Earlier today I was in the drive-thru of a local fast food restaurant with my foot on the clutch when the car lurched and the engine died. My clutch pedal was stuck to the floorboard so I immediately thought it was clutch. Restaurant employees pushed me and my car out of the drive-thru and into the front parking lot where I called AAA. While waiting I noticed a trail of oil leading up to my car so hopefully it's not the clutch but the hydraulics. I haven't had a chance to call for service but would like to know if anyone has an idea on how much it would cost to replace the clutch hydraulic cylinder (if that's what it is) and is this a DIY repair or should I take it to the dealer or an indy? I'm mechanically inclined and like to work on stuff myself. I'm going to look at it this weekend and I'm hoping all it is is a hydraulic line that came undone. Yeah, wishful thinking.

 

I think the leak is coming from the drivers side just before the left rear tire. I took off the plastic covering underneath next to the side skirt. The tubing had drips and was wet but I couldn't find which tube is the hydraulic line for the clutch. Any help? Here are a couple of photos. Hope it helps. I'm assuming that small box has something to do with the clutch.

 

not positive on the 996, but I recently replaced the clutch slave cylinder and master cylinder on my Cayman.

The blue hose in your 1st and 3rd pic leads from the clutch master to the clutch slave.

It is possible that the clutch slave took a dump on you. It (and the clutch master) are pistons that have seals around the piston. Maybe the seal on one of them suddenly went bad?

I'm not sure of the effort on the 996 to replace (on the Cayman) it is on top of the tranny and kind of a PITA to get the clutch slave out.

I doubt that the blue hose is perforated, but there are a couple of clipped joints w/ O-rings along that where it could leak? (but I doubt that is what you're facing).

Clutch master and slave from RockAuto were cheap. I'd put it up on jack stands and see if you think you can replace the clutch slave yourself. I doubt labor would be more than 3 hours... plus the tow.

Good luck w/ it. Let us know what you decide

 

I recently had the accumulator and slave replaced on my 996 TT at an Indy shop, I think the cost was around $800.

 

Thanks for the info! I'll jack it up again tomorrow and check it out. Since the 996, Cayman/Boxster, are quite similiar perhaps the layout for the hydraulic lines are similiar too. Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

 

Thanks for the info on approx pricing to repair. I'm going to jack it up tomorrow and take a closer look at where it may be leaking. If I feel I can handle the repair I can leave the labor $$ in the bank!