longer have a service center. At this point I figured I better have it towed vs. driving it. The tow company showed up and hour later and brought the car two blocks to a Porsche repair center where they believe the problem is the clutch bearings. Estimate is looking to be around 1500-2000 for this fix. Definitely a bad day... Any thoughts on what would cause this ? Car is a 2003 w/ 40k (km)

Throwout bearing also called a clutch release bearing? Price quoted sounds like the bearing, clutch disc and pressure plate. Was the clutch getting hard to depress? Clutch abuse during the life of the car, letting the clutch slip during engagement will prematurely wear things out. Hard and abrupt shifting, holding the car on a hill with partial engagement. Same things that cause clutch wear in your Yugo, F-150 and Countach. GL with the repair.

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What nick49 said. Sounds like the release bearing's going (gone) bad. It happens. (My '96 Mustang GT's clutch throwout bearing (same thing) failed with a horrible screeching noise everytime I had to depress the clutch pedal to shift. On way to work parked car and everything fine. Later in day it started to rain and I decided to take a break and go for a drive. As soon as engine started the noise was there. Just like that. When it is time it is time.) It may sound mean but I don't intend it to be but had this car been driven more that failure would have occurred under warranty and be covered. The car has covered not even 25K miles from new. Thus the cause could be just a "bad" bearing that while it took only 25K miles to fail took 7+ years to collect those 25K miles. The price quote seems to be in the ballpark. If RMS (rear main seal) or IMS (intermediate shaft) o-ring looks like there is any oil leaking around them I would recommend you have the upgraded RMS installed and the improved IMS end plate with the 3-ribbed seal (vs. the old style o-ring seal) and 3 new micro-encapsulated bolts. The parts cost is small. The much bigger cost is the labor which is removing the transmission/flywheel to get to the seals. But since the clutch job gets access to this area of the engine if there's any signs of an oil leak I'd get both replaced. Dealer service manager can explain it better if you ask him. Oh, when you get the car back, try to drive it more often. I have 230K on my 02 Boxster and this is going to sound mean, but maybe not, but the car is on its original clutch (and engine). Oh yeah, that's mean. Sorry. Sincerely, Macster.

Macster, Thanks for the comments. I bought the call last year and would like to do drive it more! The first owner was a doctor and maybe he wasn't used to the clutch. Still sucks either way ;-( I will look into your other suggestions. I think the IMS or RMS was replaced according to the service records. I will check with the dealer and see what he suggests also. Regards, Chris

I'm somewhat surprised to see any clutch part fail in 40k km, maybe the PO 'rode' the clutch on the way to the hospital. GL with the fix Chris.

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It was late last night and it didn't occur to me but I could be in a similar situation as you. Last June I bought an 03 Turbo with just 9500 miles on it. I've since added around 21K miles and thankfully everything's working just fine, but the car could have experienced an early clutch failure just like yours. A bit different though in that my car is covered by the new CPO until June 2011 and for 100K miles though and almost certainly -- unless abuse or misuse could be blamed on me (not likely) -- covered by the CPO. Doctors and cars... Read of one doctor -- this in the UK -- that had a new Jag. Driving to work he hit a manhole cover that was elevated due to pavement work and the cover sheared away part of the engine's oil sump. He continued to drive the car and made it to the office. Later in the day when he tried to start the engine it was locked up solid. Car towed to dealer and after a huge repair bill he got the car back. Well, he sent his dad in to pick up the car, but later was driving it cause this time a front tire went flat. Again he continued to drive the car and the tire came apart and ended up wiping out the brake, the wheel, the fender liner, the fender and doing some other collateral damage. But once more he had the car fixed and got the car back but not until he paid another huge repair bill. Those two episodes and repair bills that arose from them likely cost him nearly as much as the car cost new. Oh, RMS and IMS end plate and bolts are not regularly scheduled service items. They are most often replaced when while still under warranty a leak develops in the area of the RMS/IMS. If you have paper work that indicates this was done and the area around the RMS and IMS appear to be leak free then nevermind. But if they haven't been done or if there are signs of a leak in that area.... Now's the time to have them replaced. Sincerely, Macster.

Macster, I could've sworn I read a very similar story to that in Panorama, but about a doctor and his 928... In either case, I know this sort of thing happens. I've actually seen a BMW 5 series come to the shop because it's driver ignored the oil light after hitting a speed bump (which broke the oil pan).

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You're right. The car was a 928, not a Jaguar. I came across the story a few years back in a UK published Porsche (indy) magazine: 911 and Porsche World IIRC. Sincerely, Macster.

Picked up the car today and wow what a difference. It feels like a different car and I'm not just saying that to feel better about $1700 repair. Turns out it was mechanical failure or call it bad luck. The bearing came loose and left the fork to go which caused further damage to the clutch. They replaced everything and the interesting part is the clutch plate was only slightly warn. They did check the RMS/IMS and said it was perfectly dry. cheers, Chris

Hey that's good news about the fix.

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This makes me think of a question: My '99 996 (50k miles) has a clutch that engages near the top of the pedal stroke. Dealer says the clutch plate is worn and needs to be replaced. Haven't done anything with it yet, but if I run the clutch plate to failure, could that cause reciprocal damage to other parts? Thanks!