O.k., before I recount my ordeal from hell, let me just preface this by saying that although I wouldn't even refer to myself as a "shade tree" mechanic, I am not a total noob either. I've performed all my own maintenance on every Porsche I've owned, and have tackled jobs ranging from rotors, pads, spark plugs and dv's on the Turbo, to alternator replacement, plenum install, and motor mounts on my carrera, to coolant tank replacement on my old boxster.

With that said, let me just say that this job was the WORST by far. Problem was that I could not for the life of me get the old accumulator off! I literally spent 5 hours wrestling with that peice of %&@! It was screwed on so tight I literally could not get it to budge. Compounding this problem was the fact that the orientation of the nut/boss on the accumulator was such that when the wrench was on it, I either lacked sufficient clearance to break it loose, or had absolutely no leverage (and could not fit a cheater bar of any sort). I finally succeeded by grinding down the head of the wrench to well below half its thickness (on both sides), grinding down the outside edges of the head of the wrench as well, and using copious amounts of pentrating lube.

I literally screamed for joy like a little girl when it finally came loose (and from the pain of bashing my knuckles on the tranny!). From there on the job was easy.

So the moral is if you are tackling this job, and can't break the acccumulator free, try grinding the wrench down even further so that the head of the wrench can get good contact on the boss even at a fairly extreme downward angle!

The good news is that the car feels like a different vehicle. Clutch action is easily twice as smooth as it was before. In fact, even though the "stiff clutch in the morning" symptom only appeared recently, I believe my accumulator had been going out for a while, because my clutch has NEVER felt this smooth or effortless. The engagement is predictable and smooth, and all of the "choppiness" and abruptness of the old clutch action is gone.

Thanks to Mikelly and the others who posted hints on this DIY, and may God be with you if you decide to tackle this job and find you have a tight accumulator!

 

excuse the noobness, but what is the accumulator and what does it do exactly? Rep point for you for informing other members and giving us some useful tips!

 

I'm not sure exactly, but I know it assists with reducing the amount of force it takes to depress the clutch, especially when the car is cold. The tell-tale sign of a bad accumulator is a stiff clutch in the morning. I've seen comments on this board to the effect that this is its only function, namely, improving clutch action when the car is off, but I don't believe it. I think it somehow also smooths things out and reducing effort when the car is on as well, as my clutch feels like a totally different clutch now that the accumulator has been replaced (my clutch itself is only 6 months old or so).