Clutch

[whatnot]

Ever since I bought my 996 last year the clutch has always been really stiff, took a lot of pressure on the pedal to depress and there was a real small area where it engaged (hard to explain). I assumed this was normal for it.
Today I went into a store and when I came, as I was leaving I thought I lost the clutch. The pedal takes about half the force to depress and it is linear feeling all the way through the travel.

It is still fully releasing and no slippage as far as I can tell.

What could have happened to it? Is it the correct way now or was it before.

[Walt Fricke]

Does the 996 have a clutch assist? My 07 Turbo (acquired last summer) does. The dealer told me it wasn't working properly, because only after the engine starts does it function, and the clutch becomes much easier to depress. Apparently there is a reservoir somewhere to retain vacuum (or whatever is used) so that it will work when depressed before trying to start, and that must have a slow leak.

If the 996 has this feature, perhaps yours has come back to life?

[Jeff Alton]

Only the Turbo has the assist. The accumulator holds pressure for approx 20 pedal strokes after the engine is turned off.

The clutch in a 996 should not be heavy at all if functioning properly.

[whatnot]

Thanks for the replies.
I just found something about a clutch assist spring. Is it possible it was stuck and just started working?

[FPB111]

Could be the assist spring. It is easy to remove/check/replace, #9 in pic. Put a pin into the hole in the rod before you pull it out. Pic shows it with a cotter pin in it. That won't be there in operation only for remove/replace. Put a pin it and push the pedal down and it will almost fall out on it's own. Here is a thread about the assist spring.
http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/996-forum/343297-improved-clutch-action-dramatically.html


From your description it sounds like your clutch diaphragm spring may have cracked. If that is the case you will have other problems show up pretty quickly.

[whatnot]

How quickly do you think other problems will show up? Is it likely to leave me stranded? I was planning on going on a 300 mile each way trip in a couple weeks.

I looked at the assist spring and it looks like it is working correctly. I don't see any way that it could have not been. The description of the clutch feel with and without the spring is exactly how I would describe it though. Only difference is the clutch pedal never was loose and never had any problems with the cruise control.

[FPB111]

If it is the diaphragm spring the clutch will start slipping now and get worse very quickly.

[whatnot]

I probably put 300-400 miles on it since it happened and still no slipping at all that I can detect.

I pulled the assist spring out and the clutch is stiffer that it ever was before. My theory now is someone put a pin in the assist spring so it was only helping at the top and then pulling away and the pin finally just broke. (maybe they replaced it and forgot to remove the pin?)

The pedal had the marshmallow feeling exactly as everyone at the link above described after it changed.

So, I am hoping it is ok. I am going to get a weak spring to replace it so the cruise control doesn't keep dropping out.

If anyone is in the Madison WI area and can try the clutch, let me know.

[FPB111]

Sounds like you have found the cause. Happy motoring.

[whatnot]

I still don't know if I was right about the pin being in the assist spring when I bought the car but I now know it wasn't the clutch diaphram spring. I just had the transmission replaced and put in a new clutch right away. They said the clutch was pretty well worn out (could have gone a while longer) but nothing was broken.

I did replace the assist spring with one I got from Ace Hardware that I like much better and don't have the cruise control issues.