Hi all, thought I'd rant a little.

Over the past weekend, I had my brake pad lights come on. Instead of using the Porsche dealer (which I usually have JP/Eng language translation problems, and normally more expensive than 3rd party garages), I opted to use a foreigner-language friendly garage who does my car insurance too.

They picked up my car, and few hours later called back to tell me I had a clutch issue but didn't have tools to fix it. As such the didn't change my brake pads either and recommended me to get the Porsche dealer to fix up both problems.

I just got my car delivered back this morning and when I drove it to the Porsche dealer, my clutch was very different - in fact different from before the mechanic from the 3rd party garage picked up the car.

Porsche quoted me a fix of approx $3500. I tried to explain the problem above to them (in JP and Eng mix - hopefully they understood me). They said they'll give me pix of my clutch.

I'm wondering if it's easy to determine if the clutch damage is new (i.e. caused by that mechanic) or if it's old (just general wear from my usage). I changed my clutch 4+ years back, as such current clutch has only clocked 23,000km (14,300 miles?).

As a side note, in the past 2 years I'd spent more than $15,000 in repairing my car, maybe it's time for a change - so much for investigating on the VFE SC offer in the classifieds :-(.

 

I guess no one has any ideas 'bout the clutch? Anyhow finally got some pics of the the clutch. Seems the some of pins/fork springs on the pressure plate are bent inwards :-



Unfortunately I don't know enough of how the clutch works and therefore don't know what would cause those pin springs to bend unevenly.

Here's the rest of the clutch photos.

 

what did the throwout bearing look like? could explain the forks on the pressure plate being uneven-

 

That is the main wear point for the clutch & mine needs replacement long before it gets that bad. Either the clutch already needed replacement or that shop driver really abused it. Be sure to have the transmission input shaft sleeve inspected for wear also.

 

I hope it's not that the clutch needed replacement 'cos it had only 23,000km on it. That's not very much (unless city driving with regular clutch changes reduces the live dramatically!?).

At the same time, could one bad drive damage those fork springs so easily?

Meanwhile, I've asked the Porsche service if I could get a pic of the throwout bearing meanwhile.

 

once they have it out replace it all..clutch,pressure plate, throw out bearing, pilot bearning..and have the fly wheel turned..

It does look like you have hot spots on the pressure plate.

 

Thought I'd bring a conclusion on this. So I couldn't get the mechanic on the other garage to accept the blame, as such had to pay the fix by myself. In total for getting the clutch, and the brake pads (the original problem) cost me approx USD$5000.

About the longevity of the clutch (earlier post, I stated my clutch was only 4.5 yrs old and 23,000 km), the Porsche mechanic said that in general clutches for city drivers last much shorter due to frequent gear changes - as opposed to those living more spread-out cites. In Tokyo I do find myself shifting more frequently between 1-2-3 gears as opposed to Perth, Australia where I'd spend most of my time on 4-5th gear.

Whether that means the clutch life gets reduced from 100,000+ km to 23,000 km though I'm not certain - still seems too short a life.

 

Of course clutch wear depends on how many times you start and shift gear - more than how many km's you do. Running along the freeway at 80MPH is no wear on the clutch compared to city driving in traffic where you are constantly on the clutch and maybe slipping it - especialyl from a standing start? The first owner of my car replaced the clutch at 30K miles - L.A. traffic proberly .. If you do mostly freeway miles the clutch could last to 100K+ . Unlikely that one drive could damage the clutch - although that is possible ... my p-car mechanic said he saw one lady that burned out a new clutch in a few weeks .. I guess just hadn't been taught how to drive a stick properly ....

 

saw that happen when I worked for a GM dealer, the owner burned out the clutch in 500 miles. Come to find out they where starting off in 3rd gear..

perfecting your 0-60 times will do it quickly as well.

 

Cheers for the response guys but I'm still inclined to think it's the mechanic who damaged my clutch. As mentioned it wasn't a gradual degradation but an immediate change from one day to the next (before & after pick-up). Also as in the pics the fork springs are damaged unevenly. It's doesn't appear to be wear 'n tear over time of abuse.

As mentioned I've had a new clutch installed 4.5 yrs ago and had been very careful with it since then.

 

Man, 5,000.00 is a RIDICULOUS PRICE. That whole job should not have cost more than 2,500 on the high side. Complete Clutch is $1,200 w/labor here and breaks shouldn't cost more than a couple of hundred at most.

Like the others said, clutches depend alot on driving style, driving conditions (hwy, city), etc... Although I wouldn't put it past anyone to abuse your car during transport (which is why I don't let mine out of my sight), the clutch might have been on its way out and the mechanic just finished it off.

where are you located??? because your getting ripped for service bro.

 

@TSC85: I'm in Japan. And the car was serviced in Porsche Meguro branch (Tokyo). As with other Porsche dealers in Japan, they do charge a lot for any kind of service. That's why as per original post I initially opted for a 3rd party garage to service my original brake pad problem instead.

Except when that garage "discovered" the clutch problem, they didn't have tools (or skills?) to fix the clutch. So I had no choice but to bring it back to Porsche.

As for the gradual degradation of the clutch and the mechanic from the 3rd party garage finishing it off, the reason why I don't buy this argument is because :-

1) it's too coincidental that I've been driving my car quite a bit and I don't feel any gradual change in my clutch. And the one time out of 12 months someone else (mechanic) drives my car, it's an overnight change? Also the clutch has now been repaired and the new clutch doesn't feel any "better" than before the damage had occurred. i.e. I've not been slowly desensitised by a gradual wear.

2) As mentioned before too, I've had my clutch changed in Oct 2006 (23,000km) ago. Since then I had been very careful with my gear changing, etc. 'cos I know how expensive of a job it is. That is why I'm not putting the blame on myself as I have had learnt my lesson and changed my style of driving. Not to mention I've driven other manual cars (Hondas, Toyotas, whatever) for 12 years prior and none of the cars ever needed a clutch change.

As such, my driving style is the cause is as unlikely as someone saying, "Porsche 996 clutches wear out every 23,000km".

That's why my fingers are pointing out to the mechanic. Unfortunately, I'm not a lawyer so I don't know how to construct an argument strong enough to sue those guys.