993 TT Slave Cylinder DIY

[Marc in AK]

Now hold on here. I must preface this by saying a few words. I really didn't pick up a wrench until my late 30's (a few years ago) until I finally became wise enough to start owning air cooled Porsches and live in a remote part of the country. Initially I tried to take my car in to the local mechanics...who always seemed to strip me of my money, hope, and soul. So I resolved to get tooled up slowly and start diving in.

Much of the inspiration for DIYing comes to me from reading RL. This project is another example. I learned some things the hard way (I stripped out one of the hydraulic lines when removing the unit and took a gargle of Pentosin). But in the end....it came out perfect and the clutch movement is absolutely fabulous....here is my story...

[Marc in AK]

Problem starts: I noticed a small puddle of oily substance under the front end one warm Alaskan day. My heart sunk, "for sure this is my steering rack" I entertained. "Honey, put dinner on hold, I am crawling under my car for a few minutes". "Yeah, a few minutes" she replied knowing that meant all night. And it did.

3 things come to my mind if one finds oil under front of 993 TT (I know this now). Steering rack, differential, or slave cylinder. Steering rack boots were bone dry.......and here is what I saw.

pic 1: looking underneath the car.you can see the Pentosin leaking out the trunk floor.....

pic 2: looking under the hood into the boot.....The Grand River of Hydraulic Fluid stating at the reservoir and cascading into the floor of the trunk.

So I go onto RL........it's clearly a dead slave. I ask for help. Don, Kevin, Bob, say go for it. So I do. Here is what worked for me.......I am sure it is not how the pro's do it....so if you are looking for this for instruction....proceed at your own risk for you may be crushed in the process.

[Marc in AK]

1. Jack up car on 4 jack stands, wheels off.
2. Remove underbody panels over the engine and transmission (a bunch of 10 mm nuts) and the heat exchanger (?) aluminum pipe. Now you should have a view of the slave.

Pic: View of the slave and parts.

[Marc in AK]

3. ** Loosen the 2 engine mount nut to the end of their bolts (I used a 19mm deep socket on a 1/2" dive on a long extension) AND loosen the gearbox brace (six 17mm bolts).....this brings the whole gearbox down a couple inches and buys you precious/priceless space to work on the slave....because it sits on top of the tranny and so do 2 of it's mounting nuts.

4. Pump on the clutch 20-30 times to de-pressurize the system. Some people said to bleed the system through the valve first...I chose not to do that and that caused me to take a bath in Pentosin...which I secretly enjoyed.

** this is a key step that some experienced guys won't let you in on...for they would love to see you struggle and suffer. I initially loosened this half-ass and struggled....then I backed the nuts all the way down and had a much easier time.

pic 1. Engine mounts nuts..they have an aluminum cover on them that needs to be popped off.

pic 2. Camera-phone picture of Pentosin on face, neck, chest........

[Marc in AK]

5. Start removing hydraulic lines (careful, they have delicate ends and you should use flare nut/brake line wrenches...ask me how I know).

6. Remove accumulator (I used a thin, stubby crescent for that). I am told you should replace the accumulator while you are there...you "don't want to go
back to the space twice".

7. Remove the first of 3 mounting nuts of the unit (13mm) see pic in 3rd post...that is the easy one).

now comes the hard/fun part........

[Marc in AK]

8. The last 2 remaining mounting nuts sit on top of the slave which is on top of the gear box...THANKS Porsche! Have a friend/wife/kid/midget look from the side of the car (over the brake rotor) to help verbally guide your wrench onto those nuts....because you will be on your back hugging the transmisson to do this.

I made a special tool for this!!! Yeah! I had to grind down my beloved 1/4" drive 13mm socket to fit past the tight fins on the transmission. I put this on a universal joint (taped with electrical tape to make it more like a wobbly) on a long extension....whew......that one took a lot of time, beer, and trial and error........your welcome.

pic. Special tool

[Marc in AK]

9. Congrats...you have now removed the TT Slave cylinder, the most evil invention of all time. Simply reverse the process to re-install the unit, lines, accumulator etc.

10. Refill the hydraulic system via the main reservoir in the engine compartment. I also topped off the system at the front end at the reservoir.

11. Bleed the system. Your clutch pedal will be loose and dead...I pumped it by hand at first then it got some pressure and used my feet thereafter. Have your midget pump the pedal while you bleed the system from the slave's bleeder valve and a 13 mm (I think) wrench to open/close it.

12. Don't forget to tighten up the gearbox and engine mounts......I brought up the system with a jack to make it a little easier

13. Put back the underbody panels etc.

Enjoy a beverage.....drive like hell. The clutch feels amazingly smooth and easy now....

I hope this helps someone, someday. Thanks.

The End.

[Marc in AK]

A nice summer day.........

[mkozink]

Marc- great post both for the humor and accomplishment. I too have come to wrenching my cars at a later stage in my life. Your exploits are an inspiration. I particularly appreciate the pleasure/pain component (such as the beer/bloody knuckles or beer/pensotin bath) of doing ones own work. Keep the DIYs coming. I am waiting for you to do a Kevin turbo upgrade so I can see how you replace hydraulic lifters. Take care- Matt

[ca993twin]

Marc,

I love this post, both your bravery (read: foolishness?), and your humor. Great job. Keep that special tool... if mine ever leaks, I'm buying you a plane ticket.

[911/Q45]

Most bleeding and Pentosin bath woes can be avoided by the use of a Griot's Garage vacuum brake bleeder. Welcome to a very select club of masochists Marc!

[TomF]

Great write-up Mark. Maybe you could forward this on to Robin @ p-car.com to add to the great infor there...

I am glad to hear that everything went well.

[fc-racer]

When I had my slave replaced recently, Steve and Kevin told me to change the accumulator as well. It was too late for my repair to do that, but low and behold, six months later, the accumulator died and would no longer hold assistance. In addition, it also pumped out fluid from the front again. Replaced the accumulator and all is good again. Something to keep in mind for others that may do the slave.

[gjb]

Marc,

I ought to give you those tt snow tires and 17" tt wheels for that effort. Nice job!


Grant

[JasonAndreas]

Originally Posted by Marc in AK

I made a special tool for this!!!

A ratcheting box wrench with a zero or 15-25 degree offset is the other trick to slave cylinder replacement.