I started replacing my worn clutch on the 26th. Due to a varity of issues, I'm entering into day 3.

Working in a rented shop with a lift and transmission jack, I'm at the mercy of their schedule. 11am - 8pm. At the end of the day yesterday we finished getting the torque tube attached back to the bell housing. Today I hope to get everything else buttoned up.

What a pain in the butt!!! I can easily see now why shops want $500 - $1000 to do one of these. I think if I was to do it again, and I'll never tackle this project again, I'll pull the motor to replace the clutch.

Anyway, the new Z06 clutch kit w/ slave and pilot bering, from Ken went in without a problem. Getting to it and putting everything back together is the heart burn.

I found one weight in the old flywheel and transferred it to the new one. The old flywheel and pressure plate were burned pretty good and, the old clutch plate is about 1/2 the thickness of the new one.

I think I read on the forum somebody said they could change a clutch in 4 hours?! HA! I don't buy it. Three days might be a little long but 4 hours? NO WAY!.

Got to get back at it, I wish I had taken some pictures but, once I got my hands dirty, I didn't want to pick up the camera. I'll post more details later after it's up and running again.

:nopity

 

SCOOL

I see a new ZO6 clutch install in the near future :rolleyes: On a scale of 1-10, how do you rate the difficulty of the job? I already feel your pain level on the time required to do the job but overall how technically complicated is the job?
I just repaired the manual transmission and replaced the clutch in my 97 F150. That also was a real PITA!!!! I can see how the C5 would be complicated. LOTS OF stuff that needs to be removed to get to the clutch!

Please post some more insight. Maybe some do's and any DO NOT DO THIS if you found any major short cuts.

It will be interesting hearing back from you.

Bill Curlee

 

It is quite the job isnt it!! :crazy: :crazy:

My father and I replaced my clutch on jackstands in our garage last year.. I would say for a first timer without a hoist, you would be looking at about 20 hours or more, and that is if everything goes right.

Unfortunately clutch changes in our cars are a re-occuring thing, especially for heavily modified m6s that do a lot of racing.

 

You don't realize what is involved until you see it done.You have to take out a lot of stuff.....It took my dealer about 7-8 hrs.

 

I can tell you I had initial problems on my first install. On the third install we had it in and out in 6.5 hours. No B.S. It really helps when you have two people working that know what they are doing. It also helps when you can use professional lifts and tranny jacks.

 

Looks like you beat me to this project after all. The machine shop didnt get my flywheel done till Mon. Then Christmas with the family and now I'm leaving to go snowboarding so I don't know when I will start. I have enough clutch to last me though, so it isnt an emergency yet.

Best of luck.

 

That's why when my clutch was acting funny, I bought the Cartek clutch/master/slave and am having the dealer put it in :jester

I had heard that trying to do it myself would make me :U

 

There not that bad!!

There are some definate short cuts that can be taken. We can get them done in least then 3 1/2 hours. You have to have a lift and a tranny jack to make that time. How are you guys performing the job?

 

MATTG - I couldn't imagine this on jack stands. I had a lift, trans jack and adjustable stands to support things during the process.

9D9LS1 - 3 1/2 hours? It probably took me an hour to get the damn quick disconnect from the slave disconnected. :mad I can see the designers talking about it, "lets use a quick disconnect and, put it way up here where no one can possibably get a grip on both ends at the same time". :p:

Everyone - Thanks for the support. I'm happy to say that the new clutch is in and seems to be working fine. I haven't stressed it yet, just took the car home. I still have to put the console and dash back together but that only about 30 minutes to finish up.

Bill Curlee - Your questions are the most difficult so I saved you for last. My Z06 clutch install was an upgrade to the standard C5 clutch. None of the problems I encountered were caused by the upgrade. All were related to my inexperience, not having the exact right tool in some cases, and the magnitutide of the task.

On a scale of 1 to 10, :D that almost depends on when you ask. Half way through the 2nd day I would have put it at a 12!. Now that it's back together and driveable, I'd say an 8 to 9. It by no means is a simple task but, I think my inexperience made things more difficult then they needed to be. On many occasions before starting to remove something, I physically inspected for wires that I might have missed, returned to the service manual and double checked what I had just done and what I was about to do.

I was extreamely cautious about not letting the trans down too far, causing the motor to hit and possibly dammage the composite firewall. The deeper I dug into the project the more perinoid I became about missing something or causing damage to something. At times I probably became my own worst enemy.

I had access to a lift and trans jack. I would not recommend anyone try it on jack stands. MattG did it but, I'll bet he would have preferred to use a lift. As I wrapped things up yesterday I swore I would never do it again. I'm already having second thoughts about that. If I need another clutch I'll probably do it again.

As for "Do's", I have never experienced any problems with my clutch peddle so I did not replace the master cylinder, only the slave which is part of the throw out bearing anyway. I drained and replace the fluid in the master cylinder and, bleed and bleed and bleed the system to be sure to flush out any old fluid that might be in the line. There is no way I want to have to go back in there because I didn't get all the air out of the line. I replaced with a synthetic DOT 3 & 4 compaliant fluid. Time will tell if I will have any sticking peddle problems. If you can get the lift time, make sure the transmission jack will go high enough. I was stuck with a transmission jack that required me to lower the lift to the point where I was putting in bell housing bolts from my knees.

Keep track of the major cable that runs down the top of the torque tube and the shift linkage that goes into the torque tube when going back up with it. I had to bring the torque tube part way back down to reposition the shift linkage.

DON'Ts - I used a 3rd party service manual. Although I haven't seen the GM service manual for this task, I will invest in one before doing it again. Hopefully it will have more diagrams / pictures then the 3rd party manual had.

Major difficulties - The same as any clutch change, getting the top bolts out of the bell housing. Getting the bell housing out and putting it back in. Getting the top bolts back in. Over coming the fear / panic attacks at different stages. :U

Suggestions - drain the rear before starting. If it's full some will spill out if you tilt it after removing the half shafts.

Hope this helps, I'll be happy to try to answere any questions you might have.

Steve

:cheers:


[Modified by scool93535, 11:44 AM 12/30/2002]

 

I just did my clutch on the floor with jack stands. I also did a FLP header install at the same time. The whole job took me about 16 hours. This was a first time for me doing a clutch in a C5.

I managed to replace the clutch pressure plate, disc, and flywheel with out removing the bell housing. I just let everything slide out the bottom with the inspection plate removed. I thought the header install was more of a pain in the butt than the clutch.

I had the new factory flywheel checked for correct balance and it was off be 8 ounces. So, don't trust the flywheel to be correct no matter where it came from. My car runs smoother than it ever did now with the new clutch and a true zero balance.

 

So you didn't replace the throwout or pilot bearings? Given the amount of effort required to get to the clutch I replaced everything in there.

 

yae, I replaced everything. I was able to do so with out removing the bellhousing.

 

DAMN! That was 90% of the work after pulling the torque tube back.. It was such a pain to get out and back, I'll bet I spent 3 hours each way. I'll remember that for next time. Thanks..

:cheers:

 

I had to spend at least an hour under the car just looking at everything to figure out a game plan on how to go about everything. Half way through the job, I thought I would never do this again. Now that I am done, I think I could do the job in eight hours on the floor. Hopefully, that will not be necessary for a long time. I have to say thanks to Xtreme Motorsports for all their help and advise. I can't figure out how some guys do it in 4 hours. I would have to see it to beleive it. On the other hand, I have replaced a crankshaft in a F-Body LT1 and had it running again in eight hours.

 

Good plan. I was stupid, I read the manual. :conehead

As I put it back together I swore that I'd never do it again but, now???? I probably will and, I'll take your advice about leaving the bell housing on. At first I couldn't see how you could pull the pilot bearing, now that I think about it, I can see that it would be no problem. I fugure next time it'll take 6 - 8 hours.

Thanks for the feedback..

:cheers:

 

My dealer is replacing mine under warranty. I went and bought the Cartek clutch kit so I wouldn't have this problem in the future.

Question: since the clutch and related components can be accessed without pulling the bellhousing, is the job harder on a car w/FLPs vs. a car with the stock exhaust?

 

Good question but, I can't really answer that, I still have stock headers. The important thing will be if they can get the clutch parts out the bottom inspection panel without removing the headers. As I understand it, at least with some headers, one or both have to be loosened or removed to get to the clutch. LOL

:cheers:

 

Hopefully, they don't try to charge me for the extra time.

:rolleyes: :nonod: :skep:

 

I installed FLP headers at the same time that I was replacing the clutch. I am sure that BOTH headers will have to be removed for a clutch replacement due to the fact that they bolt up to the bottom of the bellhousing assembly. :mad Maybe you can just unbolt them from the heads and let them just hang out of the way while you remove the clutch. I hope it is a long time before I need to try this. I am sure that the headers were easier to install during the clutch job because I was able to angle the engine enough to slip the headers into place with out removing the steering shaft bolt like the installation instructions suggest. This would not have been possible with the driveshaft assemble in place. So, if you need a clutch and do not already have headers, now is the time to do them both together...maybe you should think about gears too. Why not, you will have the stock rear end sitting on the floor for a day or two. LOL

 

enloe,

Are you serious about the rear end? If they have to take the differential down to do the clutch, I will have them throw some 3.90s in there with the hardened output shafts. :eek: