How hard is it to replace a clutch in a 5-speed manual transmission?

I had a Fiat Spyder but it didn't last long enough for me to work on it. After a few heated discussions with the car salesman we worked out a deal where I got a Mustang. I think the promise to park the damn Fiat in his office got his attention.

I did do a rebuild on an Alfa Romeo Giulietta though. Wet sleeve engine? Who does that anymore? I also have a couple of scars from when a friend rolled his in which I was a passenger. They do not hold up well going

I never had an Italian bike. Desmodromic valves are too weird even for me.

Yeah, that's a pretty good video. It just holds the clutch plate in place and then you pull it out when the pressure plate is snugged down. The video also illustrates what I meant about working around tightening the pressure plate screws gradually and in a pattern around the pressure plate. You'll also want to do the gradual thing when removing it or it will start to c*ck and make removing the screws difficult. Once you've backed them out enough to release the spring pressure all around then you remove them one by one.

It's one of those things you don't necessarily think about that screws up someone without experience in the job. It's like the whole angle discussion. They might show sliding the transmission back in place like a stick of butter in a hot frying pan but after you've laid on your back sweating and cursing trying to rattle a heavy chunk of metal just right to get it started in the splines you realize the importance of being able to line everything up nicely.

Yup. Been there, done that, but without the dog... There seems to be audio so that guy is very self controlled. Generally you last there screaming "F**k! F**k!" like some New Age mantra. Then when your well meaning, nice old lady neighbor wanders over to ask if you're all right you sort of have to come up with a polite reassurance through gritted teeth hoping she'll go back to her soap opera.

It's really fun when the transmission is heavy enough to challenge your bench press capabilities and you realize you've got one more rep left before it's going to come down on you.

Yeah, it most definitely is a gray area for terminology. I've got to admit in my mental processes screws start turning into bolts at around 3/8"

That second link had me guessing. I don't refer to Chicago screws as 'sex bolts' :)

Now you're getting into wood screws versus machine screws... That adds a whole new layer of ambiguity. I won't even go into the wondrous world of straight, Philips, Robertson, Torx, and whatever Apple dreamed up this month to make it almost impossible to take their stuff apart.

I don't know what we did before videos and digital photography. The last Yaris I had came without a radio. Putting a radio in these days means starting down around the console with a plastic putty knife popping of various trim pieces until you work your way up to the speedometer assembly. Thanks the Gods for the forum's step by step photos.

Even for some projects where I'd draw a sketch to make sure I'd get everything back in the same place I can now just take a picture.

I don't recall using anything but a broomstick and my eyeballs last time I did a clutch. Of course that was a '66 F-100 3-speed. I bought a new flywheel - it was only 50 bucks. Not saying that's the same as a 4Runner, and the OP should go with the flow. I did ruin a pressure plate on my VW, and had to do the job twice. Don't support your trans - engine in the case of the VW - in sand.

I haven't had to resurface a flywheel - thank God. Mostly, I half-heartedly sanded the surface to clean it off a little. Removing the flywheel sounds like a real drag.

Videos and instructions are nice but the OP should not attempt this job without an experienced buddy helping him. Actually, he should not attempt this job t all because it sounds like his clutch is not slipping.

The concept is good, the execution sucks.

Amen to that.

Any mechanic who doesn't swear like a trooper hasn't been there, done that!

A hex bolt that screws into a threaded hole is a *set screw*. If it has a recessed hex, then it's a cap screw. But it does depend on which part of the world you're in too.

I'll call it a bolt and I'm quite happy with that.

It is remarkably easy to do on the BMW 2002.... you can have one person lifting it on a couple 2X4s while another person rocks it back and forth until it slides right in. The five-speed Getrag on the E28 isn't that much worse. You can drop the damn transmission in the driveway without a lift and have it back in the same afternoon. Part of this is because the manual is very good, part is because the transmission is light, and part of it is because you can actually see the thing well enough to see that it's lined up or not.

On the other hand, you couldn't pay me enough to do a Ford Econoline again.

--scott

this all wrong?

d of it because I haven't had a standard transmission in over 20 years. I d on't expect to change a clutch ever again but I suppose stranger things hav e happened. :)

Congrats on changing a clutch in well under an hour. I don't anticipate get ting another manual unless there's a 124 Fiat Sport Coupe offered to me. As far as that alignment tool goes, you're absolutely right about that. Chanc es are slim that any universal tool is going to work on the car you want it to. As I recall, I had to use the old standby - a broom handle on my Datsu n 510. :)

I love the little toolkits you can now buy very cheaply for that sort of work. This is the one I bought recently;

Yep, and the phone is perfect for that task. What's more it's the one thing you tend to carry all the time.

Flywheels are easy. Except when they are on a taper. Then you need some largish tools, including a largish torque wrench, 3/4 drive. As well as being fastidiously clean in your work.

Not slipping, maybe. That hasn't, as far as I can tell, been properly assessed yet.

What it appears to be doing is dragging. I.e. not releasing fully.