1971 Sportomatic

[panamadre]

Hello all; I have a 1971 911E Sportomatic which has been in my family for 35+ years. I'm takingi the first steps here to deal with a fist time transmission issue. Don't drive it much but it's a driver and when on the road this past week the car seemed to lose power before coming to a complete stop. Now that I'm home with the car (I got a tow) I'm feeling more that I have a transmission/clutch issue since my Oil pressure and RPMs were/are normal. The car engine was not hot; had been driving for less than 10 miles. There is a significant oil leak underneath the car which I have not yet had a chance to put the car in the air and look more closely. Based on this background, can anyone offer what is likely to be the primary problem and what all is involved in the repair most importantly parts. There are many parts offered for the "clutch" on Pelecan Parts but I saw none specific to the Sportomatic. Anything that you can offer is more than appreciated. Thanks in advance. Andre

[BK911]

The oil can be coming from anywhere. If you have access to a lift, put the car in the air and generously use engine cleaner. Run the car for a couple of minutes, and then look for fresh oil. That will help determine oil leak. Oil return tubes are a likely source, but there are many others.

Good luck with the sporto. I also have a 71E sporto under restoration. Good luck finding parts!!

Do a search for "sporto" or "sportomatic".

There are a few sporto owners here.

[Scott Douglas]

How significant is the oil leak?
In order to move the car forward the engine has to pump oil thru the torque converter. If it is loosing oil pressure I don't think you'll be going very far.
I'd hunt down the leak and see where it's coming from first thing.

[panamadre]

I'm afraid the leak is significant. I haven't yet attempted to start the car and/or try going forward in other gears. The initial signs suggest that the car will not go forward. Based on the two comments so far (thank you) I need to get the car in the air and take a close look. Perhaps I can get to this this week and post an update at that time. In the meantime, I'd appreciate any and all comments. Thanks again.

[panamadre]

Just want to update this thread for the few who may be following. In this case, I have had two problems with my Sporto .

1) My clutch was not engaging. In order to change gears I would have to start the car in the desired gear and stay in that gear and repeat the process if another gear was desired. THIS ISSUE REMAINS OUTSTANDING.

2) Bearing failure. According to my mechanic; an old timer involved with Porsche repair for some 40 years, ball bearing failed, which resulted in an oil leak, which saturated the clutch disk. The total parts required for correction: 1) Throwout Bearing, Clutch Disc, Two Seals, and the Ball Bearing). All the parts were available through Pelican Parts special order. Took about six weeks for all the parts to arrive from Europe. THIS IS DONE.

Now I'm back to square one. The car remains in the repair. Understanding why the clutch disk is not engaging is taking some time to figure out. We checked the vacuums, and they appear fine. We have a new Micro Switch but it's not installed as we don't think its the Micro Switch. Usually, the micro switch, before it fails completely, deteriorates intermittantly and over time. This has been my experience over the 30+ years this car has been in my family, and when they begin to fail, first they sometime may work in one or two gears, but not the others. So, we don't think its the switch but we have a new one just in case.

What else can be causing the clutch to not disengage?

[JT912]

I thought there was a lock-out to prevent starting while in gear.
Maybe you have a vacuum leak or a leak in the rubber bladder?

[MrJTP]

The lock-out is easily defeated. Look at the wiring diagram for the controller and you should be able to figure out where to put the temporary jumper. I had to do that after my clutch stuck in the engaged position.

As for the oil leak, after owning my 68 sporto for about 2 weeks my wife called me at work and told my she 'thought' the car was leaking oil. When I got to within 2 or 3 blocks of home I just followed the oil slick right into the driveway.

The rear main seal blew and it was as Panamadre said "a significant leak".

The stuck clutch was, according to the dealership, due to a spot of sealant (from joining the two sides of the case) had dripped onto the clutch. I scratched my head and took his word for it since all the cost was on the dealer.

[Scott Douglas]

If the clutch is all new or nearly so, I'd say check the diaphragm to see if it holds a vacuum.
You also should check the control valve that controls the vacuum going to the diaphragm.

[Sf66]

Hello all,

I'm new on this forum and I own a Euro 68L Sporto.

I've had the same "non engaging clutch - gear locking" problem and I found the vacuum hose from the left intake manifold to the control valve cracked and leaking. A quick and dirty taping repair took temporarily care of the problem.

I'm still looking for a replacement hose... It's kind of T shaped with an inner spring reinforcement. It's NLA with Porsche classic. I guess I'll have to make one.

Give it a try !

[MrJTP]

If it is a leak problem you might look at the check valves in the large vacuum ports on the left side manifold. I recently found that one of mine was stuck open which would cause a major vacuum leak.

[panamadre]

My mechanic is 75 years old and has about 40 years experience working on Porsche cars which goes back to when he was he worked with a Dutch airline company and lived in Holland. But, in this market he's not dealt with any Sporto issues. He now has me to thank for having his hands full. I brought my 1971 Sporot to him about seven months ago, It took time to identify parts (seals, bearings, clutch, T-out) which were special ordered through Pelican Parts, very grateful for; but, they took time. Now that the parts are in, we seem to have fixed the leaks, but we're still left with the vacuum control valve in the stuck position--the clutch won't disengage. I'm very lucky to have this guy around. He's looking at selling his shop and retiring this year. He has put in his homework on this one and is narrowing down to the problem. Here's an exact transcript from yesterday:

"The valve…the moment you start the car, the valve it becomes open, like it’s short circuited, but it’s not. There is something with the valve that is operating the solenoid without touching the stick shift, the micro switch; so, the only way to operate the valve, that she close and open, is by removing the canon plug right on top, it has two wires, one has power and one has ground. When you remove it, the valve will close. But, you can’t work like that. So, this system has to be controlled by the micro switch on the stick shift. There is something wrong with the wire or the valve, and this is what we’re going to check. In addition, they say, here in the manual, here, in the manual, they say, whenever you change the clutch, and I didn’t make attention to this, here, “checking clutch free plate”…see… they say you have to check all this in order to have the system working correctly…by checking the amount of clearance and all that, on the rods, one, two, three rods…you see…this is the one that will declutch the car…this is the one that is coming from…it is the long…or I don’t know how you call it…the vacuum actuator. See? You have to check that. And, you have to check this one. This is not clear. We didn’t touch this. The “control valve adjustment.” This is what…the next thing we’re going to do. But we have to drop the engine. You can’t do it with the engine on it. You have to drop the engine because otherwise you won’t be able to see it. You can touch it. You can see it. You see this is the top of the gear box. And this is…how do I say…right on top. So, you have to drop the engine in order to get reach of this. This we cleaned it. We checked the outside and it’s working ok. So, I am sure this is ok. And then, what we did, we, the only thing we did, we removed this clip, lift this up, clean it, and put grease, so the system work smooth. But, that didn’t help."

In case anyone is interested, my mechanic is working from a 1972 Porsche manual and he has the complete maitenance section on the Sportomatic. I'm in the process of scanning the pages and having them available in PDF format for those that may be interested. PM me if interested. He's also selling his shop. PM me if interested.

Is my guy on the right track?

[layzee]

Microswitch problems are common with sportos, I think he is close. Hopefully he or someone he knows is good at diagnosing auto-electrical issues.

In the second part he suggests adjusting the amount the actuator moves - and checking the distance. Adjusting this to me seems like last resort - it should be fine from whenever the car last worked. Like the MFI system, actually making adjustments should be a last resort.