sdpatt
Sr. SHO Engr.
I spent 2 hours after work on Thursday and 4 hours after work today taking things apart to replace the clutch parts and a few transaxle items. I have removed everything down through the flywheel. I will be replacing most of the clutch parts, the transaxle's blocking rings, input shaft bearing, the axle seals, shift shaft seal and input shaft seal and the engine's rear main oil seal.
I found pretty much what I expected in the clutch; the throwout bearing and pressure plate fingers had worn themselves out. I can see how the worn fingers had destroyed the now missing throwout bearing race on the finger side. The ball bearings were all still in place. It's not the throwout bearing that is wearing out, it is the pressure plate fingers. The worn and shortened fingers are rubbing against the bearing race rather than the wear surface that is provided for contact with the fingers. You will notice that the thick inner metal ring of the throwout bearing is still intact.
I also found a few things that made me just a bit angry. The most common was the excessively torqued bolting from the last clutch job by a transmission shop. Some of these bolts must have been tightened with a jumbo air wrench. Even my ample arms and an 18" torque wrench had trouble breaking a few loose. A couple of bolts that secure the plate over the transaxle just rounded in the socket rather than break loose. On the other hand, the pressure plate bolts came out with very little effort. Aren't these supposed to be Loctited? The throwout bearing quill was also not attached - it was sliding with the bearing. It may have been glued down at one time, but it sure isn't now.
You can also see from the comparison of the old and new discs that I easily had more then half of the original thickness still remaining after 81,000 miles. The flywheel and pressure plate surfaces were quite smooth with no scoring. I apparently was not very abusive with slipping the clutch. (I really didn't think I was).
The SHO NUT procedure and video were very helpful. I have made some of my own observations and added a couple of new items to the methods for the parts removals. It is just amazing to me how "easy" it is to remove major components of a car. The engine also looks quite odd hanging in the engine bay.
See the latest pictures in the Clutch & Transaxle album by clicking here and entering the password, 269k.
<small>[ February 28, 2003, 11:18 PM: Message edited by: sdpatt ]</small>
I found pretty much what I expected in the clutch; the throwout bearing and pressure plate fingers had worn themselves out. I can see how the worn fingers had destroyed the now missing throwout bearing race on the finger side. The ball bearings were all still in place. It's not the throwout bearing that is wearing out, it is the pressure plate fingers. The worn and shortened fingers are rubbing against the bearing race rather than the wear surface that is provided for contact with the fingers. You will notice that the thick inner metal ring of the throwout bearing is still intact.
I also found a few things that made me just a bit angry. The most common was the excessively torqued bolting from the last clutch job by a transmission shop. Some of these bolts must have been tightened with a jumbo air wrench. Even my ample arms and an 18" torque wrench had trouble breaking a few loose. A couple of bolts that secure the plate over the transaxle just rounded in the socket rather than break loose. On the other hand, the pressure plate bolts came out with very little effort. Aren't these supposed to be Loctited? The throwout bearing quill was also not attached - it was sliding with the bearing. It may have been glued down at one time, but it sure isn't now.
You can also see from the comparison of the old and new discs that I easily had more then half of the original thickness still remaining after 81,000 miles. The flywheel and pressure plate surfaces were quite smooth with no scoring. I apparently was not very abusive with slipping the clutch. (I really didn't think I was).
The SHO NUT procedure and video were very helpful. I have made some of my own observations and added a couple of new items to the methods for the parts removals. It is just amazing to me how "easy" it is to remove major components of a car. The engine also looks quite odd hanging in the engine bay.
See the latest pictures in the Clutch & Transaxle album by clicking here and entering the password, 269k.
<small>[ February 28, 2003, 11:18 PM: Message edited by: sdpatt ]</small>
