WisconsinMonSTAR
Proven Member
- 129
- 30
- Apr 20, 2014
-
Kenosha,
Wisconsin
If any of you saw my last post, you know that I had an odd intermittent clutch drag. Basically, one day my clutch began dragging on and off. I needed to replace my throwout bearing, but I was waiting until I needed to change the clutch before replacing it. So that day came, and I only had $280 to work with. Definitely not enough to have a shop do the job for me. So I figured I had to take matters into my own hands.
I was somewhat intimidated at first, not only because I've never done any sort of work on a car before (besides one oil change), but also because I have a gsx which is awd. I was always told that changing a clutch is no walk in the park, and definitely not something a non experienced person should do. I wish I had taken more pictures of the task, but I don't have picture privileges yet anyways. Let us begin.
So first I started off by buying a new clutch kit. Remember that I only had a $280 budget to work with, so purchasing a high performance clutch was out of the picture (I really wanted an act 2100). I settled for an OE style clutch from my work by powertorque. Got the kit for $80.
Next, I ordered an OEM throwout bearing because I heard that it is the best one to use.
This left me with $160 for supplies and tools (all I had was a jack and jack stands but none of the proper tools).
I went to work and bought a torque wrench, a breaker bar, some multi purpose lube, gloves, and various cleaning products. When all was said and done, I had $110 left. (I love my work discount!)
Day 1:
I lifted the front of the car, set her on jack stands, and removed the wheels. Then I disconnected my battery, and called it a night since it was already getting dark out.
Day 2:
I began with removing the components above the transmission for clearance. This included my intake, the pipe that was connected to my throttle body, multiple vacuum connections, my tranny sensors, shift linkages, and my cruise motor.
After that, I TRIED removing my axle nuts. No success. If I had air tools, I'm sure this job would have been much faster, but, I'm a broke ass student who can't afford such luxuries.
I went to work and got some pb blaster, and a little propane torch.
After using the heat and blaster combination, along with a 4 foot pipe on the end of my breaker bar, the axle nuts came loose.
My right axle was seized in the hub (no bueno!) I tried punching it out, soaking it in blaster, all to no avail. That thing was not coming out. The driver's side axle moved freely.
I disconnected my lower control arms which wasn't that difficult, and proceeded to pry out my passenger side axle from the transmission. This took me a little longer than it should have, since I didn't know that it was supposed to take a good amount of force to get that thing out. Once it popped loose, I felt pretty relieved.
Going over to the driver's side, I unbolted my transfer case, as well as my axle carrier bearing. The axle slid right out.
Day 3:
I unbolted my cross member and then placed a jack with a block of wood under my transmission, and a scissor jack with a block of wood under my engine oil drain pan.
I unbolted my transmission mounts and removed them.
At this point, I began to grow anxious since I was that close to dropping my tranny out.
So I unbolted my bell housing and starter, and began the tedious process of lowering the transmission. I had a few difficulties getting it off of the engine, but with a little elbow grease and help from a friend, I got my transmission out of the car, but I did manage to snap off my speed sensor. Oh well, it was broken anyways.
The inside of my bell housing looked like it was coated in a layer of dirt. I used brake cleaner to get it all nice and clean.
Upon examination of my components, I found that my fork and picot ball were worn, and I ordered some new ones which cost about $48. This left me with about $70 in my budget. My throwout bearing was toast.
I removed the clutch pressure plate and found the cause of my clutch drag. A spring had broken out of it's seating and was catching on my pressure plate teeth. The disc appeared to be in good condition otherwise.
My flywheel was really smooth and had some slight discoloration, but no cracks and it was flat. I grabbed some 160 grit emery cloth and buffed it for about 30 minutes until it had a nice bare metal finish. I finished the night with cleaning it off and bolting my new clutch kit up to it.
I spent the next 3 days waiting for my release fork and pivot ball to come in the mail.
When they finally came, I was eager to get the job finished! I installed my new fork, pivot ball, and throwout bearing.
Reattaching my transmission was a task in itself. It took a lot of wiggling and wrestling to get that thing lined up. I bolted it back up, and got replacement bolts for the ones I found were missing (1 starter bolt, 1 slave cylinder bolt, and 2 dear mounting bolts).
After putting my mounts back on, I drained the fluids and refilled them with redline mt-90, which used the remainder of my budget.
I put my axles back in, bolted up my lower control arms, and cross member, and then put the car back on its feet.
Now that I was working from above the car, reconnecting all of the components I removed in the beginning felt like an easy job compared to what I had gone through with removing and reattaching the transmission. After clipping all my electrical harnesses back up, I lifted the car back up and began the bleeding process.
This was a little frustrating because my dad isn't good at following directions, and kept pumping the pedal when I told him not to. My pedal felt really soft, which bugged me because I was used to a fairly stiff pedal. I test drove the car and noticed that my temperature gauge wasn't working. My engine got hot as hell! So I figured out where the sensor connected, and all was well!
My car shifts real smooth now with the fresh clutch and fluid, and I am currently breaking the new clutch in by driving easy.not shifting over 3k rpms, not rev matching on downshifts, and avoiding any slipping of the clutch (best I can, my driveway is extremely steep and requires me to feather for a few seconds to get up).
So that's my story, a broke kid with no car mechanic experience, replacing a clutch in his garage with some hand tools. If I can do it, anyone can, as long as they are determined.
Thank you for reading!
I'll post what few pictures I have once I have the privilege.
I was somewhat intimidated at first, not only because I've never done any sort of work on a car before (besides one oil change), but also because I have a gsx which is awd. I was always told that changing a clutch is no walk in the park, and definitely not something a non experienced person should do. I wish I had taken more pictures of the task, but I don't have picture privileges yet anyways. Let us begin.
So first I started off by buying a new clutch kit. Remember that I only had a $280 budget to work with, so purchasing a high performance clutch was out of the picture (I really wanted an act 2100). I settled for an OE style clutch from my work by powertorque. Got the kit for $80.
Next, I ordered an OEM throwout bearing because I heard that it is the best one to use.
This left me with $160 for supplies and tools (all I had was a jack and jack stands but none of the proper tools).
I went to work and bought a torque wrench, a breaker bar, some multi purpose lube, gloves, and various cleaning products. When all was said and done, I had $110 left. (I love my work discount!)
Day 1:
I lifted the front of the car, set her on jack stands, and removed the wheels. Then I disconnected my battery, and called it a night since it was already getting dark out.
Day 2:
I began with removing the components above the transmission for clearance. This included my intake, the pipe that was connected to my throttle body, multiple vacuum connections, my tranny sensors, shift linkages, and my cruise motor.
After that, I TRIED removing my axle nuts. No success. If I had air tools, I'm sure this job would have been much faster, but, I'm a broke ass student who can't afford such luxuries.
I went to work and got some pb blaster, and a little propane torch.
After using the heat and blaster combination, along with a 4 foot pipe on the end of my breaker bar, the axle nuts came loose.
My right axle was seized in the hub (no bueno!) I tried punching it out, soaking it in blaster, all to no avail. That thing was not coming out. The driver's side axle moved freely.
I disconnected my lower control arms which wasn't that difficult, and proceeded to pry out my passenger side axle from the transmission. This took me a little longer than it should have, since I didn't know that it was supposed to take a good amount of force to get that thing out. Once it popped loose, I felt pretty relieved.
Going over to the driver's side, I unbolted my transfer case, as well as my axle carrier bearing. The axle slid right out.
Day 3:
I unbolted my cross member and then placed a jack with a block of wood under my transmission, and a scissor jack with a block of wood under my engine oil drain pan.
I unbolted my transmission mounts and removed them.
At this point, I began to grow anxious since I was that close to dropping my tranny out.
So I unbolted my bell housing and starter, and began the tedious process of lowering the transmission. I had a few difficulties getting it off of the engine, but with a little elbow grease and help from a friend, I got my transmission out of the car, but I did manage to snap off my speed sensor. Oh well, it was broken anyways.
The inside of my bell housing looked like it was coated in a layer of dirt. I used brake cleaner to get it all nice and clean.
Upon examination of my components, I found that my fork and picot ball were worn, and I ordered some new ones which cost about $48. This left me with about $70 in my budget. My throwout bearing was toast.
I removed the clutch pressure plate and found the cause of my clutch drag. A spring had broken out of it's seating and was catching on my pressure plate teeth. The disc appeared to be in good condition otherwise.
My flywheel was really smooth and had some slight discoloration, but no cracks and it was flat. I grabbed some 160 grit emery cloth and buffed it for about 30 minutes until it had a nice bare metal finish. I finished the night with cleaning it off and bolting my new clutch kit up to it.
I spent the next 3 days waiting for my release fork and pivot ball to come in the mail.
When they finally came, I was eager to get the job finished! I installed my new fork, pivot ball, and throwout bearing.
Reattaching my transmission was a task in itself. It took a lot of wiggling and wrestling to get that thing lined up. I bolted it back up, and got replacement bolts for the ones I found were missing (1 starter bolt, 1 slave cylinder bolt, and 2 dear mounting bolts).
After putting my mounts back on, I drained the fluids and refilled them with redline mt-90, which used the remainder of my budget.
I put my axles back in, bolted up my lower control arms, and cross member, and then put the car back on its feet.
Now that I was working from above the car, reconnecting all of the components I removed in the beginning felt like an easy job compared to what I had gone through with removing and reattaching the transmission. After clipping all my electrical harnesses back up, I lifted the car back up and began the bleeding process.
This was a little frustrating because my dad isn't good at following directions, and kept pumping the pedal when I told him not to. My pedal felt really soft, which bugged me because I was used to a fairly stiff pedal. I test drove the car and noticed that my temperature gauge wasn't working. My engine got hot as hell! So I figured out where the sensor connected, and all was well!
My car shifts real smooth now with the fresh clutch and fluid, and I am currently breaking the new clutch in by driving easy.not shifting over 3k rpms, not rev matching on downshifts, and avoiding any slipping of the clutch (best I can, my driveway is extremely steep and requires me to feather for a few seconds to get up).
So that's my story, a broke kid with no car mechanic experience, replacing a clutch in his garage with some hand tools. If I can do it, anyone can, as long as they are determined.
Thank you for reading!
I'll post what few pictures I have once I have the privilege.
it is making a chirp noise when I engage in gear... It also makes a lot of noise when in neutral and goes away when I push the clutch. I'm hoping that I can simply adjust my engagement point closer to the floor (it is about halfway up right now) and grease the facing that meets the pressure plate teeth through the fork hole. I will be extremely upset if I need to take it all apart again to put in a new bearing. I will keep you guys updated. Any info you can give me about why this is happening or how I can fix it would be great! The clutch is still working fine, it holds well and shifts smooth, but the noise is scaring me a bit.
