Porsche 997 (MY05) Clutch/Flywheel replacement

[malves533]

I am planning on changing out my clutch and flywheel in the very near future and was wondering if anyone has any advice/tips for me. Thinking it could be done at home...

2005 Porsche 997 - 28k miles

Edited December 13, 2009 by malves533

[SA321]

I am planning on changing out my clutch and flywheel in the very near future and was wondering if anyone has any advice/tips for me. Thinking it could be done at home...

2005 Porsche 997 - 28k miles

at 28k? they must be all track for to think about getting new flywheel

[malves533]

Well, I just bought the car back in August with 25.5K miles; I had Porsche do a pre-purchase inspection and they said everything was perfect (cost me $320) - Beverly Hills Porsche. A week later when I was shifting from 1st to 2nd under heavy acceleration the clutch slipped. I took it back to Porsche and they confirmed that in fact the clutch was slipping, they said if I drive "like a normal person" I could get another 3-6months out of the clutch. Unfortunately this means I can't really use the car to its full potential, kinda defeats the purpose of owning a Porsche. I would like to just replace it now (Clutch, Flywheel and RMS) so that I can begin enjoying the car a little more.

I have subscribed to "All data" and the instructions for replacing the clutch seem fairly simple (Great site btw)

Changed my oil, air filter, cabin filter this weekend, plan on replacing my spark plugs and adding Schnell headers next weekend. Will try to post pictures.

[berty987]

When I looked into this for my 987 Boxster , kits were available direct from Sachs at a fraction of Porsche prices. Sachs make the original porsche part so there is no issue buying one of their kits. If you look at the Sacks ZF web site , there may also be an uprated "performance" kit available , typically about 25 -50 % more than standard but overall not much more than the Porsche price for a standard item ! Flywheels are made by LuK, forget a performace solid flywheel if the car is being driven on the road, reports say the take up is hard and its very noisy. There is a test for flywheels on the TSB pages under the 996 section.

[utkinpol]

I am planning on changing out my clutch and flywheel in the very near future and was wondering if anyone has any advice/tips for me. Thinking it could be done at home...

2005 Porsche 997 - 28k miles

If you decide to go with lightweight one - LWFW with stock clutch may result in broken crankshaft. Research this issue a bit - you will find recommendations on what to do, like to use clutch disk with springs to minimize harmonic vibrations, etc. Google it and look it up on rennlist forums as well.

[mkaraoglan]

what about the PPI? didn't they drive it? that's pretty sloppy. is the same shop that did the ppi the one replacing the clutch?

fish and denmark come to mind...

Well, I just bought the car back in August with 25.5K miles; I had Porsche do a pre-purchase inspection and they said everything was perfect (cost me $320) - Beverly Hills Porsche. A week later when I was shifting from 1st to 2nd under heavy acceleration the clutch slipped. I took it back to Porsche and they confirmed that in fact the clutch was slipping, they said if I drive "like a normal person" I could get another 3-6months out of the clutch. Unfortunately this means I can't really use the car to its full potential, kinda defeats the purpose of owning a Porsche. I would like to just replace it now (Clutch, Flywheel and RMS) so that I can begin enjoying the car a little more.

I have subscribed to "All data" and the instructions for replacing the clutch seem fairly simple (Great site btw)

Changed my oil, air filter, cabin filter this weekend, plan on replacing my spark plugs and adding Schnell headers next weekend. Will try to post pictures.

[malves533]

The PPI suggested that the car was test driven, yet nothing was found. Needless to say I will NEVER take my vehicle back to that Porsche shop for so much as a car wash!

I am actually planning on doing the clutch work and flywheel myself, but for $1500 is it worth taking it to an independent porsche shop and having them do the work/warranty the work?

I would like to gain the experience of doing it myself (have done my air filter, oil filter, spark plugs, brakes, brake flush, exhaust manifolds, mufflers all myself), but at the same time I would hate to run into a big high cost headache if i mess something up.

Edited January 26, 2010 by malves533

[thesandman]

I am planning on changing out my clutch and flywheel in the very near future and was wondering if anyone has any advice/tips for me. Thinking it could be done at home...

2005 Porsche 997 - 28k miles

Curious if you ended up doing the clutch replacement yourself. Would make for a great write up if you have the time.

[Steen Jensen]

I am planning on changing out my clutch and flywheel in the very near future and was wondering if anyone has any advice/tips for me. Thinking it could be done at home...

2005 Porsche 997 - 28k miles

Curious if you ended up doing the clutch replacement yourself. Would make for a great write up if you have the time.

Finished the job today. New clutch works great. No more slipping.

After calling half a dozen porsche parts places with no luck re:997 clutch alignment tool and trying (begging} to borrow one from the dealer (nice try) the guy at Pelican put me on hold and 5 min later came back and told me the 996 alignment tool would work. It only cost 10 bucks and he was right. Used the tool and the tranny went in with little difficulty. Well....relativley speaking. I put a new slave cylinder on and pressure bled it.

All in all , a pretty straight forward job with the only real problem resulting from trying to line up the clutch disc with a "universal tool". The worst part is having to manhandle 100's of pounds of transmission around while crawling around under the car. I wouldn't reccommend this job without a lift. Hope my experience can save someone the frustration I went through.

[akim47]

so you didn't change the flywheel? still curious about this... i hear of people switching to lwfw, but my mechanic specifically told me never to go away from a dual mass flywheel.

[Steen Jensen]

so you didn't change the flywheel? still curious about this... i hear of people switching to lwfw, but my mechanic specifically told me never to go away from a dual mass flywheel.

Nope. No flywheel change. The flywheel was lightly scorched due to the slippage but I was able to clean it up with emery cloth. I was warned of all sorts of dire consequences if I did not replace or at least have the flywheel resurfaced. Maybe I just got lucky but I have had no issues and the new clutch works great.

[06-997S]

Curious opinions on the flywheel. TPC replaced my clutch and installed a AASCO flywheel almost one year ago. Big improvement in engine response and no issues so far.

[Hamad]

Hi guys,

what's the average mileage for clutch replacement? I changed mine at 50,000km about two years ago and when I took my car for its yearly check/service (around 66,000km now) the garage gave me a quote to replace the clutch again! I tracked my car about 2 times over the past two years and I occasionally drive fast..

the quote included:

-door arrester?

-clutch

-clutch release bearing

-clutch operating cylinder

-clutch master cylinder

-battery (although mine works fine but they say its old!!)

does this make sense to you? or they're trying to make money out of me? I got my pre-owned warranty renewed, however, the guy at the garage said I might need the new clutch within the next 2-3000km.

your advice is greatly appreciated.

regards,

H

[JFP in PA]

Curious opinions on the flywheel. TPC replaced my clutch and installed a AASCO flywheel almost one year ago. Big improvement in engine response and no issues so far.

Single mass flywheels are problematic; lack of torsional/harmonic dampening can lead to severe issues like cracked/broken crankshafts. We have seen a couple of these, and the issue has been written up on multiple websites by some pretty well known Porsche engine builders. Going to a light weight flywheel (without dynamically balancing the engine and/or adding other dampening devices) will improve the responsiveness of the engine, but at a potential price.........