How tough to replace clutch on 92 6-speed?

[czissman]

Hello,

1992 6-speed LT1 needs clutch. Any sense of how tough a job this is? Any gotchas to watch out for, tips, tricks, do's, don'ts? Any special tools required? Approximate time required for the job?

Thanks!

Chuck

 

[EricVonHa]

It's not for novices, but....

You can do it on jackstands if you have to. Taking it apart is fairly straightforward. Remove the exhaust system, slave cylinder actuator, driveshaft (be ready for trans fluid out of the tail shaft), lower bell housing cover. You've also gotta remove the bolts for the c-beam that connects the rear of the trans to the diff case. Slide that outta the way and you're ready to start on the trans and bell housing bolts.

Dropping the trans is pretty easy. Getting it back up there is another story. I rigged up a small ratcheting strap to my floor jack to get the trans up and into the car again. Keeping the clutch disc completely centered is critical. If the shaft of the trans doesn't go in easily upon the first few tries, you should re-center the disc or install the slave cylinder so someone can push on the pedal a little to give the disc a little play.

Buy the beam reinforcements from the ZF-Doc too. They are pricey, but these gizmos make the re-installation of the c-beam bolts a snap. Use the proper trans fluid upon fill-up. A trick with this is to take a 4 foot section of tubing and route it down to the trans from just in front of the passenger side windshield wiper. Gravity will allow the oil to flow straight down into the trans. This is about the only way to do this unless you have some type of pump.

Good luck with it. Could be done less than 6 hours if you're jamming. If the car has never been apart before or this is the first time you're trying it? Give yourself two days. If you want some help, send me a plane ticket!

 

[Topless]

i have been wonder about this very thing. Thanks.
I have 73K on mine, and I am thinking it is the original clutch. I don't know how much longer it will go.

czissman...how many miles on your clutch?

 

[czissman]

Eric,

Thanks for the feedback! It's very reassuring. I was concerned that there would be all sorts of gotchas. Glad to hear it'll be a pretty straight-forward process.

Topless,

I have about 65l on my car now. I let a woman drive it who doesn't do stick-shifts so well *ugghh*, and there she went!

 

[Topless]

Thanks..I am trying to get a feel for how much longer it might hold out.

 

[chaos on wheels]

What Eric said!

I replaced mine on jackstands. My friend helped me out. The ZF is a big trans, I can't imangine trying to remove it alone. All in all, the job went pretty smoothly and quicker than I thought. If I had the clutch, we could have had in done in a weekend.

Stabbing the input shaft into the clutch wasn't easy. I put it in gear and moved the output shaft to get the input splines to line up. Getting the C-beam in and out was also a pain. Not much room in there.

Oh yeah, I had problems getting the clutch fork off the throwout bearing. I ended up loosening the clutch pivot ball and the fork slipped right off. The pivot ball is threaded into the bellhousing and takes a 12mm (I think) hex. You screw it clockwise (IN) to loosen. The 12mm hex is covered by a round piece with a smaller (6mm??) hex.

I hope this helps.

-Jason.

ps - you are not supposed to resurface the dual-mass flywheel. Mine was in ok condition so I sanded off the glaze and put it back in *crosses fingers* so far so good.

 

[bogus]

the biggest and most important factor:

FLYWHEEL.

It cannot get resurfaced. It is a one time use item only.

In a pinch, you can scuff it... but that is desperation.

The downside - they ain't cheep... $700.00 or so.

shop around. you might get lucky.

 

[Topless]

Any experience with an aluminium flywheel?