clutch life 986/986s
 

What's the life of a 986s clutch?

My car is an '01S has 120-130,000km on it (crazy, it's been so long I don't remember), I bought it in Chicago in May 2009 when it had 65,000km. Fair weather car, only 1 track day on it.

I'm getting psyched up to do some 15 year maintenance on it. IMS,( possibly clutch), motor and tranny mounts, water pump/coolant change, idler pulley, front lower rear Control arm etc.

In my 7 yrs of ownership, it's been fairly cheap to maintain so far as I've DIY all repairs -- new AC dispplay from ebay, MAF, a PedroMount my 1st year of ownership, oil changes, CV boots/ repacked bearings with grease, spark plugs, and tubes, AOS x1, 1 batttery is all I can think of. Only mod is a new modern HU for the stereo. new dash speakers are sitting in the cupboard waiting to be installed.

I found some good online prices for LUK & SACHS Clutch kits, as well as a LUK DMF. Not sure if I need one....

My previous cars were:

1995 Integra - bought new, owned it for 7 yrs and 280,000km. I had some tranny work on it for bad synchros, but don't think that the clutch was replaced.

2001 Jetta 1.8T chipped - loads of torque, bought new and sold with over 280,000km on it. Original Clutch. We trailered with this vehicle 1-2x/yr - motorcycle, jetski etc.

2003 Honda CRV - bought with 32,000km on it, kept it 10yrs until it was totalled in a crash. had over 250,000km on it, original clutch. Did some light trailering with this vehicle, and was loaded to the gills pretty much most weekends for trips to the family cottage.

2006 Jetta TDI - bought it in 2014 with 140,000km on the clock. now has 215,000km. AFAIK, original clutch, chipped. My commuter car love the fuel economy, and the torque.


Really, should I be expecting significantly shorter life with my Boxster clutch? Rock Auto seems to have the best prices to Canada.... not sure if there is duty on car parts. plus an extra week of downtime likely if I order after I inspect my current clutch.

Peter

It seems to me that these cars clutches last a very long time if driven properly.

I think the DMF is more likely to be worn than the clutch itself.

Clutch life has much more to do with the driver and how the car is used. We have customers with identical cars, one is at 75K and on his third clutch; the other is at 140K and still on the factory unit.

Ok. Maybe I'm easy on the clutch. Will inspect

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I've been told by experts: on average around 30k miles on the 986S
I have a full service history which shows the same too from my used car.

After 1 month getting the car, I've had a new clutch put in when I updated the IMS.
I've driven manual my whole life, I guess I will find out how long it will last me.

Depends on you. Lots of folks get 100k on a clutch. I have 40k+ on my Spec stage 3+ autocross car & 60k on my stock 996 C4 clutch... Both still going strong.

Really??
What "Experts"

http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/25492-new-clutch-2.html
See what Jake Raby has to say about Clutch life.

I was also told by a highly regarded Porsche Specialist garage and someone who worked at a Porsche Dealer.

Trust me, I was as shocked when I first heard about that!! I have never had to change a clutch in any of my cars my whole life and they all went over 100k miles

However, I am starting to believe it too, my new clutch feels quite different only after 10k.
That includes 4 track days too but mostly freeway miles.

I have 150,000 km on my original clutch. No indications of needing replacement yet.

Well why I would generally defer to Raby on an engine question, there is some funny Kool-Aid being drunk saying that the clutch rarely last more than 50K

Who is your "highly regarded Porsche Specialist garage" that says clutches don't last long?

You seem to have a very odd problem with a clutch lasting less than 20k miles multiple times. Sounds like your handle is well chosen as you shred clutches. Are you sure you are starting in 1st and not 3rd?

I know many that track their cars often that get more than 75k on a clutch and if you go by what many have posted, they often last 100k or more

Clutch wear is a direct correlation to how you drive.

I have 80k now and the clutch feels fine and I track and AX my car as often as I can

The generally consensus is you need to replace the clutch when it starts to slip. If you want to replace it at a specific mileage and pay 11+ hours labor prematurely, be my guest. I guess if you replace your IMSB with one that has a specific service interval, then you might as well replace the clutch every 40k miles (or whatever the IMSB service interval is) while you have the tranny dropped as you are already in there.

Personally I see no reason to spend lots of $$$$ every 30-40k just because....

YMMV

Personally at 94k and to my knowledge the clutch is oem but could have been changed at some point before 60k. Zero slip and drives perfect.

Id just check the DMF as they do seem to degrade faster then a well cared for clutch

@JayG
My clutch history is from the 1st owner of the car, not caused by me.
Hopefully it will last much longer with me driving it hahaha :D

Glad to read what you guys have to say about clutches. I'm a newbie to Porsches and am pretty leery of failures.

I just bought a 2002 S with 54k super well cared for miles that looks and drives brand new. 2 previous owner, last one 10 years. He also has a Carrera S and a dirt track modified race car.

My concern is that there is no free play at the top of the clutch pedal. I have ALWAYS thought that a clutch pedal should move at least an inch or so before engaging. The car shifts great is smooth, etc. Do I have a problem brewing here?

118k miles on my original clutch, 2.5L

Are we talking about how long a clutch lasts before it fails completely, or takes out the flywheel due to wear? If you want to drive it to death, sure it will last longer, but if you don't want to cost yourself an extra grand in parts, I'd replace early...
Its never wise to wait till you need to change a part, by that time collateral damage exists.

What's early? And what's on time?

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