G50 Clutch Feel Question

[paul_howey]

Hello all,

I did some searching and couldn't quite find a scenario that matched mine exactly so I figured I would post this here and see if anyone could offer some insight

I purchased an '88 Carrera (40k miles) about 8 months ago and this is my first experience owning a 911 with the G50 transmission. When I first got the car I remember thinking the clutch felt a little stiff but I got used to it fairly quickly.

In the past week or so, I perceived what I can only describe as a slightly lighter clutch feel. Clutch engagement is exactly the same as it always has been and the pedal snaps back up immediately when fully depressed. Mechanically everything seems 100% and I don't see any clear symptoms of slave or master cylinder failure.

But I can't get the nagging feeling out of my head that something may be degrading and/or need attention. Before I bother my mechanic (who is a saint of a man that puts up with all my late night texts and barely charges me for service), I wanted to see if anyone experienced something similar and either a) it was nothing to worry about or b) it was an early symptom of an impending failure.

P.S. When I push the clutch with my hand it feels as stiff as the day I bought it so maybe my sissy leg just got stronger lol.

Thanks in advance!

[Jonny042]

Your car has such low mileage that it's likely the original needle bearings on the clutch shaft. They are notorious for going dry, seizing up, and eventually causing mayhem. The fix is to change them out for a solid bushing cross shaft conversion.

Not saying that's the problem with yours, maybe you've just been driving it enough that they were a bit ithgt then loosened up? Cars like to be driven. An 88 with 40k on it has been sittling. A lot!!

[paul_howey]

Originally Posted by Jonny042

Your car has such low mileage that it's likely the original needle bearings on the clutch shaft. They are notorious for going dry, seizing up, and eventually causing mayhem. The fix is to change them out for a solid bushing cross shaft conversion.

Not saying that's the problem with yours, maybe you've just been driving it enough that they were a bit ithgt then loosened up? Cars like to be driven. An 88 with 40k on it has been sittling. A lot!!

Thanks for the reply. I will definitely check that out and have heard of that being a failure point.

And yes... the previous owner (1x owner car) only drove it a little more than 1k mile a year to a few events and took it on some weekend drives. Glad I could rescue it and start packing on the miles I was also considering that everything was a little tight from low usage. Hope that's the case.

[Jonny042]

I looked back through some old threads to see if I ever posted pics of the failure I had - it would appear I did not. I drove the car from the west coast (SF Bay Area) home to Central Canada, stored it for the winter, and the clutch fork broke the following spring soon after sitting for the winter.

I'd say not to worry. If something does let go the feel will change drastically enough that you'll know without a doubt there is a problem.

Enjoy putting on the miles!!

[Lyle O]

Does it seem to engage at the same point now as when you first drove it? If not, you may have air in the slave and a bleed could help...just trying to come up with options in addition to what Jonny offered...

[paul_howey]

Originally Posted by Jonny042

I looked back through some old threads to see if I ever posted pics of the failure I had - it would appear I did not. I drove the car from the west coast (SF Bay Area) home to Central Canada, stored it for the winter, and the clutch fork broke the following spring soon after sitting for the winter.

I'd say not to worry. If something does let go the feel will change drastically enough that you'll know without a doubt there is a problem.

Enjoy putting on the miles!!

Thanks Jonny! That was my assumption as well. But I figured I would check with those that know better than me just in case I was overlooking something.

Originally Posted by Lyle O

Does it seem to engage at the same point now as when you first drove it? If not, you may have air in the slave and a bleed could help...just trying to come up with options in addition to what Jonny offered...

Hi Lyle. Thank you! Yes, the engagement point is exactly the same. Mechanically, nothing has changed. The only noticeable difference is how much leg is required to fully engage the clutch.

[Flat6pac]

Bleed the hydraulic clutch. Probably has factory fill from 88.
Bruce

[KTL]

My experience with the G50 clutch hydraulics is that if you have air in it, you'll know it because you'll have no pedal and it'll go to the floor, won't return/spring back. If the fluid is really old and original, you'd be wise to replace the slave and even the master. These slaves are known for occasionally puking their guts when the effort gets high.

I would recommend you have your mechanic look into the high effort sooner than later. Given the low mileage of your car, it's likely you have the original clutch. If so, that means you could have the original clutch disc, release bearing, guide tube and cross-shaft/fork assembly. All of that has been issued an update.

The release bearing and guide tube are not major problem source. But the cross shaft issue is a legit one that will burst your slave cylinder or worse, crack open the shaft mounting points in the transmission housing. There's been a lot of threads about this on the forum over the years

Plus if you do indeed have the original clutch, the clutch disc has a rubber center damper that is prone to failure with age. The rubber twists and eventually comes apart, jamming up the clutch operation

Do a search if you care to read more into things. Numerous threads have been posted about the G50 clutch system woes. For some reason i've taken a morbid interest in posting on the G50 clutch problems over the years. Do enough searching and you'll find my participation in a lot of them.

G50 Pivot Shaft BOSS repair - HELP!

G50 Shaft Upgrade + New Clutch : Change Fork? + T/O Bearing Guide?

G50 Cross-shaft Update

88 Clutch Issue

Sticky Clutch on '87 911

More scary G50 photos...

[paul_howey]

Originally Posted by KTL

My experience with the G50 clutch hydraulics is that if you have air in it, you'll know it because you'll have no pedal and it'll go to the floor, won't return/spring back. If the fluid is really old and original, you'd be wise to replace the slave and even the master. These slaves are known for occasionally puking their guts when the effort gets high.

I would recommend you have your mechanic look into the high effort sooner than later. Given the low mileage of your car, it's likely you have the original clutch. If so, that means you could have the original clutch disc, release bearing, guide tube and cross-shaft/fork assembly. All of that has been issued an update.

The release bearing and guide tube are not major problem source. But the cross shaft issue is a legit one that will burst your slave cylinder or worse, crack open the shaft mounting points in the transmission housing. There's been a lot of threads about this on the forum over the years

Plus if you do indeed have the original clutch, the clutch disc has a rubber center damper that is prone to failure with age. The rubber twists and eventually comes apart, jamming up the clutch operation

Do a search if you care to read more into things. Numerous threads have been posted about the G50 clutch system woes. For some reason i've taken a morbid interest in posting on the G50 clutch problems over the years. Do enough searching and you'll find my participation in a lot of them.

Thank you for the info! My observation is that the clutch has become slightly easier to engage, not heavier or more difficult. I've read a lot of these threads and from what I could tell, most point to a heavy or stiff clutch as being the primary symptom. That was the reason for the new thread since that is not what I'm experiencing.

When I purchased the vehicle, my mechanic did a light "resto" and bleeding the system was one of the service items he did about 8 months ago. I'm going to make an appointment with him to get his opinion on the integrity of the rest of the components in have the appropriate updates made.

Thanks again.

[aston@ultrasw.c]

Bleeding the G50 slave cyl can be a bit of a PITA see this insightful post!!!!!

G50 Clutch Bleed Update...