mytrplseven

After pulling everything off and checking the flourescent dye tracks, it was confirmed when the flywheel came off: The RMS was shot. Hard as plastic, just like all the other rubber seals on this car. Bell housing goes back in tomorrow and I'll see if I can get the drive line back together by myself. I was surprised to find a rubber clutch. Fortunately, it showed no evidence of deterioration, even after what I assume was around 40 K miles. Went with a Sachs conventional clutch anyway.

n_hall

the cheapest parts seem to be the hardest to replace.

odurandina

yes.... in a theme just like the saga of their silly timing systems (all for 168 hp),

only Porsche could come up with a scheme this ridiculous.

odurandina

but look on the bright side,

at least we won't have to fix Porsche's H20 cooled ims bearing fiasco with 2,000 +++ of our hard-earned dollars.

mytrplseven

The light at the end of the tunnel is that when I'm done, I'll have a new car....all for $4 grand, and a lot of memories and stories to tell, and a great education in 944 systems and maintenance. I think someone should make a t-shirt that says, "I did a clutch job on a 944".

MAGK944

The 944 holy trinity T-shirt:

1. Replace Clutch
2. Reindex Torsion Bars
3. Sump Gasket*

*If you did the sump gasket with the engine out of the car it doesn't count.

plumbum

What lift do you have? I would love to have something that gets the car higher than jack stand hight.

I have only done minor fix's on my car but everything is a challange compaired to any other car I have worked on. First project after I got the car was the gasket under the emblem...

carlege

Looks like jack stand height to me.

mytrplseven

Yes, it's jackstands but little by little, with the aid of wood panels I managed to raise the car to 17" and was able to get the tranny out throught the left side exhaust pipe hole. It's been real stable and my little floor jack by itself wasn't up to the task. I bought the tranny jack from Harbor freight. It'll be for sale after I'm done since I'm not doing this again.

John_AZ

FYI,

The best RMS is Elring--The lips on the seal sit on the crank shaft in a different location. It is a little harder to "start" because the ribs on the outside go top to bottom.

It is also very important to oil the inner/inside lips and the crankshaft to avoid seal burnout.

https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-...ain-seals.html

I use the cheap black Kaco RMS seal ($21) and drive the seal as deep as it will go in the block. Just below the "bevel".

https://rennlist.com/forums/6028054-post2.html

John

mytrplseven

I put the black seal in, oiled it real good and set it flush with the flange on the crankshaft per the manual. Hopefully, it will last and not become an issue. It wasn't easy to start but after walking it a little at a time around the circumference with a wood block, it took and seated in properly. Re-installing the driveline/torque tube proved challenging. I had to move the front of the engine block up a hair to get the spline into the pilot bearing. Clutch felt real good and proper when I sat in the seat and pushed the pedal a few times. Now replacing all the seals in the transaxle before I put it back in.

944Ross

Glad you got it done! (I've done it 3 times, I think the T-shirt should have hash marks to show how many)

But I think, as John mentioned, you want the RMS seated deeper than flush. Both of my cars had factory-installed RMS and they were in as deep as they could go. I realize you're kind of past the point this would do you any good, but...

FRporscheman

mytrplseven, I hope your RMS repair lasts the life of the car - it's not a fun job to repeat!

MAGK944, I think rebuilding a torque tube (and R&Ring it) would have to be first on my list of PITA jobs on a 944. I've never reindexed torsion bars, but I have done a pan gasket with the engine in the car, and several clutches, I'd say the TT is harder. Clutch on a turbo... whoo, now that one sucks!

Eric_Oz_S2

I think my RMS is also leaking. When the PO had the Porsche dealer replace the clutch, they went to the trouble of removing the flywheel machining but left the RMS and pilot bearing alone. The clutch is still good, but I should have bitten the bullet and replaced the RMS when I rebuilt my TT.

The TT job would have to rate as the worst on these cars short of an engine rebuild.

Reindexing torsion bars a pain, but relatively straight forward.

mytrplseven

It's going to be tough driving with my fingers crossed. When you go with the procedures outlined in the manual, you feel confident that you're ok. We'll see as the miles go by. At least now I know all the tricks for taking it all apart and there won't be all the rusted shut bolts on things like the exhaust, etc. The flourescent dye kit was a cheap way to find all the oil leaks in and around the engine. When I pulled the flywheel, there was no doubt about the magnitude of the RMS leak.