Clutch C4s

[al123]

car 2003C4s driven normally (no abuse, no tracks, no tricks). 20k miles. Was driving today and after one shift (i.e. no prior warnings, slippages etc) the clutch is gone. Can barelly start driving the car. Slips on all gears (i tried up to forth). Kind of odd for such low milage and no prior warinings. Any ideas from anyone maybe it is not clutch. Totally at a loss. Tks

[UCrazyKid]

Was there any kind of smell that you noticed when this started? That seems to be an odd symptom for a clutch going out. Usually they give more notice.

[al123]

no smell, no smoke, nothing. pressed clutch coming into a conner, as i was accelerating out - problem started

[demosan]

car 2003C4s driven normally (no abuse, no tracks, no tricks). 20k miles. Was driving today and after one shift (i.e. no prior warnings, slippages etc) the clutch is gone. Can barelly start driving the car. Slips on all gears (i tried up to forth). Kind of odd for such low milage and no prior warinings. Any ideas from anyone maybe it is not clutch. Totally at a loss. Tks

Have you noticed any oil drops on your garage floor?? Possible oil contamination of the clutch/pressure plate could be a result of an oil leak at either the infamous RMS or IS plate. Have you checked to see if oil level is lower than you would expect based on cars history??

As previous post suggested, there should have been some warning ( smell of something burning) before complete fairure of clutch?? Keep us posted as to what you uncover as you investigate.

Good luck!! demosan

[al123]

No oil leaks, oil level at normal levels. The car only had 20k. I found a previous post someone described problem similar to mine and Loren replied it could be a problem with release lever (whatever it means, if anyone knows how many hours it takes to replace i would greatly appreciate). Will take a car to porsche shop. Sure they will just say "Clutch". But I will request all replaced parts and post pictures here. I will also send all broken parts to Porsche HQ as I am totally pissed off how a car with no use can develope a major problem such as clutch under normal driving onl after 20k.

[al123]

so many times i have read discussions in the forum which end "i guess i just have to take it to the shop" ... and? - silence. why people dont bother posting at the end what problem the shop has discovered? anyway... I took my C4s to the shop, they opened clutch and... the pressure plate was cracked! this is a car never driven hard with 20k on the clock.... i ll post pictures later in case people want to see.

[demosan]

so many times i have read discussions in the forum which end "i guess i just have to take it to the shop" ... and? - silence. why people dont bother posting at the end what problem the shop has discovered? anyway... I took my C4s to the shop, they opened clutch and... the pressure plate was cracked! this is a car never driven hard with 20k on the clock.... i ll post pictures later in case people want to see.

Al123,

I have a 2002 with only 24K miles so I have more than a passing interest as I too do not track my car and drive it 'conservatively" but at times "spirited".. It will be interesting to hear what the wear is on your cluth and pressure plate when they perform the repair and if there is any oil contamination thay may have lead to the failure.

Good luck with the repair!!

demosan

[al123]

RMS leaks - no surprise there, it has little if any impact on a clutch disk itself but clutch disc dust with oil deposits onto the transmission axle onto which ball journal (sp? joint) is put on (it is a thing between release lever and pressure plate). This deposit makes it difficult for ball journal to slide back and force along the axle when you engage the clutch. But even that is ok as long as your pressure plate is fine and it pushes back the ball journal aligned along the axle. Since pressure plate in my case cracked it was pushing back ball journal to an angle and with the deposit on axle made it stuck there. Once stuck it would not push pedal back and so I had instantaneous loss of clutch...

There is no way any kind of oil leak, harsh driving etc can cause the problem which I had. It is a defective part on Porsche side. I will post picks of parts when i have them from garage

[al123]

ok, here are the pics of problem

[usuallyalex]

My 2003 C4S 60k miles has exactly the same symptom - it would occasionally pop out of 2nd but nothing serious, until I was coming onto the freeway shifting from 1st to 2nd then suddenly a very soft clutch and slipping in all gears. Managed to limp home, wondering whether to take it back to the dealer or to just get it up on jacks and attempt the clutch/pressure plate replacement myself.

I did think it was perhaps just a cracked pressure plate - but this has made me wonder if it needs the RMS as well.

Thoughts anyone?

Alex.

[Nehmaiz]

I have an 03 C4S with 110k KM on the clock, last couple of weeks i've felt the clutch pedal go light after i drive it hard... last friday took the car to the track, after i finished the session clutch was light but i didn't give it much thought, the next day i tried to drive the car but the clutch was almost completly gone, the release point was so early and the cars stuters into movement.

pressure plate has been squeeking for almost a year and half, but from various posts i was led to believe it's something i have to live with.

there was no smell of burning clutch whatsover before or after the track day...

could this be a cracked pressure plate?

thanks,

Nehme

[RFM]

The possibility of a cracked diaphragm spring is indeed present IMHO.

[Nehmaiz]

Thanks RFM, will update this post once the tranny is pulled.