Clutch replacement questions
 

Looks like I need a new clutch and I have a few basic questions since I never had a need to replace one. I traded in my BMW e46 w/ 182k miles w/ original clutch so I guess my driving habits are ok. This car(2004 S) however was purchased with 50k miles a few years ago and I am now at 76k miles. God only know what the PO was doing with it.
I have a local indy that I trust but I want to make sure that ask the right questions. From what I understand, it's about a 12 hour job and the clutch kit is about $800. Does the flywheel ever get resurfaced or are they always replaced? Also, does the throwout bearing usually get replaced?
thanks
-Ray

Ray,
I just did mine a week ago. It is in no way a 12 hour job for a professional. My friend and I knocked it out in about 6 hours and we were taking our time. Even with a stock exhaust, I'd say its 8 hours absolute max.

Clutch kit is about $400 from the standard sources, so even with a shop mark up, it shouldn't be much more than $600. You should absolutely replace the TOB and it should come in the kit.

Flywheel...well, you have to test yours. It should have no more than 15mm of play and it should spring back immediately. If that part is ok, you have to look at the surface for hot spots and such. At 75k miles, i'd probably just replace it. LUK is about $400 to $500 I think and the OEM supplier.

Thanks, that helps alot. I pulled the 12 hours from pelican's site, not sure if all their estimates are bloated. Heading over to the shop after the snow melts. Should be ready before Hershey...

not to spark a debate, but if the IMS bearing has not been replaced, you hopefully know this is the time to do it as it is barely additional work when doing a clutch job. I assume it has not been done because if it had the clutch would have been done at the same time.

i dont want to get into the different sources or types of replacement for IMS as there are countless threads on the topic but if you are doing the clutch it is a must while in there especially on an 04. Also, pulling at the thread, while the transmission is out it's also a good time to replace the AOS as it makes the job easier.

Here's another data point. It took me about 6 hours to get the transmission out. Still haven't put it back in, so no data on that.

Good luck getting a shop to charge you the actual hours vs book hours. I don't believe it is recommended to resurface the flywheel. The issue is that some shops (at least around here) don't buy from the cheap online stores so their parts cost is much higher than what I can buy them for.

The flywheel cannot be resurfaced, attempting to do so will cut and damage the elastomer between the two masses making it failure prone.

Flywheel, clutch, RMS, IMS, etc.. Just do it while you are there. Unless you KNOW the IMS has been done, otherwise, the labor to simply get the trans out warrants just doing it all, all at once. Rinse, and hopefully, not repeat for a long time.

what is the service life of a flywheel in the 986? i get the "while your in there" theory, but shouldn't the flywheel be fine after 75k? i would think it should last double that at least.

just thinking if the clutches last about 75k miles then the flywheel can be changed with the next clutch job, upon passing inspection of course.

I was quoted $800 for the Luk clutch package and 6 hours of labor @ $95/hr. I brought in a printout of the sachs kit listed @ $500 just for the sake of seeing what brand he intended to use and not as a price match ploy. Labor and parts were computerized and fixed prices. I understand that they are a business but these parts price markups every where are unreal. :barf:

Remember one thing, yes the car only has 75k on it, but is still 14yrs old. Given rubber gets pretty funky with heat cycles and age, you wouldn’t want to replace all of the other components, then have your flywheel fail at some point. Mine is an 02 and when I have to do a clutch, the entire thing will get done... piece of mind, and time/mileage reset to zero on all of those components.

Flywheel question
 

I’ve been told that if you feel the slightest shuddering when releasing the clutch, you need a flywheel. Certainly was true of mine when I replaced my clutch and IMS at 80k, a few months ago. The clutch feels like butter now.

While the parts cost is high, the labor rate is on the lower side (for quality Porsche work), so the total, while not cheap, is pretty fair. You're certainly not getting totally ripped off.


Also, as the above post implies, just assume that you'll need to replace the dual mass flywheel. Unfortunately, its stupid expensive.

I don't meant to be Debbie Downer, but you might as well start to get your head around spending over $2K for this job. If by some strange chance that the flywheel doesn't need to be replaced, then consider buying lottery tickets because your luck is hitting big time!

And now you see why many of us DIY the clutch job.