I'm a new owner of a '99 996 C2 looking for some advise as to my next step. My clutch pedal is extremely stiff and squeeky. I'm coming from a 2 year old VW Golf GTI 6-speed and driving the 911 with the stiff clutch is very different. The dealer said the previous owner installed a 'racing clutch' so i'm not sure if the symptoms I am seeing are normal or not. When i press the clutch lightly I get a rattle and when i press it all the way down i get a whinny shrill high pitched noise. The car makes some rattling noises when it starts although these seem to stop or at least become less apparent after 30 seconds or so. However this evening i noticed that when parked and running there is a rattle from the rear right of the car that stops for about 15 seconds and then starts again. I am thinking about taking it to the dealer on Monday and have them drop the transmission and check it along with the clutch, IMS and RMS. Does that make sense and is there anything else I should have them look at? FYI, they have already done a major maintenance service on the car which included changing the oil and filter. There was nothing in the oil or in the filter and there are no oil leaks. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Whinny shrill could be the throw-out bearing. Does it only make the moice with the clutch press down? If so then I would guess the throw-out bearing. Some people say the light-weight flywheel clutch set up will cause chatter. Maybe that is what you have.

 

Thanks for the reply. Yes, the whinny sound only occurs when the clutch is pressed all the way in. If I ease up on the clutch slightly I just get a rattle.
There may well be a light flywheel in the car. The previous owner put in a racing clutch and very expensive racing seats so the light flywheel would make sense.
Will probably go ahead and put in the Sachs OEM clutch kit and also replace the parts on the clutch pedal itself as documented by the Porsche tech note addressing squeaky clutch pedals on early '99 996 models. Since the trans is coming out anyway would you also recommend replacing the IMS, RMS and AOS? A few other people have also suggested changing the chain guides and tensioners. What do you think?

 

Definitely do the LNE/Flat 6 IMS upgrade ($500 part) and updated RMS (even if you're not leaking now -- $20 part) as once you're in there for the clutch, the additional labor cost is minimal and then you'll have peace of mind on the 996 potential big ticket items (and better resale value).

I recently sought views on the choice of clutch kit (Sachs, OEM, stage 2, etc.) and the majority view was just to stay with the OEM kit for normal driving.

Total cost from my excellent independent for clutch, slave, IMS upgrade and RMS was $2,000 (I supplied the OEM clutch kit, which I got from Suncoast for $500, so total cost for everything was $2,500). Flywheel was fine, so didn't change it.