sullivs

Dear All,

Why is the clutch pedal pressure so hard in my '02 C4S compared to the newer cars? Everything is in good operating order, helper spring is there, etc. etc.. But when I drove my friend's 997, I couldn't believe the difference. His pedal pressure was very light, and it simply was a dream to shift. It made mine feel like an old El Camino.

Are there fundamental differences between the two? Different master cylinder, system or what? Anyone know if I can upgrade mine? I'm jealous.

Please. Don't tell me to buy a newer car. I just want to know if anyone out there ever tried anything that helped.

Thanks much,
Steve

Barn996

Did a PO install a heavier duty clutch?

leftlane

Maybe your clutch accumulator/ slave cylinder is going bad. That's a general symptom.

ivangene

Worn out - replace the parts and the arm

gota911

Worn clutch parts, or maybe the previous owner removed the clutch "helper spring."

Edit: Sorry, I missed your comment about the helper spring being in place!

fpb111

You don't say how many miles.
When you say "helper spring in Place" Did you check to make sure it isn't broken?
I had my clutch PP, disk & TO bearing replaced on my 2003 (RMS drooling) @ ~34K. The first time I drove it I initially thought something was wrong because the clutch was so much easier to work. Turns out that as the disk wears the clutch gets harder to push. It was only worn about 1/2 way. The PO must have been pretty hard on the clutch.

sullivs

My '02 has 36K miles on it. The RMS was replaced with the previous owner at 25K. But the clutch was not replaced, and it's not a heavy duty clutch. Just the stock one.

So I have a few parts to look over... the accumulator, slave cylinder, throw-out bearing. Sounds like that would require removing the engine/transmission. I would hate to go that far, just on a suspicion of my own making. However, I will keep note of them for when the time comes.

Where is the accumulator? Is that something that can be inspected without major surgery?

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

ivangene

not the engine - just the tranny

10 GT3

There are several possibilities, but it does not sound normal. The most likely is the pressure plate has gone bad. This is very common as 996 clutches do not seem to ever have a long life. If it is very stiff and engages close to the floor, check you clutch slave cylinder above the tranmission. Leaks are common after a few years. If it leaks long enough, it takes the master cylinder out. If it leaks into the bell housing (also common), the fluid burns the clutch up. The clutch master cylinder unusually shares its reservoir with the brake master cylinder. So you can't just look at the reservoir and tell if the clutch hydraulics are leaking. Given the age and mileage any of these could be common. If you have a CPO, it will cover the clutch slave and master cylinders, but not the clutch itself. Typical price for a clutch it $1000 installed. It is about $500 to replace either the clutch master or slave cylinders.

soverystout

This is most likely the culprit. My 03 has 37k on the clock and when I got from the PO, the clutch was super stiff.

It needed an RMS so I had the dealer install a new clutch kit while they were in there. It is a night and day difference.

Even at 25K, I would have replaced the clutch/bearing/pressure plate do to the fact that they are all wear items, exposed to past drivers and the age of the parts.

Shark Attack

You're a wimp? J/k

Maybe when he had the RMS work done they pinched/kinked the line getting the slave off.
get out the wrech, putter on stands and lets have at it. I think you are going to find kinked line

adg44

I drive cars for a living, and I agree, the clutch pressure on the 996 is rather firm. I don't thnk it's very bad, but it's definitely heavier than a lot of other cars. I only have 19,000 miles on mine, and I have no clutch/transmission issues.

Do some leg-presses.

Barn996

Do you test cars, or write about them?

Van

Drive a GT3 - that's firm!

Awesomo996

I have 34K on my '02 and I was thinking the clutch took a lot of force to push. I've been trying to figure out how to measure two parameters so that we could all compare. 1) The pounds of force it takes to push in the clutch. 2) The pounds of force it takes to hold the clutch in. My little engineering pea brain says that if there is a difference between the two measurements then that is when there is a problem. Because the force to push in the clutch would be the 'back-force' from the springs and the 'friction' of physically moving all the components of the clutch system. The difference in the force measurements would be the friction component.

Also, due to a lack of freely accessable local '02 996's to compare to, being able to publish my measurements to you all would allow us to compare.

So now I need a way to take those two measurements. All I can think of so far is pushing the clutch pedal in with a broom handle on the back of my bathroom scale.

One other thing about my car that is funny is the clutch pedal makes kind of a beeping sound everytime I push it in. If I push it very slowly there is no sound. Weird, huh?