Squeaking clutch slave cylinder
 

For the last two months I have noticed that my clutch has a dose of severe squeaking every time I depress the clutch pedal. The noise is coming fron the slave cylinder above the gearbox - I have bled the system (a pita) but to no avail. On previous cars, a squeaking clutch was normally cured by greasing the thrust rod pushing on the clutch actuating arm, but on the Boxster the arm is not visible for lubricating.
Am I missing something or do I have a problem...?

The noise may be coming from the pivot point where the slave contacts the throwout fork. If that is the case, you need to pull the slave and lightly lube the fork end with a small amount of high temp grease (usually made for brake applications). If that does not cure it, the fork may be going, which requires pulling the gearbox to gain access..............

Pull the slave. One bolt holds it in. The head of the bolt is 13mm. After removing the bolt, use a small prybar just behind the area where you removed the bolt. Pry the slave forward 2-3mm's and pull it towards you and BACK.. it will come out of the tranny. Clean and grease the end of the pushrod. I use brake clean and a high temp BOAT TRAILER wheel bearing grease. The boat grease is designed for extreme temp change and happens to be WATER proof (think: pulling a heavy boat down the freeway and then submerging the trailer into a cold lake) It works well :)

I'll snap a picture for you this morning.



B

The top arrow in this picture is pointing to the "hole" where the slave typically resides :)

The second arrow is pointing to the BOLT that needs to be removed to get the slave out. I *personally* put that bolt back into the tranny on long term projects. The bolt is only used in ONE place on the car. It is a semi custom length and should not be substituted for any other length bolt!! The bolt does have to come ALL the way out when removing the slave :)


http://www.boxsterspec.com/brad/tranny/image4.jpg


In a few hours, I'll post a pic of the slave. I leave them hanging from the car when the tranny is out.


B

Here you go.. not sure if you care or not.. but here it is anyway. I'll post another picture shortly with it out.


http://www.boxsterspec.com/brad/tranny/007.jpg


B

Many thanks....
 

Many thanks Brad & JFP, thats just the type of info I was looking for. Your pictures tell all Brad - thankyou.
Now for a great time laying on my back on a cold concrete floor (its winter down here @ 6 deg C). Its not the easiest place to work. Ah bliss.......
Steve

I also need a clutch slave cylinder (2003 non-S) and see two part numbers for sale online. Anyone know the difference or if one is better than the other?

8E0.721.257B
8E0.721.257M

It has been superceded multiple times..

8EO 721 257 M is the one you need. Current retail from Porsche is $84.24



B

Here is the clutch arm. I'm pulling this car apart right now for an engine swap, but I did the clutch a year or so ago. You can still see the "sticky" stuff I used for grease on the "push" point for the slave.


http://www.boxsterspec.com/brad/tranny/014.jpg


B

Tim?

Who diagnosed you needed a slave? I have yet to see one fail (and I have been working on the cars since 97) The *only* time I see an issue? Is then somebody has the slave out for a clutch job and *somebody* gets in the roller chassis and pushes in on the clutch pedal when the slave is NOT attached to the tranny :(


B

Thanks for the concern. I completely rounded the bleeding nut during my last flush. Oops! It's a really tight space and obviously I need to find a wrench that gives a better angle. I figure there is no way to replace just the nut?

Brad, you should take up photography as well a wrenching - your pics are excellent. It looks like the waterproof bearing grease is the go. I have used my motorcycle chain lube previously, which is "anti-fling" waterproof grease, but your stuff looks even better.
Steve

That was one handed with a crappy digital camera. I just happen to know what to shoot :)

I played American full contact football from age 9 to age 18, I was hurt my senior year of High School but wanted to be on the field/sidelines with all the kids I grew up with in neighborhood. I took up photography :) I knew all the play's and knew all the players. It was easy to shoot a running back busting through the 3 gap when I knew what play was called and who was getting the ball :) Our High School was even written up in the book "Friday Night Lights". The book was written during the 88-89 Texas high school football season. We tied Odessa Permian in the state quarterfinals (we where shown in the movie also) Good times. I miss good photography. Wish I had more time for it. Been shooting digital since early 99 when the info went onto a floppy disc :)


B

So Steve, what's the scoop? Did the noise go away?

My car just started making the same noise. 2003 Boxster S with about 32k on it.

Roadracer - squeak not entirely gone......
I removed the slave and greased the end of the pushrod but the squeaking (though not as bad) is still there, so I'm assuming that the noise is coming from the lower pivot point - damn.
Funny thing is, the squeak now dissapears when the engine is hot, so it will stay that was as I'm loath to remove the gearbox for a squeak.

Thanks Steve, for the reply, and Brad for posting a possible solution. I'll give this one a go as well.

Mine sounds creaky enough that it's hard to imagine all of this sound coming from one little contact point. If I had to guess, I'd say it's my pressure plate. It would be tempting to come up with an optical fiber rig and a way to remotely apply grease, if I though that lubing the input shaft would help.

It's bugging me enough that I might pull the tranny. My main vehicle is my motorcycle, and the Boxster is mostly used for getting groceries and is otherwise sort of a project to see how perfect I can keep it. This is putting a wrinkle in the perfectness of the car. Grrrrr.... stupid reason to pull a tranny. The scope-creep that it invites is huge though!! once I start it could easily end up being clutch, throwout bearing, pressure plate, IMS bearing update.... the list goes on. All for a squeak. Maybe I should just turn up the radio and drive the thing.

I'll definitely try the slave pivot lube first though!

This Squeak is very common on 986 & 996 even when new. Mine always starts when at the track but goes away later