clutch froze
 

i was driving my gsl-se the other day.. this is the second time it has happend since my friend installed the new clutch.. the clutch seized and would not go into any other gear like the clutch pedal was stuck. all of my hydralics are fine and are not leaking. i could forcefully put it into neutral before this hapend twice the first time we took it apart the pilot bearing was thrashed... this time i removed the tranny and the pilot bearning looks fine so does the throw out bearning..? what do i look for? thanks

TO bearing would be my first guess, but who knows if your friend installed things properly. Verify that you can shift through all the gears with the car Not running. Or.....

How about just tell us everything down to the detail that your friend did when he changed your clutch.

Did you put good high temp grease in the pilot bearing?
Also inspect the front cover that the release bearing rides on for damage.

the car starts in neutral only. when car is off i can shift into all gears. the TO bearning feels fine. the pilot bearing Hole for the tranny input shaft? is not centered within the clutch disk? does this make a differnce.?

YES it does! That is causing the input shaft of the trans to bind. You need to make sure the disk is centered.

whoops!

forgot to add, If there is any damage to the end of the input shaft from the trans such as chunks of metal missing then the trans needs replacement now. If it has any small burrs caused from the mis-alignment then you can take some sand paper and sand them smooth.

would this cause damage to the pilot bearing.? my first thought of looking at it was this exactly.. were talking it's mm's off.. not very much at all.. but noticable by the human eye. i have a new pilot bearing and just got the removal tool. my car drove like this for about 4k miles i think before it froze.. this is the second time it has happend only the first time the pilot bearing was really trashed and froze up within weeks

the input shaft looks fine iall take a better look thanks

Yes it would. When the alignment tool comes out of the splines it should be very smooth on exit with almost no resistance to it.

And I can't stress enought that the pilot bearing is greased. Also recommend small amount of high temp grease on the input splines of the trans, the t/o bearing collar and the mounting points from the T/o fork that attach to the T/o bearing also.

And when re-installing the trans if there is any amount of resistance or force needed to put the trans back in place the disk is either not aligned properly or you are not posistioning the trans correctly. To make it easier I recommend for the reinstallation of the trans to get some extra long bolts(Correct size and pitch) that will protrude out of the trans housing by atleast an inch. Take them to a machine shop or garage and have the heads cut off. You use one at the top of the trans and the other at the bottom of the trans at opposite angles to guide the trans back in. This is a fool proof and very easy way to install the trans.

yes the trans was tough to remove.. NOT smooth at all when pulling it out. would i also need a TO bearing as well if this happend? it seems ok no play and spins nicely. after he installed the cutch the 1st and second time i could always hear the pilot bearing whine.

the pilot bearing is a pita to remove.. i have the tool but the tips are not grabbing the edge of the bearing to pull it out. any tips tricks?

die grinder + hammer & flat head this pilot bearing was so stuck, what cause's the clutch plate to come out of algiment what torque specs should the clutch bolts be tightened to?

If you go the route using the long headless bolts that doc suggested, keep in mind that the bottom starter bolt is a different thread pitch than the rest. Only one like it in the entire car like it. The common thread pitch bolts will thread in, but chews up the the threads in the rear iron and you will never be able to tighten down the starter again, with drilling and retapping the next metric size up. So, if you use the long studs, place them in the top driver's side and lower passenger side.

update* reinstalled everything with resurfaced flywheel + new pilot bearing.. well it turns out my slave was leaking the slite bit. does this destroy the pilot bearing?

Nope, no way it can. Bad clutch hydraulics can increase wear on the TOB, but will not affect the pilot bearing.

No. But it would eventually cause a problem with the operation of the clutch. See, there was a reason that you had to redo everything,lol.