Hi. My friends 968 had what he thought to be a starter motor problem but he has now been told it`s the ring gear on the flywheel.
How hard is it to replace the flywheel and what does it entail.
Thanks for any help.
not hard, but it entails a lot of grunting and work overhead - you have to rotate the flywheel MANY times, cracking all the bolts a little bit at a time for both the pressure plate and the flywheel
you will need to replace the bolts that hold the flywheel to the crankshaft, AND the ones that hold the pressure plate to the flywheel
you will need a Triple Square socket set - these are often called "cheeseheads" - do a search here for that word, and you will come up with sources
this is the time to consider changing flywheels to a lighter one - i do not believe the ring gear is sold separately
remember to balance the assembly if you change it to a solid flywheel - replacements are NOT balanced - neither are replacement pressure plates (since it is impossible to balance it without mounting it to a flywheel, and it is always balanced to match the flywheel)
while you are in there, it is a VERY good idea to replace the fork bearings (remember to lube them too), and of course the pilot bearing and possibly the release bearing
this would also be a good time to make sure your clutch hydraulics are up to snuff - you have to disconnect the slave to do the job, which puts you half way there already
Change the clutch slave and the supply hose while you're there even if they look ok, trust me!
I just had a lightened RS flywheel and clutch put in by a dealer, got it back and 3 days later BOOM, clutch fluid all over the road. Good thing it was a short drive home and I'm good at driving with no clutch. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/dry.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> Even the mechanic didn't think to change the hose so it just ended up costing me more $$$.
please tell me he had the setup balanced - it just makes me crazy when those "experts" say "we never do that, and it's never been a problem", just so they don't tie up the rack and piss off the manager - it just shows how either little they know, or how fast they want you back in there for bearings
Hey Flash,
How do you balance the flywheel with the pressure plate? I am thinking of doing my clutch myself since the waterpump episode has left me broke :-(
I have never done a clutch job on a Porsche so I am very cautious.
Regards,
Johann
you have to take it to a machine shop - they then drill holes and/or weld pieces in place to balance it, similar in concept to how you balance a tire
first the flywheel is balanced - then the pressure plate is bolted to the flywheel (so, remember to send them the bolts) - then the pressure plate is balanced to the flywheel - both are then indexed so that you can install them in the same position relative to each other
the clutch disk and release bearing are not needed for this procedure