Burn Clutch..... - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

super66 · 12-13-2006, 10:37 AM

alright, so I drop off the boxster last night for service and what comes back, the burning smell rears its ugly head.....so the guys says to me, bringing it in for the burnt clutch....at which point I'm dumb founded....and I still managed to get a straight faced no out as the whole garage reeks

so anyway, if its burnt, whats the damage to change it out.....okay I'll sit and cringe as I wait for replies....

Sammy · 12-13-2006, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by super66

alright, so I drop off the boxster last night for service and what comes back, the burning smell rears its ugly head.....so the guys says to me, bringing it in for the burnt clutch....at which point I'm dumb founded....and I still managed to get a straight faced no out as the whole garage reeks

so anyway, if its burnt, whats the damage to change it out.....okay I'll sit and cringe as I wait for replies....

If you smoked your clutch a few times it doesn't mean it has to be replaced. It's definitely not good for it and reduces its life, but no need to spend $1500-$2000 getting a new clutch put in.

If you do need a new clutch I would suggest you call every dealer within 100 miles to see who has the best price. The pricing varies so much from dealer to dealer you have to price things out; otherwise, you'll lose a bunch of money.

From what I've heard it sounds like you have the flywheel replaced at the same time simply since the tranny is already apart.

ohioboxster · 12-13-2006, 10:52 AM

Im going to guess 800 to a grand or do it yourself for under 300 bucks.

CJ_Boxster · 12-13-2006, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by super66

alright, so I drop off the boxster last night for service and what comes back, the burning smell rears its ugly head.....so the guys says to me, bringing it in for the burnt clutch....at which point I'm dumb founded....and I still managed to get a straight faced no out as the whole garage reeks

so anyway, if its burnt, whats the damage to change it out.....okay I'll sit and cringe as I wait for replies....

Are you saying that it smelled like burnt clutch when the service people gave it back to you... If so, dont take it there anymore. They could be trying to get extra money from you to buy there kids a PS3

blinkwatt · 12-13-2006, 12:20 PM

A clutch kit swap/repair on base Boxster/Cayman should go for no more then $1k w/ parts & labor. The 2.5L OEM(Sachs) clutch kits go for $275 shipped to you house on eBay,I'm pretty sure that the 2.7L clutch kit goes for around the same ballpark. I have been told it 6-8 hours to change it out. I so wish I had the tools/know how to change my own.*

*Several shops said the 2.7L clutch kit will work on the 2.5L trannys. The splines match up so everyone said it should work.

z12358 · 12-13-2006, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by super66

alright, so I drop off the boxster last night for service and what comes back, the burning smell rears its ugly head.....so the guys says to me, bringing it in for the burnt clutch....at which point I'm dumb founded....and I still managed to get a straight faced no out as the whole garage reeks

so anyway, if its burnt, whats the damage to change it out.....okay I'll sit and cringe as I wait for replies....

How many miles on your 987? If it's burnt and with little miles, you need to also figure out what you are doing to it that makes it burn prematurely -- or else the new one is going to burn fast too.

Z.

YellowJacket · 12-13-2006, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by z12358

How many miles on your 987? If it's burnt and with little miles, you need to also figure out what you are doing to it that makes it burn prematurely -- or else the new one is going to burn fast too.

Z.

z12358 is correct -- there's no way you should be experiencing any signs of clutch wear on your car, considering how new it is. I've heard people say that Boxster clutches only last 50k miles. That should be your absolute minimum target -- most cars will go well over 100k on a clutch.

You should pay attention to your driving style. Don't dump the clutch, don't "power-shift", don't leave your foot resting on the clutch pedal while driving, don't leave your hand resting on the shifter, make sure you depress the clutch all the way, there are a million other little tips to help clutch life.

If you're sure you're not doing the above and it's STILL wearing prematurely, I would bring it to the attention to the dealer as a potential manufacturer's defect w/ your particular clutch.

super66 · 12-13-2006, 01:09 PM

hey guys, it has like 12K miles but I know when it happened and well lets just say I was the idiot....it was couple times trying to gun the car and it didn't work....I posted the story the day it happened here.....embarassing....essentially I reved the car some where between 4 and 5 K and came of the clutch but not really fast.....and then nothing happened......the car lurched forward about but kind of just sat there making noise like I was caught in slo motion.....

then the stink showed up.......the good news is that I just got a call and they are fixing all the other minors....windstop ie......and he said my clutch looks good.....so I'm not sure why it started smelling again last night.....the smell was completely gone and only came back when I had my snow tires put on a cuople days back.....maybe those were stinking?? at a loss.....I'll have to keep an eye on it and promise the porsche goods to take some DE classes

Paul · 12-13-2006, 05:06 PM

You didn't leave the parking brake on, right?

super66 · 12-13-2006, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

You didn't leave the parking brake on, right?

haha..no, not that bad....actually Igot this explanation in my original posting:

"I suspect that the smell you describe is not your tires but the burning of your clutch. Violent launches need to release energy somehow, there are only a few ways. 1) The tires slip and screech. 2) The clutch slips 3) The engine bogs as the rpm matches road speed 4) Something in the transmission breaks."

I think I fell victim to option 3.......

djomlas · 12-13-2006, 06:35 PM

damn dude...dont trash it

David N. · 12-13-2006, 08:24 PM

To be fair, #3 is the least wear-inducing. If you were at 4-5 and nothing was happening, chances are your clutch was not all the way engaged. When I was testing out another Boxster for a night that I didn't end up purchasing (for plenty of other reasons), I was driving with the top down on the freeway and got stuck in in bumper to bumper traffic. We were going slightly uphill, so I figured I had to rev it a bit higher to keep the engine from stalling. Well, turns out I was having to keep it at 4-5 and slowing engaging the clutch to do that. Seemed really weird, the hill wasn't that steep. That's when I started to smell it.. I looked down and had a sudden thought, and put it in neutral to check...

It had been in third gear. I was going from a stop to 5mph uphill in third gear. No wonder I was having to slip like crazy. But worse than that I started to have moments where the clutch just refused to fully engage even with my foot off the clutch, basically when it was just so freakin hot. It was the exact same feeling you mentioned, the clutch was out, engine revving, car not going like it should be. Bad news for your clutch.

Once I got up to speed and the clutch had a chance to cool off, it gave me no more troubles. I did a high speed push to see if there was any normal slippage, but it was tight. I guess if the plate and flywheel are near-molten, their ability to hold starts to diminish a LOT.

Moral of the story, clutch out and revs aren't making you go, could be a really hot clutch. Give it a chance to cool and try not to do it again.

-David

eslai · 12-13-2006, 09:35 PM

I would be really really really surprised if a single incident of clutch slippage was enough to trash the clutch. These things should be able to take a bit more abuse than that!

Is your clutch now slipping in any of the low gears when you drive it hard? If not I don't see any reason you'd change it out. Wait until it dies. Then again I haven't heard the whole story so maybe it really is dead.

super66 · 12-14-2006, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eslai

I would be really really really surprised if a single incident of clutch slippage was enough to trash the clutch. These things should be able to take a bit more abuse than that!

Is your clutch now slipping in any of the low gears when you drive it hard? If not I don't see any reason you'd change it out. Wait until it dies. Then again I haven't heard the whole story so maybe it really is dead.

don't laugh guys but I don't have a clue what clutch slipping is.....the only thing that I noticed really different was the smell......I took it out and drove it pretty hard a couple times and it always went right into gear and zip around fine....first gear might feel a little funny but that could just be me, and the other thing is that the shifter feels looser.....the car definitely goes into gear a lot smoother that it used too....but then again maybe I'm just imagining

for David, I had the clutch all the way to the floor......I think I probably panicked a bit and maybe didn't come all the way off it enough for the car to go....not really sure.....the guy said it was all good yesterday but he's going back to look at the creaking clutch pedal TSB today and hopefully their won't be a different assesment of the situation....

Sammy · 12-14-2006, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by super66

don't laugh guys but I don't have a clue what clutch slipping is.....the only thing that I noticed really different was the smell......I took it out and drove it pretty hard a couple times and it always went right into gear and zip around fine....first gear might feel a little funny but that could just be me, and the other thing is that the shifter feels looser.....the car definitely goes into gear a lot smoother that it used too....but then again maybe I'm just imagining

for David, I had the clutch all the way to the floor......I think I probably panicked a bit and maybe didn't come all the way off it enough for the car to go....not really sure.....the guy said it was all good yesterday but he's going back to look at the creaking clutch pedal TSB today and hopefully their won't be a different assesment of the situation....

Slipping is the time between the initial contact of the clutch plates (one is spinning faster than the other) and the final mating that results in them locking together and spinning at the same speed. Slipping is what causes a clutch to burn (gets the smell you refer to) and wear faster than normal.

A simple example would be you're playing basketball and you run down the court. When you get to the other end you try to stop and your shoes slide (slip) on the floor of the court until they gain enough traction. A similar thing happens with a clutch.

PorscheDoc · 12-14-2006, 08:34 AM

The dual mass flywheel does not have to be changed for a clutch job, but it does need to be resurfaced. You can not do a dual mass on a traditional lathe, but rather with a surface grinding machine. Most machine shops should have one. We always resurface flywheels with a new clutch to insure they bed properly.

eslai · 12-14-2006, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by super66

don't laugh guys but I don't have a clue what clutch slipping is.....the only thing that I noticed really different was the smell......I took it out and drove it pretty hard a couple times and it always went right into gear and zip around fine....first gear might feel a little funny but that could just be me, and the other thing is that the shifter feels looser.....the car definitely goes into gear a lot smoother that it used too....but then again maybe I'm just imagining

If you hit the Go Pedal with the car in gear and the car doesn't "Go", or revs climb really fast and the car doesn't "go very well", that's your clutch slipping.

Basically your wheels are connected to your engine via two halves of a sliced bagel. If you rotate one half and the other half doesn't rotate with it, that's clutch slip.

lol I'm sorry that's a horrible analogy. Go here instead and you'll understand it immediately. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/clutch.htm

Basically if the car scoots along in first and second gear like it did before, your clutch is fine for now.