Well I got the front cover off of the engine, and I definatly noticed that I had a S5 gasket on it, and I didn't even see the oring, so I guess I am going to hunt through the oil pan now.

I want to ask if I did the e-shaft bolt removal correctly. I put the impact gun on there, and as soon as the bolt moved, maybe 1/8th of a turn I put a stick on the clutch pedal. Should that be alright or should I go to the trouble and take off the counter weight, and what not to check out the needle bearings?

 

I have never understood the purpose of wedging the clutch pedal down when removing the front cover. Could someone explain how this is supposed to prevent the bearings from moving out of position?

 

Another quesiton, I removed the front cover with out removing the oil pan. I noticed that the gasket torn, does this mean that I will need a new gasket, and have to take off the oil pan, or can I just use some RTV?

 

If you're lucky the RTV will work, IMO. Just make sure you clean the contact surfaces very well, with a good solvent (acetone, MEK, etc...), and let the RTV cure a bit (maybe 10 to 15 min) before the final torque...

Project 84- only thing I can think of is with the clutch engaged, as soon as that front bolt is loosened, the engine internals would have a tendency to move aft due to the pressure plate tensions...OK, hell, I dunno

 

there is some freeplay in the shaft. with the clutch engaged its minimized.

 

You have the main thrust plate mounted to the front of the front stationary gear...on each side of that is a spacer washer and a thrust needle bearing. ON the back side (towards the engine) the e-shaft main bearing journal end sits against the spacer washer/thrust bearing that is on the one side of the thrust plate, and on the other side you have the other spacer/bearing and then the counterweight and sprocket stack. The goal of this operation is to keep both needle bearings from moving around, since there is a spacer ring on the inside diameter of them both. IF you let the shaft move around, the spacer ring can slide, and the bearing can fall down behind it. By holding the clutch in, you maintain pressure on the eshaft, which locks the back set of bearing/spacer against the thrust plate...you safeguard the back set by doing this.