How mechanically inclined are you? If you have the tools and the time I would suggest doing it yourself. Its really not that bad of a job, but then again, I have done alot of mechanic work, so if you don't have experience it may be tough. Good luck finding a cheaper place to do it, that does seem high to me but I have never paid to have it done so maybe that is the norm??? Erik D. '94 White Lightning
I'm sure I would eventually figure it out, but I'm not ready to drop a tranny yet. It's my only car, so there's no room for error or downtime.
I'm searching other forums and i'm seeing around the $400 range. But, that's not knowing the details of the job.
I have old friends from back home that would do side work for plumbing and electrical at a discount. I wish I knew someone that would teach me a clutch install.
It's a pretty labour intensive job. I helped my sponsor with the work. I wouldn't want to try that without a hoist and tranny stand but I'm sure there are die-hards that have done that in their driveway LOL!!!
I would think that $300 (can) would be a fair price for the labour alone. It took over 3 hours to do the clutch & seal, the adjustable cable, new driveshaft & loop (mine was too narrow for the aluminium shaft), oil change, re-surface the flywheel & transmission shaft. There's a lot of little crap you can do once you have it torn apart.
Three hours!!! Wow! I guess I am just used to doing it. One day I(all by my lonesome) pulled my tranny out(in the driveway), rebuilt it(new bearings and shims, plus a new cluster gear and 3rd), changed clutch, and put it all back together. I was done at the same time lunch was :). It took about 4 hours to do it all! Of course, I did have to do it 4 times in 6 months, so I knew every shortcut there was. Erik D. '94 white lightning
I paid about $630 to have mine done. When mine was done the shop put in the exact parts you describe (Luk clutch kit), rear main seal and resurfacing the flywheel. I thought it was a fair price.
I blew up my transmission shortly after I had the work done... So I ended up replacing the transmission myself. It took me a day to do, I had never attempted work that 'hard core' on my car before. I did it in the driveway with jackstands.
I was quoted around 800 - 900 with parts included, to replace it on my cobra. I'm waiting for now, since I can't afford that. I done it on my 85 GT before, and it took 2 days, one day to take it down, and that messing around, drinking beer and stuff. Another day to put it back up after having the flywheel resurfaced. Did it in the driveway, with ramps, just put the car up on 4 ramps. Paid like 130 for the kit on the 85, but was quoted 300 on the cobra kit. I'm waiting till summer to do it, when it's not raining.
That price is not really out of line for most quality shops, although you should shop around and get at least one or two more estimates from other well respected shops. The most important thing you get for those dollars is a warranty. If something will go wrong, it will happen within the first couple hundred miles of the installation. Doing it yourself saves money, but doing it twice is more work than you want to do.
For comparison's sake, I spent around $150.00 for an Auto Zone clutch kit for my Eagle Talon (Mitsu) and paid the Mitsubishi dealer around $280.00 in labor for the install. That's FWD too. I'd say 640 is a tad steep but that may depend on where in the country you are. I'm in Missouri.
damn, a real pro. How did you go about moving the trans in and out ? Isn't that thing kind of heavy to lift it by yourself ? How about the support for the engine ? I read somewhere you need to support the engine when the tranny comes out.
If you do it yourself don't forget to buy the alignment tool.
Which brings back memories of a 340 Duster I had as a younger man. I had to put in a new clutch because of constantly burning rubber and fried the clutch, no big deal done many clutch R&Rs. Well I got the tranny out and swapped out the clutch pak, using the alignment tool, then took a lunch break before manhandling the tranny with my hands and knees into place, well I go out there and try and try a couple hours but it just won't slide in, a light goes off in my head and I ask my kid brother "did you step on the clutch while I was in having lunch" brother "yes". Kid brothers you gotta love em.;-)
The T5 is not very heavy, but I still used a jack to get it out, to put it back in I used brute force :). As far as the engine, I used a jack and a block of wood and put it under the oil pan. I Don't think the engine support is completely necessary though unless its out for a long period of time. Erik D. '94 white lightning
Marc--I live in the Seal Beach area and work in Long Beach so I may be a good reference point.
I am the original owner of a 90 LX 5.0. A couple of months ago I had been experiencing a cooling problem on my 7 mile commute where the needle would go up to 3/4's before falling back to the normal of slightly less than half. Then on a Wed, when I had an important conference call, the needle went to the limit. So I headed to Worthington Ford which was less than a 1/2 mile away. I thought it must be a thermostat plus they have a shuttle to the office. Wrong! Not just a thermostat, but a clogged radiator and cooling system. Had to rent a car Thursday and Friday but they gave me a loaner because they couldn't fix it by the weekend. Then on Monday, because I had agreed on complete new hoses and a power flush, we found out that the flush has disturbed sediment in the heater interchange and was leaking. (Must have been true because the heater works substantially better). The original clutch had been chattering and making iratic noises and I knew it would have to be replaced soon. So as long as I had a courtesy car I asked how much to replace the clutch and rear main seal. $800. I then checked with my shop who is doing work on my resto project, a 1967 Dodge Coronet R/T (440-375hp). Their quote was $900.
Sorry guys, at 36 years old the R/T is still quicker than the LX. But then again, a lot of new cars are faster than either of mine. Still there's nothing like a pushrod V-8's sound whether the LX or R/T. That rumble and sound is so much better than high reving rice rockets!
Powershifting into 2nd gear... Nothing good can come of powershifting on a weak T-5! I still havent taken it apart yet but taking the bearing retainer off I can see the other end of the input shaft is shattered. One day I'll get it apart and rebuild it. In the mean time I installed a T5z.
The Z isn't much stronger than a regular T5. Sure, its a little stronger, but not much. I think my Z lasted about 5000 miles where the regular T5 only lasted me about 3500. In the end, I got rid of the car because I couldn't afford a tremec. I guess the 331 made more torque than it could handle(the way i drive it anyway!) Erik D. '94 white lightning
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