986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post - Diagnosing Clutch Shudder / Hesitation When Pulling Away

alexpinson5 · 11-16-2024, 06:23 PM

Hey all,

Hoping someone has some good pointers for an issue I've been having on my '00 S with ~41k miles. The last three weeks or so I've been having what seems like a minor hesitation/sputter/bucking when pulling away in first gear. Almost like a misfire stutter, except no codes are pending or stored. I'm led to believe this is actually more of a minor clutch shudder as I've had a few more severe cases when letting the clutch out a bit faster where the car bucks and shudders more as I'm pulling away.

Some notes:

This started happening as the weather got cold, although FWIW I think this is coincidental.
This seems to go away, or at the very least is heavily minimized, once the car has warmed up. Recently I've been only doing short drives to and from work, ~5 miles each way, so it's been noticeable. A longer drive today and other than leaving my house I didn't have much of an issue.
The clutch operates smoothly otherwise, no issues upshifting or downshifting into any gear.
The clutch isn't slipping in 5th or 6th with my foot to the floor (or in any other situation)
9 months ago I dropped the trans to reseal the IMS (improperly installed seal from previous owner) and replace the RMS. I have little reason to believe oil is getting on the clutch and then burning off as both have fresh seals less than 2,000 miles ago and the bottom of the bell housing where the IMS/RMS leak manifests is bone dry. I left the flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate alone - the clutch was pretty new (3 years and <10k miles or so?) but I do not know about the flywheel. It may be the original.
I do occasionally get some squeal when operating the clutch a lot (e.g. three point turn). Sounds like a belt squealing. I assumed this was the throwout bearing which I replaced when doing the IMS/RMS seals. Perhaps foolishly I did not replace the bearing's guide tube. If relevant, my car does have the upgraded 987 clutch fork.
Brakes and fluid were bled 1.5 years ago when doing pads and rotors, but I did not bleed the clutch specifically when doing this.

What should my next steps be? Reading up on similar forum posts tells me this might be a failing dual-mass flywheel, but I'm not sure why that would improve as the car warms up. I have no problem dropping the transmission again over the winter but I'd love to not if I don't need to. If there's something I can do to diagnose the issue further before just throwing money at it (those DMFs aren't cheap!) I'm all ears.

11-16-2024, 06:23 PM	#1
alexpinson5 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2024 Location: Ohio Posts: 12	Diagnosing Clutch Shudder / Hesitation When Pulling Away Hey all, Hoping someone has some good pointers for an issue I've been having on my '00 S with ~41k miles. The last three weeks or so I've been having what seems like a minor hesitation/sputter/bucking when pulling away in first gear. Almost like a misfire stutter, except no codes are pending or stored. I'm led to believe this is actually more of a minor clutch shudder as I've had a few more severe cases when letting the clutch out a bit faster where the car bucks and shudders more as I'm pulling away. Some notes: This started happening as the weather got cold, although FWIW I think this is coincidental. This seems to go away, or at the very least is heavily minimized, once the car has warmed up. Recently I've been only doing short drives to and from work, ~5 miles each way, so it's been noticeable. A longer drive today and other than leaving my house I didn't have much of an issue. The clutch operates smoothly otherwise, no issues upshifting or downshifting into any gear. The clutch isn't slipping in 5th or 6th with my foot to the floor (or in any other situation) 9 months ago I dropped the trans to reseal the IMS (improperly installed seal from previous owner) and replace the RMS. I have little reason to believe oil is getting on the clutch and then burning off as both have fresh seals less than 2,000 miles ago and the bottom of the bell housing where the IMS/RMS leak manifests is bone dry. I left the flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate alone - the clutch was pretty new (3 years and <10k miles or so?) but I do not know about the flywheel. It may be the original. I do occasionally get some squeal when operating the clutch a lot (e.g. three point turn). Sounds like a belt squealing. I assumed this was the throwout bearing which I replaced when doing the IMS/RMS seals. Perhaps foolishly I did not replace the bearing's guide tube. If relevant, my car does have the upgraded 987 clutch fork. Brakes and fluid were bled 1.5 years ago when doing pads and rotors, but I did not bleed the clutch specifically when doing this. What should my next steps be? Reading up on similar forum posts tells me this might be a failing dual-mass flywheel, but I'm not sure why that would improve as the car warms up. I have no problem dropping the transmission again over the winter but I'd love to not if I don't need to. If there's something I can do to diagnose the issue further before just throwing money at it (those DMFs aren't cheap!) I'm all ears.