Well, decided to take today off and see if I could make a serious dent in my "still todo list". Temps have been running in the 113F+ for the last few days (in Eastern Washington)! so the motivation to work in the evening was really low. Forecast was for nice temps today so...
First off, my purge valve made it to me from Bar10dah yesterday, so that was the first item to get installed. Before making the installation I verified that the part was the upgraded version from what I already have...it was and hopefully when I get the car buttoned up, the error code on this will have been cleared. In addition, I followed the directions on many posts that says to use a compressor and blow the lines out and reassemble.
Next up, my next to last order from Pelican showed up having my new clutch slave cylinder line and connector. I had ordered the slave and master cylinder but failed to notice that you have to order two additional parts. The little connector and new line added $320.00 to the build bringing the upgrade of just the slave to over $400.00. Porsche is mighty proud of these parts. Oh well, out with the old and in with the new:
You would think this would be a simple conversion, pull the old line out, replace with the new connector, install the new line and attach the slave. Wrong. The instructions are in German with no English or French translations. So, I first translated the directions which are as follows:
überwurfmutter von kupplungsstutzen abschrauben!
überwurfmutter bis zum anschlag an den stecker schieben!
baugruppe mit montagestopfen bis zum anschlag in die!
uberwurfmutter einstecken!
überwurfmutter gemeinsam mit der baugruppe vom stecker abziehen!
überwurfmutter halterosette und baugruppe demontieren!
In English:
union nut from unscrewing clutch clip!
union nut to stop the slide connector!
subassembly mounting stuff up to the fence in the!
Insert the nut over !
union nut pull together with the subassembly from the plug!
union nut holding rosette and subassembly dismantle!
Translation to me:
Huh?
OK, I called Pelican and asked if they could simply confirm what the pictures in the instructions were indicating as it appeared that the plastic piece (see below) was being used...but I was not making sense of it.
Pelican had nothing in the books, on file or in their database to help and they were surprised as this is an upgraded piece that had a TSB on it, but could not find that either. OK, so a little brain power was needed on my end (for a Friday that's asking a bit). What is happening here is the black plastic piece is simulating the brass end of the new slave line in holding the plastic compression fitting. You attach the new connector to the existing line with the plastic piece in place, remove it before you reach a tight fit, insert you new slave line and than tighten. The whole thing is to keep parts and pieces aligned for the final assembly. Not that difficult, but going through it for the first time you do need to think about what you are doing. In the end, the slave was installed and I was happy.
Next up was the clutch master cylinder...how hard can this be? I set the car at a height I can get to the clutch peddle and into the bonnet with ease and begin the process of removing parts. If you have never done the master cylinder, the slave cylinder line is removed by pinching the protruding ends of the black fitting together while pulling at the same time. It releases the spring clip holding it. Note: put something under these lines as you will get drippedge and you don't want to ruin your paint. Now to what I hoped was the easy part, removing the master from the clutch peddle. Not! You need to be a 5' 1" contortionist to stick your fingers, arms, head, light and tools into this area to remove the two nuts and one cir clip. I was able to do it as it just took patience and a slow approach. In the end the master cylinder came out, the new one went in and this portion of the project was completed. Time to complete was about 2 hours.
Next up new water pump and low temp thermostat but decided to stop for a bit of lunch and let the experience of the clutch parts settle down, the dog needed to go outside and I had a delivery of some new tools that showed up! Yeah more tools!
Since I need to remove the inside panel to pull the serpentine belt off the water pump...best get it off. Four main plastic fittings and the carpeted section comes off, seven screws and two nuts and the metal panel is off. Using a 24mm socket I relieve the tension on the pulley and remove the belt from the water pump. Now in studying my notes and postings on removing the water pump, some have stated you need to drop the front motor mount to access the "tough bolt", while others have stated you can do it from below. I opt for the below method to see if it can be done with out removing the front mount.
In the end it can be done, you just need to have ample light and patience to get to all the bolts on the water pump, primarily the hard to reach one behind the motor mount. Also, PAY ATTENTION TO BOLT LENGTHS! There are two long bolts on the pump...but if you loose track of where they go, they are mounted through the holes that have the set plugs built into the water pump housing.
So I pull the water pump and find that I did not have to cut the gasket, which indicates that the pump had been replaced at some point by the PO. I also pulled the thermostat and it appeared it had been replaced as well, however it was a stock temp so it still needed to come out. In a side by side comparison I am glad I did this (even if there was a functioning water pump) as the old impeller was the plastic version. Yes it was in good shape, but it is not worth risking failure down the road.
Now as I was cleaning the block where the gasket was going to sit, I also took time to look over my notes, the manual and threads from numerous boards I have saved and decided that I was not going to use any "additional" sealant on the gaskets. Part of replacing a part is following the torquing specs. These are metal gaskets with a low torque setting. Wrenching down on these guys could blow the seal and predicate the need for additional help, however, after seeing Mike and Pedro's threads they don't use sealant and follow the specs...and it works. Since Porsche does not call it out I am going with the product as directed. I may kick myself down the road, but I also know that when using seals as directed, things tend to work out for the better.
Putting the water pump and thermostat back in place was a cake walk. Alternate your pattern when torquing down the bolts, verify you have all the bolts correctly torqued in place and reconnect your hoses. Time for this job was just over an hour.
