iodine23

iTrader: (1)

I tore it all apart again today. This time I had the help of my good friend Mr. Engine Hoist.



It still took a while, mainly because I was working by myself. The trans is still a pain in the butt to get out, and the tranny jack I had didn't help as much as I thought it would. It seems like it's designed more for longitudinal style transmissions you'd find on a big V8 or something.

When I got everything off I checked the torque on the pressure plate bolts, because that's where I thought I went wrong. I think my hunch was correct too. The torque spec is 13 +/- 2 ft. lbs. I set the torque wrench to 13, which is what I used last weekend, and tested all the bolts. Every one ran farther in before the wrench clicked... in some cases it seemed like it was a good turn or two out. So I think the plate wasn't properly seated against the flywheel, which would cause some vibration due to imbalance.

You can see that even after only about 2 days of driving the car, the pressure plate already had developed a slightly overheated spot.





I bet the two bolts on either end of that burnt side weren't torqued down well enough.

I quit after that, so I still have to take the flywheel off. The new parts should be here tomorrow. Hopefully everything goes back together alright.

iodine23

iTrader: (1)

A few more pics....

The trans pulled out as far as I could into the wheel well. I couldn't get the car high enough to get the trans while on the jack, and I don't really want to take it off the jack either. The fender liner has been removed.



Another picture of the flywheel up on the engine. Yeah, you've seen it before, but engine guts pictures are cool.

Zeus

iTrader: (66)

...you made a lot of progress I still didn't get the name of the place I told you about, but I don't see why they couldn't resurface that flywheel.

ImportPePe

iTrader: (4)

Man I wished I was there to help out. I'm willing to learn how to replace the clutch in my Evo.

iodine23

iTrader: (1)

Yup, amazing what you can get done when you have more of the right tools. I also took the advice you sent me and removed the rear dogbone mount this time. That helped quite a bit, that thing was a pain the last time we took the trans out.

Zeus

iTrader: (66)

I smiled to myself when I saw the pic... Glad it went a little smoother. Being the second time didn't hurt speed either...

iodine23

iTrader: (1)

Got the new parts today but didn't have much time to work tonight. All I managed to get done was take off the old flywheel and put the new dowel pins in the new one.

To take off the old flywheel I drilled two holes in a piece of metal I bought, then hacked off the excess length. You can see it in the right of this picture.



The hole on the left side is slightly bigger than 3/8" and is big enough for that bolt to fit through. The bolt is one that holds the trans to the engine. Then you take the other hole and slip it over one of the dowels on the flywheel. With that in holding the flywheel in place you can break loose the flywheel bolts no problem with a breaker bar.

Look ma, no flywheel!

iodine23

iTrader: (1)

Pics of the new flywheel... after I cleaned all the nasty goop off of it.





After I took those I took the flywheel out back and beat the dowels into it. Probably woke up the whole neighborhood.

For the super-observant folks, you'll notice the new flywheel doesn't have as many holes drilled in it for balancing. The old one had 3 on one side, another shallow hole about 120 degrees off of that, and one in the center. The new one only has one in the center and one on the outside. So I guess technically I have a heavier flywheel than before.

iodine23

iTrader: (1)

Put in the new flywheel, disc, and plate last night. Also installed a new TO bearing in case the vibration was causing excessive wear on the old one.

I loctite'd the FW bolts in and did a 2 stage torque in a star pattern. The bolts call for 98 ft.lbs. I think I did it at like 55 or 75 and then 98.

I didn't loctite the pressure plate bolts because I was afraid some might squeeze out and run down the face of the flywheel. I torqued it down very anally in a 3 stage criss-cross pattern. I think I did 4 , 9 , then 13 ft.lbs. I was **** because I think that was what was causing the problem before.

After that I brought the tranny back up. It actually wasn't too bad coming back in. It still took me a long time to do, but that's because I was being extra careful. The damn transfer case managed to wedge itself under between the engine and the crossmember, so I had to raise up the engine to free it loose. When I did that it had enough clearance to come fully out and was trying its hardest to fall right on me. I finally got tired of the damn thing and just put a jack under it to hold it in place. I should've done that from the start.

After a lot of minute adjustments, some bumping, shifting, and kicking, I finally got the trans a good way onto the engine and had the dowels lined up. At that point it finally decided to cooperate and slid on the dowels. So I reinstalled the 5 bolts and torqued 4 of the 5 I could get to down to spec. I'll probably retorque those once I get the trans hanging from its mount again rather than being supported by the engine and a jack.

Now the rest is the annoying reassembly, trying to remember where everything goes again.

iodine23

iTrader: (1)

I'm getting close now. Only got a few hours last night but managed to get a lot done. The trans mount was reattached and I raised the engine/trans up to bolt it back in place. Then I reattached the rear dogbone and bolted the trans up to it. I also redid all the connection on top of the trans and the shift linkage.

The TO bearing clicked back into place on the pressure plate and I reinstalled the clutch slave. Feels like everything is actuating smoothly on both the shifter and clutch. Had my GF row through the gears and the shifter looks like it's working fine too.

Also reinstalled the starter and front mount bracket on the trans. Then I reinstalled the transfer case, which is almost as annoying as the transmission. Once that was bolted down I replaced the centermember, bolted up the front pitch stop, and called it a night.

Still have to hook up the driveshafts (left, right, and rear), put back the DP, put back the crossbraces, add fluid to all diffs (I drained the rear while I was at it to get a fresh fill in all 3), reinstall the inner fender material, change the oil, reinstall the undercovering, put the airbox back, and put the battery back. Ouch, that's a lot (and I probably forgot something)... I hope I can finish tonight.

iodine23

iTrader: (1)

The job is finally done. Finished up most of the final details last night. Got all the fluids back in, changed the oil, and fired it up while it was still on the jackstands. Feels much better to me.

Today I did the last little bits like the stupid undercover and fender liner and stuff. Washed the wheels while they were off the car, they were VERY filthy cuz I'm too lazy to wash them 1/2 the time. Put the wheels back on and took it for a spin.

The clutch engagement seems a little high, but my vague memories of when I bought the car say that it was that high then too. Otherwise it's freakin' silky smooth. No chatter or anything. I'm just glad to have it all back together. Time to go wash the car now.

Zeus

iTrader: (66)

bet it feels good... guess this means you are not going to Tech Ridge tomorrow? I was, but family comes first again. I might swing by though.

iodine23

iTrader: (1)

Nope, I'll be there. Going to drive my friend's S2000 instead. I bet the Evo would probably be alright, but I'd rather not risk it. There's plenty of time in the future to roast this new clutch.

Az3ar

iTrader: (18)

man you did good, i remebr back in VA i used to spend days in my grage installing parts and springs turbocharging my old S2000, then some times i brake some tools and some i cant do it so i get sooo mad. the funny thing one time i was changine myold mk2 GTI springs and the car kinda fell on me from thte back, dont worry i just got couple stitches in my chin it is all good haaaaa

iodine23

iTrader: (1)

My friend almost got crushed by his Cadillac when it rolled onto him. Luckily his wife was there and managed to push it off of him. You always have to be careful when the car is up, omre so when you're alone. When I did the transmission on the Evo I wasn't even really under the car, just walking around checking the clearances. I didn't want to risk it falling down on me and let the jacks do all the work. I actually don't think I could've fit under there very well with jacks and legs from the engine hoist.