1st Gen Clutch Replacement Tips & Tricks

[Brock94]

typically there is stuff called loctite i think. It's red. either way don't use the old stuff, clean them off and put some new stuff on.

I don't think Red Loctite is right-- that's the stuff that you use to permanently attach something (removable only with heat). I was thinking maybe blue loctite, but that's definately not what's on there. So what have others used?

 

[Creager]

I never use blue locktite on anything, only red.

there is orange, and green too...

i dont trust any of them other then red.

But i am in an area of the country where rust is practically non-existant. But it doesnt really matter, it comes off with just a little yerk of the wrench

 

[Nick26]

The only tube of loctite i have is a red one that came with my body lift and so that must have been what i used.

How do you know blue loctite is definitely not whats on there? it gets harder and rubbery after its dried, kinda like RTV sealant.

 

[Brock94]

Well, I'm taking baby steps on this project because my wife seems to think it's more important to finish painting our newly-finished basement. Women have the strangest priorities!

So... the consensus seems to be Red loctite. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate your comments and you have all helped me many, many times in the past, but the FSM doesn't say to use anything at all, I have blue loctite and have always had good results with it, so I'm going with that. I've cleaned all the black hardened stuff off of the bolts with a wire brush and they're ready to go.

Pilot Bearing. To replace the pilot bearing, I supported the flywheel off the floor with a couple of wood blocks, drove the old bearing out with a hammer and punch (alternating sides to drive it out evenly) and carefully tapped the new bearing in with a hammer and then with an appropriate-diameter socket to set it in its proper place. The seal on the bearing goes toward the transmission in case you forgot to look.

Rear Main Engine Seal. I also replaced the rear main engine seal. This seal is easily accessible if you take the flywheel off and it can be had for $10-$25 depending on quality, so I highly recommend replacing it when doing this job whether it is leaking or not. The procedure I followed is:

1) Drill two small holes in the exposed surface of the seal 180 degrees from eachother, being careful to stay in the center of the seal material and not nick the crankshaft or the engine block. Also, use your left hand to counter-balance the pressure you're putting on the drill so you will not shove the drill bit deep into the engine as it breaks through the other side of the seal.

2) Insert a screw into each hole. I used deck screws because that's what I had on hand-- you'll want something long enough to follow step 3. I threaded them in enough to catch well, but not too much.

3) clamp vise-grips on one of the screws. Insert a prybar between the vise grips and the block and pry the seal out a little bit, then move the grips to the other screw and do the same thing. Work carefully from one side to the other until the seal comes completely free.

4) Insert new seal and drive into position being careful to keep it straight. I used one of the plastic attachments from a cheap seal driver kit I bought for $5 from Harborfreight. You could use an appropriately sized PVC clean-out cap or PVC pipe if you wanted.

Well, that's as far as I got. More later and hopefully I can get my act together and post some pictures (I have been taking them).

 

[Brock94]

I started assembly last night.

Flywheel. Clean up the bolts and put them within reach under the truck, clean up the flywheel with brake cleaner. In my case, the machine shop left a ton of debris on the thing. I cleaned it before changing the pilot bearing, but sprayed WD-40 on it to prevent rust b/c I thought it may have to sit a few days. Had to clean that off with brake cleaner.

With the flywheel under the truck, grab one of those bolts and insert it in a hole on the flywheel as you lift it into position-- get that one bolt threaded in enough to safely hold the flywheel as you insert the other bolts finger tight. Use the Loctite of your choice, or not.

Tightening the bolts-- The flywheel bolts are tightened in a criss-cross pattern in two steps according to the manual, but I did three-- 10 ft lbs, 30 ft lbs and finally 55 ft lbs.

I needed to wedge a prybar between the ring-gear and the floor to hold the flywheel in position as I torqued down the bolts.

Slave Cylinder and Throw-out Bearing. Some people just replace the bearing, but my clutch kit came with the whole unit-- very simple-- two small bolts hold it to the tranny, remove the bolts, slide the old slave cylinder off, slide the new one on and tighten the bolts.

Clutch disk and Pressure Plate. Clean the pressure plate well with brake cleaner-- it has packing grease to prevent rust which must be removed or it will contaminate the clutch disk. Put the clutch disk in the pressure plate the right way (the flywheel side is labeled). Give a last wipe with brake cleaner to the flywheel in case you got any grease on it while installing and place the pressure plate and clutch disk up against the flywheel. The flywheel has alignment dowels that will help position the pressure plate correctly and will sort of hold it in place, but keep your hand on it as you thread in the first couple of bolts. Work the bolts in evenly in a criss-cross pattern until the pressure plate is snug against the flywheel-- you'll need a ratchet for this to overcome the spring tension in the pressur plate as you tighten it down. Torque in a criss cross patter to 10 ft lbs and then to 24 ft lbs. (I left the prybar in place to hold the flywheel while doing this.) I didn't use any Loctite on these bolts because they have lock washers and didn't look like they had anything on the to begin with.

Well! Now I'm ready to put the tranny back in place! I tried for about an hour last night until about midnight when I was just too tired to keep going. So far, it has not been easy getting everything lined up so the input shaft will go in. I'll try again tonight. Please let me know if you have any tricks to do this. I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm doing it by myself. It would be very helpful to have someone to lift and push as I line things up, but I'm going to have to try solo for now.

 

[ol_ben]

Brock94 stated ---- Well, I have the flywheel back. I was surprised that it was $35 since I've read on here that it should be about $20, but I guess this part of Connecticut is probably expensive compared to other places.


Feel good. I just dropped my flywheel off to be re-surfaced - it will be $52

-Ben

 

[kabukie]

I know this is an old thread but is it necessary to drain the transmission??

 

[RangerX]

Nope.

 

[Naasau]

I found that there is a price difference between having a flywheel turned on it's own, or with a purchase. I got mine done for $18, because I bought a new clutch install kit at the same time. This same shop quoted me $45 to get it done on its own, so look out for things like that, and ask those questions.