986 Boxter stiff clutch pedal

[wackydo]

So I was looking at a 986 W reg boxster yesterday with 104k miles, a 3.2S

It was in good condition and the engine seemed to have all of the horses, but the clutch was so stiff and felt kind of gritty on the bottom 1/4 of the travel.

The chap selling it said that he'd not noticed this and has driven it for 4,000 miles in europe over the last 6 months.

Now this is a hydraulic clutch that felt like is was a cable clutch with a dry cable. Any thoughts about why this might be?

thanks
Tony

[interstellar]

The clutch spring in the footwell behind the pedal is likely to be broken. If it isn't, change it anyway, its a diy job and will make the clutch much lighter.

Failing that it may need a new one if its the original.

[edh]

Would have thought it's most likely the clutch has very little life left

[Rockster]

As both interstellar and ehd alluded to the clutch pedal effort could be due to a broken helper spring or a worn clutch.

While 104K miles is not a lot of miles clutch life is very dependent upon how the car is driven, how the clutch is used.

As an aside, my 2003 Turbo has just over 140K miles and the clutch is fine. At 120K miles the tranny was out to replace a RMS and the clutch disc had no measureable wear. An anomaly you think? Well, my 2002 Boxster is just approx. 900 miles short of 300K miles and is on its original clutch.

If the S is worth owning then adjust your offer to take into account the cost of having the clutch and probably the flywheel replaced. Or make having this done a pre-condition to your buying the car. But the work must be done at a reputable/experienced shop and any warranty on parts/labor is transferred to you when you buy the car.

Have to add if you do take the car as is you should be very sure there are no other problems/issues. For instance, with a thorough road test be sure the tranny is in good condition and not making any scary noises, and the same for the diff. No leaks from either of these items, either (or anywhere else for that matter). Also, that the CV joints are quiet and the CV boots are intact.

Be sure that in focusing on the clutch pedal stiffness you have not ignored the many other areas from which issues can arise.

[andygo]

I have just had my clutch replaced on my soon to be 80K 3.4 boxster. Always had a really stiff clutch pedal but whilst I realised it was heavy, had nothing to compare it to. Anyway, got a Sachs kit from Frazerparts for £200 inc vat, a tenner for an RMS seal had it doen by the very switched on Fearnsport at Silverstone.

Done in the day, and wow! Almost feels like I'm driving a shopping car. Lovely light clutch- a tad heavier than my wife's Golf, super slick oem quick shift action has revitalised the car.

As an aside, flywheel was deemed almost as new, so that saved a lot of bobs which cheered me up!

[wackydo]

Rockster said:

Have to add if you do take the car as is you should be very sure there are no other problems/issues. For instance, with a thorough road test be sure the tranny is in good condition and not making any scary noises, and the same for the diff. No leaks from either of these items, either (or anywhere else for that matter). Also, that the CV joints are quiet and the CV boots are intact.

Be sure that in focusing on the clutch pedal stiffness you have not ignored the many other areas from which issues can arise.

Thanks for the advice, I didn't take the car in the end as the whole experience in this specific car of clutch/gearbox/steering did not work for me. They need to gel, I drove another one a few days later which was much better, but in the end bought a 3.0 Z4

cheers.