Porsche Club of America & Cayman Problem

Several of you may have been following the clutch/pressure plate issue on this forum. I am one of the customers whose transmission fizzled after 2,300 km while on a European delivery. So I was surprised to check the technical posting page on the Porsche Club of America website under 'transmissions' and found no commentary whatever about our common problem or, indeed, any comments about the transmission at all! I sent a note to the moderator asking if he/she would like some imput and I will post the reply when received. My impression at looking at the PCA website -- at least as concerns Caymans -- was that it was lifeless. Input is limited to asking questions of the site authority and receiving brief and to the point replies. Kind of like auditing a science class in which you are not enrolled. Odd.

KIm, not surethat your observationis a Cayman complaint. Anyway the Cayman has been out only a short time and we wouldn't expect the richness of material to have developed on the PCA site just yet.

Kim, I would also add that as the PCA Cayman Register chairperson that if you have questions feel free to ask them to me or ask them here. The PCA tech questions are answered by someone with a Boxster background and they may not have the wealth of knowledge on the Cayman that we've developed here. Additionally, it is very early in the life of the Cayman to have much built up in the way of questions and answers, hence again use this site to help you out and let me know if there is anything I can do for you in regard to PCA. Thanks,

OK. Here's the question: What condition has been determined to be the cause of the problem described on this site by a dozen posters in the US, Britain, Australia and Ireland with the 2006 model year 6-speed manual transmission that results within the first 3,000 miles of use in (1) the inability to select either 1st or reverse gears, the inability for the clutch to fully disengage,and the failure of the clutch pedal to return fully after being depressed, eventually leading to the car being rendered undriveable? Is it a manufacturing problem or a design fault? Is there a technical service bulletin in existence or in the works regarding this problem? Has Porsche expressed itself formally or in writing regarding this problem?

I'll run that up the flagpole, but in the mean time did you get any word back on your car yet and what the root cause was of your problem? I know others here have had an issue with some bolts not being tightened down enough from the factory, I am just wondering if yours was the same issue or something else.

No, not yet, and when I do I will certainly post the information. As the car has been flat-bedded back to the factory for analysis and repair, I presume it willget a going-over by exceptionally capable people. Although I will not of course be there to hear in person what they found, I have asked Louis Bellucci, the head of the European Delivery unit at the factory, to e-mail me with the findings. In the meanwhile, I am interested in determining what others have discovered. Only one poster on this site actually included the verbatim text of the repair order comments, and that made oblique reference to a slave cylinder which may or may not have been replaced, so the 'official' cause remains obscure. Other posters have referred simply to loose bolts, some have said they were on the pressure plate, others said they were on the transmission case or housing. As the occurrences are strikingly similar, the consequences to the client dramatic, and the causes likely to have resulted from either a mismanufactured subcomponent or design defect (as opposed to fluke occurrences or user neglect or misuse), I would be surprised if Porsche hasn't gotten to the bottom of this -- hence the inquiry to PCA.ORG, which seems very technically oriented and plugged-in with PCNA.

Kim - The PCA technical Q&A is just exactly that - a question and answer format to answer specific questions from members. It is not an open discussion forum like the Cayman Club. If there's nothing there on this topic specific to the Cayman problems you outline, it is because no PCA members who regularly use the PCA tech Q&A have had this problem. While you maybe find the format odd, there is a huge wealth of technical information about all models of Porsches available there that is actually proffered by real, acknowledged experts, free of the posing, conjecture, speculation, rumors, and uninformed opinions that can be what you get from other forums, including this one on occasion. Maybe you look at it as auditing a science class, but I see it as a giant encyclopedia of all things technically related to Porsches. The tech Q&A has been in the PCA magazine Panorama for years, but in the last few years, having this available to members in the Web has been a huge service to the membership. Even though there is a dearth of information specifically about the Cayman S, you could learn quite a lot by reading through the information in the Boxster, 996, and 997 sections - all these water-cooled cars are very much related, and you can learn a lot about your car from these other sections. In the 19 years I've been a PCA member, I've availed myself to this expertise many times, and the advice has always been spot-on. I even sent Joel Reiser (moderator for the 964 / 993 / 996 incl. Cup cars) several e-mail questions directly concerning the ordering of options for my Cayman, in particular the PCCB option, and had expert, trustworthy advice within an hour. We traded several e-mails after that for further questions I had... for me, that paid for my year's membership right there. brad

There can be many reasons for clutch engagement/disengagement and/or shifting problems. Linkage Design Manufacturing Wear Assembly A pressure plate surface only releases several thousandths of in inch to permit the disk to be relieved of contatc with both the pressure plate and the fly wheel. If the bolts are loose, then the disengagement isn't complete. That would casue difficult shifting. If the clutch disk were warped, that too would have a similar effect. Warpage can come from heat. Did the clutch slip? DOes the car get held on a hill by slipping the clutch?? Hot spots form on pressure plates from slipping the clutch. That too will effect clutch disengagement witch will cause shifting problems and even grabbing, preventing smooth take-off. Engine mounting and transaxle to engine mounting also can cause similar shifting problems. Shifter operation/cable adjustments can also cause shifting problems. Just because a few cars have encountered a similar problem, it doesn't mean that the cause is the same.

Robert, RE: the clutch issue, You might be interested in the information posted here. http://www.planet-9.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4335&FORUM_ID=1&CAT_ID=1&Topic_Title=Suppliers+of+Porsche+Cayman+Components&Forum_Title=Cayman+Chat

As mentioned, I posed this question on the PCA technical site. What follows is the question and the reply I received: Question: Dear Scott: What condition has been determined to be the cause of a repetitive problem described on www.planet-9.com by owners in the US, Britain, Australia and Ireland with the 2006 model year 6-speed manual transmission used in the Cayman S that results within the first 3,000 miles of use in (1) the inability to select either 1st or reverse gears, (2) the inability for the clutch to fully disengage, and (3) the failure of the clutch pedal to return fully after being depressed, eventually leading to the car being rendered undriveable? Is it a manufacturing problem that can be corrected in the field or a design fault likely to recur until the unit is replaced or redesigned? Is there a technical service bulletin in existence or in the works regarding this problem? Has Porsche expressed itself formally or in writing regarding this problem ? Answer: The Cayman S or 987c uses the same transmission as the Boxster, then again the Cayman is the Coupe version of it. These transmissions have been built by Getrag and are used in the Audi A4 and A6 Getrag Type 466. The transmissions have been for the most part problem free. The problems as you describe have been related to the slave cylinder not being fully secured for the most part. The retaining bolt was not fully tightened on assemble and aloud the cylinder to back out. Once the cylinder has backed out partially or fully it will jam in place or fall out. This has happened on occasion starting with the 987 Boxster. There has been other fewer occurrences with the pressure plate loosening, however this has been several cases worldwide. Complaints of non-returning gear shift handle in which the car is still usable was do to the shifter assemble in both the 987 and the 987c. You can find many answers to other questions in the Boxster section also.

He sounds like he was drunk when he wrote his reply. Why is he talking about a non-returning gear shift handle and the 987 shifter assembly?

That is most likely since they are the same and had the same TSB's to the problem.

Can I check my own slave cylinder or is it difficult to access? Edited by - gwg0305 on 07/07/2006 1:01:09 PM

No, read the post carefully. Kim is asking about the CLUTCH PEDAL NOT RETURNING, and the tech guy responded about the GEAR SHIFT LEVER. They are completely unrelated mechanisms, and there is no such thing as a shift lever return problem unless you consider the centering spring to be a gear shift lever return. And that has nothing to do with what Kim asked him.

The graphic below gives you a pretty good idea of where to look. The link above also has photos of what this part looks like. If you jack up the rear-end of the car, remembering to use jack stands and Santa Fe approved wheel chocs , you should be able to locate the Master cylinder near the transmission on the side by the left rear wheel. Edited by - mpollard on 07/07/2006 1:59:30 PM Edited by - mpollard on 07/07/2006 3:27:07 PM

P-MAN I think you should read it again. It states Shift Handle in which there is a TSB for the Cayman and the Boxster. The shift handle is connected to the transmission via cablesand was asked in one of his 3 emails that were received. The questions were all summed up in this answer for him. Scott Slauson

Scott, Thanks for taking the time to register at the Cayman Cluband then to directly respond here. I don't think that there is any question about the credibility of the information that you provide in the technical forums on the PCA web site. It does appear that there are at least three known issues with the Cayman S clutch/transmission operation and any one or combination of the three could be the root cause of impaired operation of the manual shifting of the Getrag transmission.

Thank you for the welcome ,I actually just visited the site after the question that was asked of me. My Porsche experience started in 1980 and I have been working with them since. This is from the 356 on up to the Carrera Gt and of course theCayman.Granted the 356 was out before that time frame . When I answer questions there may be other reasons for additional information than what is copied from the site. I always thought more was better than less. Perhaps this case has shown me wrong on that. Scott Slauson

Welcome Scott. We hope you hang around here alot. In case you didn't see it, the clutch topic that has collected most of the problems is: http://www.planet-9.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2807&FORUM_ID=14&CAT_ID=1&Topic_Title=Clutch%2F+Shifting%2F+Gearbox+Problems&Forum_Title=Cayman+Complaints

Not at all. My comments were based only on what Kim posted above, and I wasn't aware that there was any issue with the shift lever. I mistakenly assumed that you were talking about something that didn't have any relevance to his question - my mistake, not yours./fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/regular_smile.gif

Welcome, Scott! It's nice to have another technical expert here! Hope to see you around often.

<div> No problem P-Nut and we will just consider it in the past.Emails can often be misinterpreted when reading and I try to make my answers short and hopefully to the point . Having said that Let me know when I have to much to drink , just kidding . Scott </div>