Clutch Disc Failure

[dkirk]

My friend's 1988 Carrera coupe with 58000 original miles suddenly developed some running quality issues. Problems were noises and "slop" in the drivetrain, engine vibration, and some chattering during clutch engagement. A few weekends ago, we dropped the powertrain and found the original, rubber-hub disc was in the process of failing. Large chunks of rubber had separated and lodged in the pressure plate causing the vibration issue. The rubber had completely debonded and all that was transferring torque were the three steel fingers that engage the disc with the hub. The angular clearance here was causing the slop and noise felt when power was applied or reduced.

A new Fichtel & Sachs spring-hub disc was installed, along with a throw-out bearing and pilot bearing. Car is all back together again and runs perfectly. The spring-hub has to be much more durable than the OEM part, with the trade-off of some torsionally-induced rattling noise below 2000 rpm, but you shouldn't ever lug a 911 engine down this low anyway.

Pictures of the carnage appear below.

[88-diamondblue]

Mine had 88,000 when this happened