Changing a cluch-DIY or Professional job?

wilko33 · Post by **wilko33** » March 3rd, 2007, 8:02 am

Right, I am relatively competant when it comes to doing work on cars but have never changed a clutch before and want to know whether its better to leave it to the professionals or if it is simple?

My gearchanges are starting to get a little too clunky and the biting point on the clutch moves more than the wheels do! I have searched but cant seem to find any step by steps on the site.

lutos · Post by **lutos** » March 27th, 2007, 8:08 pm

dude unless you know exactly what your doing I would stay away from it, if u dont line everything up right you can do some major damage it take a shop 5-7 hours to do one on an mx3 so unless you got a hoist and air tools might as well triple that time if u do it

timexim · Post by **timexim** » March 27th, 2007, 9:41 pm

I did it, no hoist, plenty of jacks and jack stands, and weak air tools. Time consuming? Hell yeah. Complicated? Not really. However doing it solo I don't recommend. I messed up my ribs wrestling the tranny solo but got it done nonetheless. However if the car has never had any of those things apart before you'll either need powerful air tools or like I did, a half inch craftsman breaker bar with a pipe handy for the stubborn nuts and bolts. If you can afford to pay a mechanic then it's definately worth it to save the hassle but if money is tight like in my case it's doable. The most difficult part is getting the tranny lined back up. Took me a couple hours to get it right(wrestle it a bit and take a break, rinse and repeat). For the clutch just use the alignment tool and be sure you have a torque wrench to torque the bolts to spec. It was my first time ever working on a car with a manual let alone my first time doing a clutch and I'd say it's mainly physical. Albeit, you can really screw stuff up doing the slightest thing wrong however it's not rocket science. My 2 cents

tysoe · Post by **tysoe** » March 29th, 2007, 7:30 pm

Did you replace it with an OEM clutch. I'm going to get mine done soon as it slips like crazy when its hot.

Here its $450 for the labor + $130 for an OEM replacement clutch.

Some people have said that the OEM clutch is a bit weak and the MX6, 626, Probe GT for the 2.5 K series engine is a straight swap.

@timexim how are things with the new clutch?

timexim · Post by **timexim** » March 29th, 2007, 9:46 pm

I put a stock clutch in from a local auto parts store. It's working just fine for me but my car is also completely stock. For the stock hp the oem clutch is fine but if you intend to mod the car to squeeze more power out of it you'll want something stronger. I plan to mod my car but needed to get it running for now. The tranny is in need of replacement so I'm saving up for the tranny aswell as a fidanza flywheel and centerforce dual friction clutch but for now the stock clutch works. I haven't really got on it yet though since I've only put 60 miles on the clutch and want to break it in a bit before I start running the rpms up.

Mitch

Custom_V6_Limited_SE · April 8th, 2007, 8:37 pm

timexim wrote:I did it, no hoist, plenty of jacks and jack stands, and weak air tools. Time consuming? Hell yeah. Complicated? Not really. However doing it solo I don't recommend. I messed up my ribs wrestling the tranny solo but got it done nonetheless. However if the car has never had any of those things apart before you'll either need powerful air tools or like I did, a half inch craftsman breaker bar with a pipe handy for the stubborn nuts and bolts. If you can afford to pay a mechanic then it's definately worth it to save the hassle but if money is tight like in my case it's doable. The most difficult part is getting the tranny lined back up. Took me a couple hours to get it right(wrestle it a bit and take a break, rinse and repeat). For the clutch just use the alignment tool and be sure you have a torque wrench to torque the bolts to spec. It was my first time ever working on a car with a manual let alone my first time doing a clutch and I'd say it's mainly physical. Albeit, you can really screw stuff up doing the slightest thing wrong however it's not rocket science. My 2 cents

Ha ha ha. Speaking of 1/2" drive breaker bars; I broke one last time I worked on my car. I was going at my front passenger axle nut with liquid wrench, my 500ft/lb impact wrench, and a 1/2" drive breaker bar. All failed and I brought out my dremel to finish the job lol. That was my full front brake job with calipers, rotors, pads, brake lines... The driver was off in under 5 seconds with the impact wrench, but, the passenger just had to be a PITA. I was only taking it off to get the hub out for bearing replacement.