924Board.org

[AndyR]

About a week and a half ago as I got off work and went to my car to drive home as usual when I discovered a problem of sorts with my car. I started it up and went to put it into gear when I noticed that the clutch pedal feel was all wrong, it was completely flaccid and took no effort to push to the floor. I cautiously motored around the parking lot a bit while I determined that I could still shift well enough to drive home, and I did.
I checked it out the next day and noticed that the clutch/brake fluid was low. After refilling it I got in the car again and pumped the clutch pedal and it gradually returned to normal.
The car was fine afterwards and I thought nothing of it until yesterday. When I got into the car to go somewhere, I discovered that the problem came back, and with a twist: When I depress the clutch pedal halfway, it slams to the floor instead of springing back. I aslo can't engage any gears, so the car is stuck in neutral
I checked where the fluid was leaking from, and I've done some reading ("An Odd Clutch Problem", "Clutch Pedal Slams to Floor", and "Clutch Master & Slave cylinder bleeding") and figure that I have a bad clutch cylinder, but I don't know which one.
I do have pictures though:

This is a wide shot under the car, just behind the engine, right near the clutch. The leaky cylinder is circled in red, the arrows are pointing at the spot where it is leaking from


Ditto, but closer


Picture taken directly under the cylinder where it is dripping fluid from


One problem I have though is that I'm not even certain of what parts I'm looking at are. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the red circled part is the master cylinder and the green one is the slave cylinder, right? And what is the part circled in blue?
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-White 1987 Porsche 924S (Hawaii)

-Black 2000 Audi A4 (Mainland)

[Ozzie]

Yep- youre wrong.
The red and blue items look like your starter motor and solenoid.
Green item is probably the slave cylinder which is more than likely the problem.
The master cylinder is what connects to the clutch pedal and should be underneath the fill reservoir or connected to it by hose in some cars.
_________________
Porsche 924 1984 (UK import) NA
Its AUTO and its BLACK
Montego Black on black/red
Engineer of Electro/Mechanical Systems Maintenance

[RC]

If you intend doing any DIY maintenance or repairs, rather than taking your car to a mechanic, suggest getting a Haynes manual to help identify various parts.

Roger

[Nobbi]

What is it? My starter is on the right,below the exhaust manifold...?

Lefthand car? Automatic?

Nobbi

[Rasta Monsta]

924S.
_________________
Toofah King Bad

• WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

[Smoothie]

Nobbi - All 931, 924S, and of course 944, etc. have the starter situated like that, behind the flywheel, and bolted in through the rear of the bellhousing.

AndyR - The previously given info is correct - the red-circled item is the starter, blue-circled is the starter solenoid, and green-circled is the clutch slave cyl.
You have to remove the starter (w/solenoid) to work on the clutch slave. Clean the solenoid while it's out because some of the leakage from the slave often finds its' way into the solenoid, bringing some dirt with it, and the fluid attracts moisture. End result is "gunk", and it'll cause a no-start problem on both extra hot and cold days as the solenoids' armature (piston) gets stuck in its' bore.
The clutch master cyl is operated by the clutch pedal, so it's mounted to the firewall, in the engine compartment, just ahead of the clutch pedal area. There'll be a line running from the lower-side of the brake fluid reservoir to the clutch MC.
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"..it's made in Germany. You know the Germans always make good stuff."


'82 924T, US version, dark green metallic, 5 speed Audi 016G gearbox

[skytrooper]

yup, those before me are correct. I have recently had to repair the slave and master cylinders on both my 924S and 931. The clutch problem that you are having is normally caused by either one or both cylinders. On my 931 I had the same leak at the weep hole for the starter (identical to your picture). That indicated a slave cylinder leaking past its seals into the bellhousing. You will have to remove your starter (solenoid is attached) to get to the slave cylinder. They are wicked easy to rebuild as long as the bore of the cylinder is undamaged (corrosion can to nasty things), and the parts go for about $ 20 USD or less.
It is usually good practice to replace both at the same time. The master cylinder is located on the engine firewall kind of below the brake reservoir. It is tricky to get to and could do serious damage to your vocabulary (i.e. *#@!)
Getting a Haynes manual is very important for parts identification.

Good luck with your repair
_________________
Matt

1987 - 924S "Black Pearl"
1982 - BMW 633CSi
1984 - BMW 528e
1983 - 944 N/A "Blue Max" (Gone)
1981 - 931 "Scarlet Harlot" (Gone)
1976 911S Targa (Gone)

[AndyR]

Alright, I've made myself familiar with the Haynes Manual procedure and it looks clear to me now. The hardest part of everything will be probably be getting the starter off; The bolts to it are frozen on omgwtf tight and I don't have a whole lot of room under the car to move around with. Can't complain though, the rebuild kits on PartsAmerica are inexpensive, and I shudder at the thought of paying the bill for a tow + dealer/shop parts labor.
_________________
-White 1987 Porsche 924S (Hawaii)

-Black 2000 Audi A4 (Mainland)

[Nobbi]

Thanks for the info smoothie,
i just stuck to my old NA........Actually,never drove a s or turbo.

Nobbi