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I should open by saying that I’m not here to ask anyone how to replace my clutch. Instead, I’m here to seek the advice of those who’ve replaced the clutch on 92-95 Honda, with regards to the kinds of hidden pitfalls that await me for this task.
I think that with the tech manual and videos on Youtube, plus sites like this, I’m capable of managing the task independently. So far, that’s how I’ve managed all of my automotive projects. However, if experience has taught me anything, it’s that whenever it comes to working on cars, there’s always some unexpected hitch that neither the manual or the guy making the video ever seems to mention.
I’m hoping to receive that sort of information from this forum. Information like that gives me time to anticipate & prepare for the task at hand. I’m hoping that more members are willing to contribute their experiences with me.
So with everything said, what are the most common issues to replacing a clutch.?
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Ensure you do it right the first time…
I.E. Replace or re-surface the Flywheel….
Replace pressure plate and clutch…
Ensure clutch is lined up correctly (a plastic tool should come with the kit that helps on this)
Replace pilot bearing (grease technique)..
Torque everything inside to spec…(flywheel, pressure plate)
Replace throwout bearing and retainer clip….
PUT EVERYTHING BACK TOGETHER PROPERLY….
In the age of digital photos, take many photos….
Go Slowly if this is your first…
Take more photos…
Look at them when putting things back together…
Chances are the transaxle will not mate properly the first time you line it up…
Jiggle, shift, jiggle, shift and jiggle and shift till everything pops in and lines up….
If the trans case does not line up and/or go into position without a space between the engine, keep trying to line everything up…
DO NOT USE TRANS to engine bolts to PULL the trans to the engine…. SOMETHING IS WRONG…. The transaxle and engine should be flush with each other when torquing the engine to trans bolts to spec…
Overall it is an easy job, but the first time without anyone over your shoulder leaves room for errors…..
Good luck…
-Karl
Thanks for the quick response.
Yeah, I’ve got to say that this will be my first clutch replacement, which makes wonder how long this project should take.
I will have a little time in April to get started before my schedule get’s crazy again (i.e. College Student). So what are some preparatory things that I can do to get started? For example, would there be any problems with removing the transmission while letting it sit until May, or would I risk having the internals rust out and get seized?
If this is your first, and you are doing it by yourself give yourself a whole weekend… It should be do-able in a day (and much less for an experienced person) but slow and steady win the race…… Smooth is fast… 🙂
There is no worry about the trans if you pull it now and wait until May…. (from a mechanical viewpoint)
The only thing I caution about removing the transmission early is to take good notes and mark all parts and put in bags as necessary… Also mark where length of bolts go… Draw a template…
My rule of thumb is if I take something apart and it is going to be over 48 hours till I put it back together, I get a notebook and ziplock bags….. Your memory may be great, or maybe you have supermemory, but I have found that I cannot remember that well after 48 hours….
FOR example look at this pic, in the upper left you will see a card board piece that I have made a rough template and inserted the bolts (they can be of different length) so I am not confused when I put them back in…
[quote=”ToyotaKarl” post=128468]Ensure you do it right the first time…
I.E. Replace or re-surface the Flywheel….
Replace pressure plate and clutch…
Ensure clutch is lined up correctly (a plastic tool should come with the kit that helps on this)
Replace pilot bearing (grease technique)..
Torque everything inside to spec…(flywheel, pressure plate)
Replace throwout bearing and retainer clip….
PUT EVERYTHING BACK TOGETHER PROPERLY….
In the age of digital photos, take many photos….
Go Slowly if this is your first…
Take more photos…
Look at them when putting things back together…
Chances are the transaxle will not mate properly the first time you line it up…
Jiggle, shift, jiggle, shift and jiggle and shift till everything pops in and lines up….
If the trans case does not line up and/or go into position without a space between the engine, keep trying to line everything up…
DO NOT USE TRANS to engine bolts to PULL the trans to the engine…. SOMETHING IS WRONG…. The transaxle and engine should be flush with each other when torquing the engine to trans bolts to spec…
Overall it is an easy job, but the first time without anyone over your shoulder leaves room for errors…..
Good luck…
-Karl[/quote]
Hello Karl:
I was able to get started a month early and up to this point, I’ve gotten as far removing the transmission, replacing the flywheel, pressure plate and clutch disk, along with test fitting everything to the input shaft and torquing everything down to specs. For everyone’s piece of mind, I used the alignment tool that came with the clutch kit and made certain that the part of the clutch disk that reads, “Transmission side” is facing the transmission.
The problem now is that although the dowel pins are lined up, I can’t seem to get the transmission to mate with the engine. In fact, I keep ending with a half inch gap. Is this to be expected? Should I attempt to rock & shake the transmission back into place, or is it supposed to slide in easily?
Also, what I failed to mentioned earlier was that the new flywheel came with a pilot bearing already installed. I’m now starting to think that the pilot bearing that came installed from Exedy might be the wrong size. Could that be possible?
In closing, your input would be greatly appreciated.
It can be a bit of a trick to get the pilot bearing end to go in. Do you have a bit of grease on the trans input shaft? How about on the dowels? Makes life much easier. Did you replace the rear main seal while you had it apart? I always do as the work involved to go back in for it later just isn’t worth it.
I’ve never gotten a pilot bearing that was the wrong size before. Not saying its impossible, but never happened to me or anyone I know. Put your finger around the edge of it. Feel for any sort of slight burr that could be there. The edge should have a slight chamfer to allow easier install but if the guy installing it got a little hammer happy it could leave a lip or burr of a few .001’s that would make getting it piloted in a real pain.
I decided I was perhaps being too cautious & conservative and got behind the passenger side portion of the transmission and wrestled the thing forward. I rocked, shook and shoved the transmission until I heard the “tink” of metal joining together & that’s when I measured the gap with my digital calipers.
Upon the first measurement, the gap measured out at 0.32 inches between the top of the engine & transmission and toward the dowel pin at the front of the engine, the gap measured out at 0.25 inches.
I then rocked, shoved and shook the transmission some more and measured the gap for a second time. At this point, the gap between the transmission & the top of the engine measured out at 0.14 inches. Towards the dowel pin in front, the gap now measures out at 0.11 inches. I clearly reduced the amount of space.
The last thing I’d notice was that whenever I put pressure on the rear portion of the transmission, the gap towards the rear dowel pin closes off completely.
In short, would you say that it’s safe to use the transmission mounting bolts to close the gap the rest of the way?
Throw bolts into it. You are right up close to it now. Just draw it up evenly until you are dead flush. The reason a warning about not pulling it in with bolts was given is that some people will have it an inch or more out and just try to suck it in with long bolts. But that’s usually when they didn’t have anything lined up properly and they end up doing major damage. When you know its piloted through the clutch disc and pilot bearing you are good to go.
Sometimes you do need to throw a little muscle into it to get that last little bit of distance covered, it just needs to be done with some restraint to be sure it isn’t going to break anything.
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