Yeah, it was the RMS...and some clutch questions
 

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The darn thing leaked since day one, and I'm finally getting around to fixing it.



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This has been going on awhile to say the least.


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It is all over everywhere, even inside the bellhousing.

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...and the wind carries it all over the underside of the car while driving. :p


The reason I broke down and started it was the clutch started feeling just a bit soft and I suspected it was getting oil in it finally. It looked pretty clean inside but what I did see was a little bit disturbing.

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There's a matching set of three spots that are worn much more than the rest.

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The machining pattern is still clear from when I had it resurfaced for the engine rebuild. The pattern is completely gone in that one of three areas. The flywheel looks a bit burned. I've slipped the clutch kind of agressively a few times but I'm normally very easy on it. Last night I launched it kind of hard and the rpms floated higher as if the tires lost traction, which is what I though was going on so i just rode it through, but it wasn't, and I had the clutch pedal completely released, and that burning clutch smell was definitely there. It still grabs and holds ok but feels a bit softer than I'd think it should and it's been kind of progressive in development.

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The matching set on the pressure plate. I had re-used the pressure plate, and the machine shop told me they weren't able to machine it, so I just roughed it up quickly with some sandpaper, but it was in nearly perfect shape and the clutch worked flawlessly before.

So what could cause marks like that? The friction disk still looks fine. I'm pretty sure unless it's some catastrophic condition, I will be forced to put it all back on and just let it take a crap whenever/however it does, as I need my car and just don't have time to wait for parts. I know that's the worst job to have to come back and do, but that's the price I pay for having a Porsche DD.

Let me just say I HATE this job...what a freaking PITA with the motor still in the car, and even worse to extract the RMS from under the car on an assembled motor. Nothing fits in there to get leverage. With the seal thoroughly mutilated, I was laying there at my wit's end thinking about what might be the cheapest daily driving runner that's not a 944 on craigslist and how much my car is worth in parts, mustered my last spark of determination and pried it out with a clawhammer. The new one went in fine after cleaning up a few nicks around the seal galley from prying at it with a screwdriver, which actually helped since it bent the seal out enough to grab it with the hammer. I've still got 2 hours of reassembly, but I also took advantage of the opportunity to replace the battery and alternator wiring. It was alot easier to access the wires with the clutch off and the engine free to tilt.

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I crimped and soldered the ring terminals and gooped the space between the terminal and the insulation to prevent moisture from getting inside the wire and corroding it from the inside out.

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All done. I got 0 guage for the main cables and 4 guage for the alternator. It appears that the original alternator wire is pretty close to 4 guage already but the 0 guage is definitely bigger than the starter and main engine ground wires. These wires are very high count fine stranded so they are a little more dense for their size and are nice and flexible.

The discolored spots on the metal are heat spots - definitely has changed the Crystallization in areas - it's like case hardening on some machine tools.

I was going to say - aside from the super thin looking insulation on them, those look like some pretty good quality wires.

Oh yea?? You are implying there IS a bright side to the situation then?

The insulation is actually pretty thick. Them being clear plays tricks on the eyes. I also ran them inside the original sleeving for extra protection.

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At least now they aren't smashed between the slave cylinder and the body with the solenoid wire running down around the bottom of the solenoid waiting to get taken out by some road debris like the old instalation was.

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I did find the fuse block supply wires are corroded inside and should probably be replaced as well. I do like the battery clamp I got with the set screws to retain the wires.


As for the rest of the project, it is officially leak free after a 10 mile test drive! That's alot better than the first seal did.

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I cleaned off the clutch parts with sandpaper and re installed. The clutch feels pretty good now.


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Just like the additional duct tape and zip ties just to be triple sure the new battery cables were well protected, I took no chances here either.

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Asside from the mess already there from the leak, it's pretty clean now and hopefully it will stay that way.

HondaDustR,

First, nice job on the RMS. But what type of sealant did you use on the seal and oil pan? It looks like air conditioning duct sealant.

The cables look excellent and the positive clamp is new to me but it looks strong.
Whats with the crappy negative clamp? Did you see a pic of the military clamp I posted recently?

I saw your last post on another topic and read that you used a "Centerforce clutch disc". Do you think the disc could be causing the burn/glazing/heat marks on the OEM pressure plate and flywheel?

Great job.

John

Best stuff ever made!
http://www.permatex.com/products/Automotive/automotive_gasketing/gasket_makers/Permatex_the_Right_Stuff_Grey_Gasket_Maker.htm

I used some curil-T around the outside of the seal before installing it.

I've seen the military clamp but I guess I'm just too lazy to find one. The positive clamp is a pretty common design in the car stereo department. It's a long story, but I only got one. I just ended up using the old positive clamp for the negative. It looks crappy, but not entirely so. Gold plated and a good solid soldering job. Soldering 0 guage wire is kind of a pain to say the least, especially trying to solder it to a battery clamp. I had to crank up the MAPP gas torch to get enough heat into it quickly enough.

As far as the burn marks go, my best guess is something to do with the used pressure plate, since I wasn't able to get it machined. Those burn marks are probably at least partly from a single isolated event that prompted me to take the plunge and get this done. The night before I hard lanched the car around 3K rpm and the tach floated to around 6K with the clutch out during takeoff, as if the rear lost traction. The road there is kind of that weird worn smooth asphalt, so I thought that's what was going on, so I just rode it through. Turns out that was actually the clutch slipping and the first thing that came to mind was that damn RMS leak. The clutch never loses grip with the pedal fully released, and although it seemed to work ok after that, it felt soft engaging. The dust inside the flywheel and in the cracks of the disk felt a little on the sticky, gummy side, so I bet there was a little bit of oil contamination going on. I have no idea exactly what was going on with that, but the centerforce disk looked fine (maybe a little glazed) and definitely seems to be pretty good quality. The rest of the clutch was re-used back when I replaced the disk and did not show anything like that from before, so maybe it is the disk. The clutch feels pretty good now. I roughed up the flywheel and PP with 100 grit sandpaper, and also roughed up the disk surface as well to expose fresh material. I guess time will tell.