How to install a clutch on an s5 n/a ~write up~
05-05-03, 03:54 PM
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How to install a clutch on an s5 n/a ~write up~
I had to type this for a class of mine so thats why its in the weird story format but it is pretty complete and sure it can help alot of people. I dont know if someone wants to archive it or anything but yeah...... if your planning on replacing your clutch this points out some of the obsticals and tricks
The main task in replacing the clutch is removing the transmission, the problem with that is there is a bunch of stuff around the transmission that needs to come out before it can come out. For example the whole exhaust system had to come off the car from the exhaust manifold back, this task was hard because all the bolts where fried from getting so hot but after soaking them in some wd-40 they weren’t to much of a problem. Once the exhaust was off the car that aloud me with enough room to unbolt the drive shaft, before the drive shaft is removed however the transmission needs to be drained so the fluid doesn’t leak out of the yoke. Draining the tranny is pretty simple just unbolt a bolt and let it drain into a pan. Now since the drive shaft spins so fast and is such a vital part of the car it needs to be perfectly in balance, so you have to mark where exactly the drive shaft goes so you can put it back on the right way. For this I used some white out because it’s a lot easier to see than marker. Once unbolted the drive shaft just slides out.
With both the exhaust and drive shaft out of the way there are only a few more things to remove. The starter needs to come out which was only hard because the starter has a major grounding point and there was a huge brass wire going to it that was really hard to reach. The clutch slave cylinder is the last to be removes as it actually bolted to the top of the transmission and is pretty hard to get to. The slave cylinder is right next to the firewall and you only have a few inches of space to work in but with the right tools and socket extensions its not a problem.
With everything out of the way you can start unbolting the transmission bell housing bolt starting with the hard to reach first. This is where I had a major two hour delay in my job, I thought I had removed every bolt but I had missed one, there is a bolt on the very top of the tranny and is extremely difficult to reach. So I now had the entire weight of the transmission basically on one bolt so even if I did get a good grip on the bolt it was still hard to get out. I ended up striping the head of the bolt and I swear I spent the entire two hours of removing that bolt screaming at the car. I eventually got the bolt out by grinding down a socket so that it could reach a part of the bolt that wasn’t striped. I friend of mine lent me a tranny jack so once unbolted the tranny wasn’t hard to get down.
The next step is to remove the pressure plate on clutch disc, with 6 easy bolt they were both off leaving the task of removing the flywheel so that it can be resurfaced and the pilot bearing can be changed. The bolt that holds the flywheel on is a two and one eighth inch nut and is torqued down from the factory to 380-ft lb. The socket was hard to find because if you are to buy one they are anywhere from $25-$45 so I rented one from a local shop. The torque is not the problem I can wedge myself in the position and pull the 2-foot inch breaker bar hard enough to create 380lbs but the flywheel is connected to the motor and spins freely along with the nut. This is a problem because I had to find a way to stop the flywheel from spinning while I tried to loosen it, I tried a few thing like making little brackets and such to hold the flywheel down but nothing I could do was strong enough. I ended up getting two three foot long piece of steel and bolting them to the flywheel and letting the other end rest on the floor. Once the nut was off I was presented with another problem, the flywheel is on a tapered shaft so all that 380-ft lb. had pushed the flywheel onto the shaft once again it was off to the drawing board to make some tools. After making some random pullers and such I was suprised to find that hitting the flywheel with a dead blow hammer is what got if off. With the flywheel of and off at a machine shop getting resurfaced it was time to pull the pilot bearing which actually was pretty easy. I rented a puller from our local Shucks Auto Supply and it came right out and I hammered the new one right back in using a socket just slightly smaller than the bearing.
With all the old stuff out it was time to start putting it all back together, this process didn’t take anywhere near as long since I had already done everything. I bolted up the flywheel and torqued it down as hard as I could than bolted on the clutch and pressure plate with the provided alignment tool. Since all these parts are going to be spinning pretty fast I needed to make sure everything was aligned and in balance so the alignment tool was used to make sure the clutch disc was centered with the pressure plate. The six bolts on the pressure plate all where torqued to I believe 28-ft lb. of torque and all bolted in a criss-cross pattern to avoid any unevenness.
Bolting the tranny back up was simple and everything else went back up smoothly, once everything was back in place I filled the tranny back up with oil. I replaced the slave cylinder clutch line with a stainless steel one, its supposed to give the clutch less of a mushy feel. Than with all the hydraulics bleed to get all the air out of the system I dropped the car off of the jack stands and took it for a test drive, and was pleased to find that everything worked fine.
The main task in replacing the clutch is removing the transmission, the problem with that is there is a bunch of stuff around the transmission that needs to come out before it can come out. For example the whole exhaust system had to come off the car from the exhaust manifold back, this task was hard because all the bolts where fried from getting so hot but after soaking them in some wd-40 they weren’t to much of a problem. Once the exhaust was off the car that aloud me with enough room to unbolt the drive shaft, before the drive shaft is removed however the transmission needs to be drained so the fluid doesn’t leak out of the yoke. Draining the tranny is pretty simple just unbolt a bolt and let it drain into a pan. Now since the drive shaft spins so fast and is such a vital part of the car it needs to be perfectly in balance, so you have to mark where exactly the drive shaft goes so you can put it back on the right way. For this I used some white out because it’s a lot easier to see than marker. Once unbolted the drive shaft just slides out.
With both the exhaust and drive shaft out of the way there are only a few more things to remove. The starter needs to come out which was only hard because the starter has a major grounding point and there was a huge brass wire going to it that was really hard to reach. The clutch slave cylinder is the last to be removes as it actually bolted to the top of the transmission and is pretty hard to get to. The slave cylinder is right next to the firewall and you only have a few inches of space to work in but with the right tools and socket extensions its not a problem.
With everything out of the way you can start unbolting the transmission bell housing bolt starting with the hard to reach first. This is where I had a major two hour delay in my job, I thought I had removed every bolt but I had missed one, there is a bolt on the very top of the tranny and is extremely difficult to reach. So I now had the entire weight of the transmission basically on one bolt so even if I did get a good grip on the bolt it was still hard to get out. I ended up striping the head of the bolt and I swear I spent the entire two hours of removing that bolt screaming at the car. I eventually got the bolt out by grinding down a socket so that it could reach a part of the bolt that wasn’t striped. I friend of mine lent me a tranny jack so once unbolted the tranny wasn’t hard to get down.
The next step is to remove the pressure plate on clutch disc, with 6 easy bolt they were both off leaving the task of removing the flywheel so that it can be resurfaced and the pilot bearing can be changed. The bolt that holds the flywheel on is a two and one eighth inch nut and is torqued down from the factory to 380-ft lb. The socket was hard to find because if you are to buy one they are anywhere from $25-$45 so I rented one from a local shop. The torque is not the problem I can wedge myself in the position and pull the 2-foot inch breaker bar hard enough to create 380lbs but the flywheel is connected to the motor and spins freely along with the nut. This is a problem because I had to find a way to stop the flywheel from spinning while I tried to loosen it, I tried a few thing like making little brackets and such to hold the flywheel down but nothing I could do was strong enough. I ended up getting two three foot long piece of steel and bolting them to the flywheel and letting the other end rest on the floor. Once the nut was off I was presented with another problem, the flywheel is on a tapered shaft so all that 380-ft lb. had pushed the flywheel onto the shaft once again it was off to the drawing board to make some tools. After making some random pullers and such I was suprised to find that hitting the flywheel with a dead blow hammer is what got if off. With the flywheel of and off at a machine shop getting resurfaced it was time to pull the pilot bearing which actually was pretty easy. I rented a puller from our local Shucks Auto Supply and it came right out and I hammered the new one right back in using a socket just slightly smaller than the bearing.
With all the old stuff out it was time to start putting it all back together, this process didn’t take anywhere near as long since I had already done everything. I bolted up the flywheel and torqued it down as hard as I could than bolted on the clutch and pressure plate with the provided alignment tool. Since all these parts are going to be spinning pretty fast I needed to make sure everything was aligned and in balance so the alignment tool was used to make sure the clutch disc was centered with the pressure plate. The six bolts on the pressure plate all where torqued to I believe 28-ft lb. of torque and all bolted in a criss-cross pattern to avoid any unevenness.
Bolting the tranny back up was simple and everything else went back up smoothly, once everything was back in place I filled the tranny back up with oil. I replaced the slave cylinder clutch line with a stainless steel one, its supposed to give the clutch less of a mushy feel. Than with all the hydraulics bleed to get all the air out of the system I dropped the car off of the jack stands and took it for a test drive, and was pleased to find that everything worked fine.
05-29-03, 10:25 PM
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Definately drop tranny. If you have lots of experience pulling motors and have access to a engine hoist, then that might be faster. Hell me and my dad have pulling the tranny down so much it only takes us one night to replace a clutch.
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