Are you kidding me?!? (Clutch install)

[1Canuck2]

In the spirit of this forum and the help that peeps give others, I don't think anyone should be looking to make $50 off this info. If you know, then share the damn knowledge and give back to the community.

Of course, I have an auto, so its no good to me whatsoever, just giving my 2 cents

 

[prospeed]

matthew that price does not seem to bad. double that on a volvo fwd car. also will they resurface your flywheel with that price?

 

[hi-perf]

well i was offered it so i took it.

changing a clutch is the same in any car, if you know the concept of doing it you can do it to every car. not like every grease monkey mechanic had to get certified for mazdas, then for toyotas, hondas, fords etc.

its either you know it or you dont.

you have the right tools, equipment, and place or you dont.

you have the mechanical knowledge or you dont.

and the list goes on and on. sometimes its too much of a b**** to do and you maybe have to do it once or twice during your cars entire lifetime, and some people dont have the materials or time to do it. this is why we have garages.

 

[Matthew]

well i have the materials and place, its my know how that im concerned about.

prospeed - i have no idea if that includes resurfacing nor do i know what constitutes a need for resurfacing, maybe you can educate me.

 

[prospeed]

you will need a machine to do it. but you want to look at the flywheel and see if there is any blueish marks on it. plus also when you resurfice the flywheel you are making it perfectly flat. a flywheel will warp over time due to the heat it goes through.also it gets a glazed shine like brake rotors.

if you do it yourself you can bring to a machine shop and some auto parts suppliers can due it for you. price can range from 30-60 bucks.



also some car manufactures do recommend cutting the flywheel. they want you to replace it. if your car does not have that many miles it may not take much to cut it true again. not sure about mazda

i have done plenty of clutches and done it with and without cutting on the same model car and you can tell the difference.also these cars were high mileage over 140,000

think about it like brakes.

 

[Matthew]

oh ok i have like 12k on my car.

 

[prospeed]

you should be ok. just use your best judgement.

 

[Little Beavis]

Now I fully agree in sharing knowledge. I've done the clutch and flywheel and LSD install and have pictures, but I don't have time to do the write up to the level of detail and accuracy that I would want if I was putting my name on it. Given the people on here who flame and give such grief to those that help, I'm not overly motivated to do a big write up.

I'll tell you what, come watch my kid for a weekend, and I'll make the write up, that will give me some free time and it would be worth it.

I'm more than willing to help and one day I probably will do a write up, but what is the motivation (I spend my time of this forum trying to help and while 90% of the people appreciate it, others are a pain in the butt, not that I take it personally, but I'm mean, come on people.)

As for the clutch install I was quoted $400-500 so I decided to do it myself. I have notes, and pictures, just nothing "presentable" at this time. Sorry.

 

[Matthew]

damn i would watch your kid but i live over 10 hours away. how about if your motivation was some money lol

 

[Little Beavis]

Thanks for the offer, I really do want to and plan to do a how to, but man, time has been such a challenge, a new baby kills all your free time and then work has been long hours (and no sleep 'cause of the baby).

I posted on your other thread, you can keep the stock clutch for at least 10k, probably longer at 4-5 psi, I didn't have real problems with my stock unless I really pushed it and not until I was over 7 psi, but that was my car and everyone's seems different.

 

[Bigg Tim]

Beavis, isn't that what the womans for?? (watching the kid) Nah J/K!!!

I had a friend help me with mine in his shop and it was a pain in the ass. On my car, we couldn't get the axels out of the hubs so we had to take them out of the trans. Make sure you have the right puller/press thing when you do it, just in case you can't get them out of the hubs. We tried an air chissel and a puller, but it didn't work. Doing it on jack stands would of sucked. Just be aware of this when you do it, not saying that all pro's will have this problem.(thumb) Other than that issue, it wasn't too bad.

 

[walight01]

mathew, i've replaced my tranny on my p5 myself, well i had a friend just help me hold the thing, it took about 4 hrs to get it out and about 3 to get it back in, i've never done a engine or tranny swap before and use all hand tools. once the tranny is out the clutch is so easy to get to. my friend has done it about 3 times on his integra and he said it looks alot easier on my car b/c there is so much room under there. usually anytime you buy a clutch it comes with a alignment tool. its pretty simple to change a clutch, its just a PITA to line it up perfectly. now that i've taken out my tranny i could probably get it out and back in under 3 hrs with a lift and air tools, but i've never done a clutch before. get ahold of a service manual and it should have a step by step instruction for the install.

BTW the local shop where i live charges 300 for a clutch install, but that includes the price of the clutch as well.

 

[walight01]

you don't have to take the axels out of the hubs.
if you disconect the control arm on one side, this will allow each assemby to turn without having the other one turn with it. all it take at this point is a thin crobar to get inbetween the axel and tranny,you just need to becareful and not ruin the seal. whatever you do don't pull on the hub to get the axel out or you will break it. pull only on where the axel connects into the tranny, the round green thing. it will come out pretty easy. it works the same on both sides, but remember the passanger side the axel is bolted to the frame for support. this saves alot of time b/c you don't have to mess with the hubs and all that nonsence. i did my tranny swap on jack stands, and it was worth not paying anyone to do it, and just 120 bucks in tools b/c i didn't own any.

i bought a jack $20, stands $15, 1/2 24" breaker bar $20,1/2 racket $15, 1/2 metric deep impact sockets $20,1/2 extentions $10, and a cheap 20 buck tool kit that had a screwdriver and you basic 3/8 and 1/4 sockets.

you can buy all these toools from walmart except the breaker bar, which must be got a like autozone, which is where i got all my tools.

 

[roni]

i have my mazdaspeed limited slip differential and my act clutch and my flywheel should be here in a couple of days. i would love to do the install myself. i doubt i would even need a detailed write-up, even though it would be very helpful and drastically reduce the amount of time it would take me to do it.

but without an air compressor and air tools (which i have been itching to buy for a long time) it doesn't seem like something i should attempt myself. i couldn't do it without imposing on someone i care about for use of alternate transportation during the day or two that i would dedicate to this process. i could rent a car, but that doesn't make the process cheaper.

regardless, i am probably just going to have someone else do it for me because i already got a couple very good people to agree to take this on. and there's a couple other things that need to be done as well, primarily because i'm not comfortable welding on my own car yet.

i have no idea how much i am going to be charged. it would be good to know how much other people paid for this simply for comparison.

Now I fully agree in sharing knowledge. I've done the clutch and flywheel and LSD install and have pictures, but I don't have time to do the write up to the level of detail and accuracy that I would want if I was putting my name on it. Given the people on here who flame and give such grief to those that help, I'm not overly motivated to do a big write up.

 

[walight01]

if you don't have air tools like me, all you need is a good set of impact sockets and a breaker bar and you can do it just fine, my problem was i didn't get the breaker bar until the tranny was half way out.

 

[roni]

i have a breaker bar. and i will get a full set of air tools. just not yet.

if you don't have air tools like me, all you need is a good set of impact sockets and a breaker bar and you can do it just fine, my problem was i didn't get the breaker bar until the tranny was half way out.

 

[walight01]

(nervous)I wish i were getting air tools

i have a breaker bar. and i will get a full set of air tools. just not yet.

 

[Little Beavis]

You will need air tools to open up the tranny. . .You don't "need" air tools to get the tranny out, but it will help. Impact wrenches rule.

The tranny weighs about 100# (mine was 94# with the quaife installed and no oil). So the next "nice to have" is a jack free to move the tranny around or spend $50 for the "transmission adapter" for a jack.

And while you have it out, you might as well do all the other things down there that you want to do (whatever that may be. . .you'll never have more room).

 

[charles]

Ha, I just took my whole motor out. (moon)

 

[Togan]

390 for clutch!! they must be crazy!!(pissed)