Well my 20k 997.1 TT lost it's slave cylinder like many others. The regional manager for Porsche did decided to cover the cost of repairs. I was very happy to hear they were willing to cover it. My warranty just went out over the winter while the car was stored. It was fine when I put it away last fall until I took it out for the first drive this spring. Same symptoms as others have posted the pedal went to the floor and failed to return up. I did have the last 30% of travel left and was able to limp to the dealer for repairs. There was no fluid on the floor. I knew it was the slave since once it was in gear the clutch held fine under power just no pedal. They seemed willing to pay for the repairs which were quoted at $1200 since I was getting the 20k service and plugs/coil packs replaced.

Glad Porsche is taking care of it's owners!

Otis

 

Glad to hear your car was fixed.

Truthfully, though, if Porsche was really taking care of it's owners, they'd fix the problem with a revision of the components, and issue a recall.

 

Totally Agree!

Happened twice on my 996TT, but only once on my 997TT (thus far)

 

File a complaint with the DOT, Porsche dont sell enough turbos to care or need to file a recall I believe but if the DOT sees a trend you never know.

This single part and the multiple dealer trips its caused me has been the black cloud over my turbo ownership experience. if it fails on you out of warranty and the dealer does not do the right thing go GT2 conversion.

 

Please explain what the GT2 conversion is. I had a 996 C4S and the clutch helper spring failed (a fairly inexpensive repair), but this sounds different. Hopefully, I won't have this problem on my 997tt, but would like to know about it.

 

esentially you remove the hydraulic assist hardware, just like what the GT2 uses. EVOMS sells a kit for it. Peddle beomes more firm but not terribly so and modulation of the clutch becomes something you can actually do consistently, unlike with our stock spongey setup.

Odds are it will happen, just a matter of time.

 

Not to hijack, but I feel like people are getting ripped off a little so.....

There are five parts to the kit not including block off plugs and a reservoir cap. I will post the four part numbers tomorrow here since I have them at work. They can be had at Pelican Parts or Bimmerspecialist for just under $400. The fifth part is the bracket that mounts the slave cylinder and dgreen78 is usually selling them on the classifieds from Seattle for $200. That comes to about $600 without shipping, but usually it's free and the parts are small and fairly light. The "kits" being sold by some vendors are no doubt high quality, but no more so than what you can put together here and the brackets being sold are CNC aluminum quality brackets. The kits sell for $1000 (too much mark up for me, but convenience is nice) I can't afford the convenience so I found the kit with the help of guys on this forum. I hope it helps. I am doing the swap in conjunction with a RS Lightweight Flywheel swap/Sachs Organic Clutch Disc and "999" 764 Sachs Pressure Plate in preparation for later mods down the road. It is definately easiest when the tranny is out.

 

subscribe - great info

 

The slave cylinder on my car was leaking internally & Porsche fixed it under warranty : )

Had put a Kevlar reinforced Clutchmaster clutch in the car ~ year previously.

Car shifting well, but catch point still very high on pedal let off.

Have seen things like GT2 conversion kit & braided steel pressure lines for the clutch with claims of improving driver feedback & feel.

Which is best to go with & would major work need to be done for that conversion kit to be installed.

 

[quote=otis;3524404]Well my 20k 997.1 TT lost it's slave cylinder like many others. The regional manager for Porsche did decided to cover the cost of repairs. I was very happy to hear they were willing to cover it. My warranty just went out over the winter while the car was stored. It was fine when I put it away last fall until I took it out for the first drive this spring. Same symptoms as others have posted the pedal went to the floor and failed to return up. I did have the last 30% of travel left and was able to limp to the dealer for repairs. There was no fluid on the floor. I knew it was the slave since once it was in gear the clutch held fine under power just no pedal. They seemed willing to pay for the repairs which were quoted at $1200 since I was getting the 20k service and plugs/coil packs replaced.

Glad Porsche is taking care of it's owners!
I guess having that last 30% travel meant that you could shift once or twice to dealer?? Trying to figure how to catch this problem early before towing is needed. Was the clutch getting more difficult to depress especially when starting a cold engine?? Also did you notice if the reservior level for the clutch oil was a bit high?? Porsche says higher level could be sign of coming disaster. Not sure how much oil could make it to the floor, however.
I notice with time my slave oil dropped a little, but porsche tech says that small loss is from wear on the clutch parts.
If caught a bit early, It sounds like the car will drive ok, say in 3rd gear, but cannot be shifted. Does that sound correct?? I have 50K miles(6-years this Dec for end-extended warranty) on my turbo, and yours is 20K, seems too early for a slave problem. I guess time crapped out your warranty. I wonder if keeping the clutch applied during red lights, makes it tougher on slave etc? I keep trans in neutral and foot off clutch waiting at all lights.

 

Looks like this clutch-release problem is a real Achilles heel for turbos. Cars have had mechanical clutches for years.....guess what happened here is an engineer was trying for something new and ended with a failure-issue that was never an issue for years. I wonder with the PDK if this same post-warranty breakdown will appear there too. You're saying GT2 conversion is a better design and can be fitted to 977 turbo

 

Unless Don updated his bracket, it won't fit a 997t tranny case but the quality is superb.

 

I've heard of one failing during euro delivery. There is not always any warning.

 

I've got a new GT2 clutch conversion do-it yourself kit on my work bench if someone needs it.

-M

 

TT dude, wasn't tracking the bracket misfit for 997TT Tranny case....bad news. I am sure there is someone else out there selling a bracket that fits the 997 Tranny case...


BTW...here are the other parts
996-116-237-90 Clutch Cylinder
996-423-377-90 Line (Non-Stainless Braided) I'm sure that makes a difference especially as all rubber lines wear and age.
996-423-171-06 Master Cycliner
996-423-081-18 Servofeeder

The bracket is needed to mount the clutch/slave cylinder to the tranny case and as TTDude expertly pointed out; dgreen78 setup works only for the 996 unless he has modified his setup. I will have to send a PM. You will need block off plugs where the hydraulic setup was fed in, but there is nothing special here. As far as I can tell the only thing additional the "kits" provide is a reservoir cap, not 100% sure how much this is or if it is absolutely necessary, don't know (maybe due to additional pressure in the system)

talisman13 has provided an awesome clutch DIY tutorial on here on a 996 TT and is very knowledgeable with this. I'm sure there is probably GT2 conversion DIYs on here as well, but I was going to do this when I had the tranny out. Not sure how much room you have only lowering the engine about an inch and tranny about three to four inches. It may not be enough room.