Clutch Replacement
 

Well, I printed out the pages from the m.net clutch section in the "garage" there. It seems pretty straight forward to do, although some things are going to be a slight bitch.

I started by getting the thing WAY off the ground... probably about 20" now with some tall jackstands...

1. Spent about an hour cleaning under there... half a bottle of Simple Green and now I can see what I'm doing.
2. Removed DP and cat (to be reinstalled w/test pipe). Stock exhaust cars will have an exhast bracket that also uses two of the bolts on the left side of the tranny.
3. Removed reverse/neutral sensor wires just in front of shifter on top of tranny, accessible from underneath.(plastic clippies)
4. Removed speedo cable. (plastic ring thing, only hand tight)
5. Removed two bolts holding clutch hyd assembly and zip-tied it out of the way.
6. Removed three bolts on PPF that attach to the tranny. Tranny at this point settles about three of four inches and is simply resting on the PPF. I have discovered the I cannot slide the PPF to the side to remove the tranny without supporting the tranny in some other fashion... otherwise the entire engine would rock back as the only other attachment point for the entire trans/motor assembly is the 2 motor mounts.
7. Removed center console, top shift boot cover, lower shift boot cover, shifter. Both of the shift boots are shot. Ordered replacements from Rosenthal along with a replacement water outlet plug, CAS o-ring, front/rear tranny seals, and a rear main seal.
8. Soaked all tranny bolts in Liquid Wrench for overnight tenderizing.
9. Forgot to ad, removed DRIVESHAFT. 4 bolts hold it to the differential. I used the emergency brake to keep the thing from rotating to get them off. Breaker bar necessary, couldn't do it with just the 1/2ratchet. Once the bolts are out, the DS will simply drop out. You can actually push it forward an inch or two to help clear the PPF, then it simply pulls straight on back... very light.

Done for tonite. Tomorrow I'll use both my jacks to support the tranny and start removing the bolts. As discovered by reading the excellent writeups at m.net, the top passenger side bolt is the tricky one. It incorporates part of a bracket for the clutch hydraulics and the main wiring harness to the back of the car. All 10 other bolts should be no problem.

Things to think about before starting this: You've gotta have some good tools. A full set of metric 3/8 and 1/2 sockets/drives/extensions/swivels/adapters. You've gotta have a breaker bar. I weigh 250lbs and it was everything I had to get the PPF bolts off with my 18" 1/2drive breaker bar... I'm going to try and do it without my air tools, but won't hesitate to break out my 2' cheater bar.
We'll see how creative I get tomorrow with my 2 floor jacks and how to lower the whole thing uniformly once unbolted. Should be fun!

#1/2: Both shifter boots, big one is on top, small one is still attached to shifter, obviously destroyed.

#3: PPF bolt location and speedo cable

#4: Shows all 3 PPF bolts and the two bolts that hold the clutch hyd assy to the tranny

#5: Shows the clutch hyd assy zip-tied out of the way.

#1: Left side bolts. Don't think the top one is accessible through the top... must double check tomorrow... but should be no issue from underneath.

#2: Right side bolts... again, top one is the bitch with the incorporated bracket for the hard hyd-line. One of the clips for the wiring harness is also in the way up there. I think it's also accessible from the top with a breaker bar that will angle back on itself a little... might be easier. Lower bolts are a piece of cake.

More pics:

#1: Spline where driveshaft goes into the tranny.
#2: Driveshaft on workbench.

Turbo is also off. I noticed that my DIY oil drain flange gasket was leaking... just ordered one through ATP. That little LG phone sucks bad too, don't get one.

nice writeup. I wonder how much of this I could recreate from memory having done it so many times. ;)

You know what I've found to be most useful to get those tranny case bolts out? Harbor Freight (or some reputable brand) wobble extensions. You just link them shortest to longest with the 17mm on the end and go to town. It's enough to get the wrench below the car where you can wail on it. Only the 1/4" ones seem to be too weak to survive but the 3/8" ones are seemingly tough enough.

LINKAGE: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=31203

Matt

wheres your throwout arm boot? :)

Just something i noticed. Saw much of that stuff yesterday right before i caught you on flashchat. except I was fixing an annoying exhaust rattle on my 97. That same car might be seeing a new clutch before too long as well.

:werd: :vash:

are you guys dropping the exhaust when you are doing this? Just wondering. I had the engine pulled out when I did my clutch job.

The two times I've done it I leave the exhaust in but disconnect the midpipe from the cat. Get just enough room to drop the tranny out. This was before the turbo, and as of right now I'm still using the stock midpipe. With a 2.5" DP right to the cat you might have issues.

Pre-turbo, I think I disconnected mid-pipe back, but post-turbo, I've taken the whole exhaust off.

It all depends on how the downpipe and attaching pipes are connected. I just did a trans swap with a rb header and it was a bitch- but I got it in. Just required some serious contortion work with the trans. Once you figure out it works, you remember just how you need to go about getting it back in. I'm curious to see if I can drop mine with the b2000 bellhousing and a 3" downpipe. I cut all those large cast bosses off the bellhousing that weren't being used- and that's what usually catches on the subframe. - rob

luckily i can just deattach the lower half of my DP. I'll be ripping the tranny off sometime early spring to remove my lightened flywheel and upgrade my pp.

Progress tonite!
 

To answer questions: I couldn't have done it with my Begi DP in the way. Throwout arm boot is on the workbench.

1. Started tonite by configuring a rope as pictured below, with a simple rope pulley so I can control the rear height as I lower the front with the jack.
2. Removed two rear bolts from the PPF. Tried to push PPF over to the side but the damn wiring harness prevented a good deal of lateral motion, so I unclipped all the little clippy things and draped the harness over the top... conveniently, the PPF then was held up in the air by the harness. THE PPF ONLY WEIGHS ABOUT 10lbs... VERY LIGHT!
3. Made a small tranny holder out of a 2x4 scrap.... WORKED GREAT!!!
4. Started removing bolts. Thank you Liquid Wrench. All the bolts came out without much fuss... yes, I had to pull hard on some, but not extreme. I cracked them a all a little at first until they were all loose, then started fully removing. I used my 18" 1/2drive breaker bar with a couple extensions and a swivel to get at the top bolts, but again, nothing too radical.
5. Prior to removing the last bolt (top left), I took up the slack and some pressure on the rope, and I positioned the jack and took up a little slack with it... then took the last bolt out.
6. I jiggled ever so slightly and the tranny came free. Then I proceeded to back it out about 5 inches. Then back/lower/back/lower/back/lower... etc... until it was far enough back that it would clear everything.
7. I alternated lowering the front and rear being careful to always keep the rear and inch or two above the front. IT WILL LEAK OIL OUT THE REAR OF THE TRANNY IF YOU LOWER THE REAR TOO MUCH!
8. Once it was fully down, I lifted the front off the jack, lowered the rear fully, and then dragged it out.

Hints:
1. The pics will show a few SNAFU's. There are two wiring bendable retainers on top of the tranny that I didn't know about. After I'd lowered it about 4 inches, I noticed I was hung up. A short search revealed I hadn't undone those bendables.
2. Pull the clutch hydraulic assemble as far out of the way as possible... it will get hung up as you start lowering if it doesn't completely clear.
3. Do not let the PPF fall to the floor. I suspended mine with the wiring harness but had first tried to hold it up with a spare jackstand.
4. Don't be in a hurry.
5. Have a quick way to tie off the rope underneath the car. Lucky mine would reach a jackstand or I would have been screwed when I noticed I was hung up
6. FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, ASK A FRIEND TO HELP YOU! I did it solo, but won't ever again.

#1: Rope pulley to control height of rear from below car WORKED GREAT!
#2: Jack cradle. Without this, I'm pretty sure the tranny would have just rolled over on its side. I used this block of wood to jack the car up with, so the cup on the jack left fairly deep indentions on the bottom of the block to help hold it on.
#3: Ready to lower
#4: Not so fast, forgot this little guy
#5: And these little guys.

#1: Halfway out, you can see the wiring harness holding the PPF up.
#2: Out on the ground, prior to lowering the rear fully. Once the jack was all the way down, I just went in from the front and moved it off the jack.
#3: Before
#4: After (you all know my thing about cleaning)
#5: The business end!

See you tomorrow.

this thread is making me want to have someone else do it...Where did you get you spec from man?

It was $310 shipped for the 1.6 StageII.
http://www.jdsperformance.com/spec.a...iata&fcmd=cars

I noticed simple green and Toyo t1s tires?

fuck cleaning the tranny, who sees it but you? I have adopted the opinion that the grease you cleaned off is a protective coating :)

^I'm with stupid^

Its really not all that hard.