Changing a clutch with a haynes manual
Discussion
doogz said:
Some sort of clutch alignment tool too.
Mine is a valve grinding stick with some insulating tape wrapped around, but you should probably but a proper one!
I'd say give it a bash, but if you get it apart and get stuck, do you have anyone you can call to give you a hand?
Clutch alignment toolsMine is a valve grinding stick with some insulating tape wrapped around, but you should probably but a proper one!
I'd say give it a bash, but if you get it apart and get stuck, do you have anyone you can call to give you a hand?
Nasty plastic inaccurate things
I line it up using a vernier caliper
doogz said:
Some sort of clutch alignment tool too.
Mine is a valve grinding stick with some insulating tape wrapped around, but you should probably but a proper one!
I'd say give it a bash, but if you get it apart and get stuck, do you have anyone you can call to give you a hand?
No I would probably just start crying.Mine is a valve grinding stick with some insulating tape wrapped around, but you should probably but a proper one!
I'd say give it a bash, but if you get it apart and get stuck, do you have anyone you can call to give you a hand?
Na if that happens I'l just tow it to a garage and acept defeat but if i've taken half it off for them it should be half price right? lol
Internet guides are your friend. Haynes can be very hit and miss in my experience. Someone out there will have done it and documented every step with photos - spend the time on the forums searching out a guide, I guarantee it will be absolutely invaluable.
Oh and a first motion shaft is a very useful thing to have to hand for locating the friction plate while you're securing the diaphragm plate over the top. You wouldn't want to put the whole engine back together and find that it wasn't in quite right!
One more thing - gearboxes, even small ones, are bloody heavy! You'll need someone's help to get it off and (especially) back on again unless you have a four post lifter and transmission jack (or are superman)
Good luck!
Oh and a first motion shaft is a very useful thing to have to hand for locating the friction plate while you're securing the diaphragm plate over the top. You wouldn't want to put the whole engine back together and find that it wasn't in quite right!
One more thing - gearboxes, even small ones, are bloody heavy! You'll need someone's help to get it off and (especially) back on again unless you have a four post lifter and transmission jack (or are superman)
Good luck!
tom2019 said:
No I would probably just start crying.
Na if that happens I'l just tow it to a garage and acept defeat but if i've taken half it off for them it should be half price right? lol
That's my approach to things!!! It's worth having a crack, and like you say it's already in bits so it actually will be less in labour. Na if that happens I'l just tow it to a garage and acept defeat but if i've taken half it off for them it should be half price right? lol
I wimped out on my clutch though, it seemed to involve talking most of the suspension to bits, and I didn't really fancy ending up with a gearbox on my head either!!!
Thankfully the garage messed up the quote, so that saved me £200!!
By all means give it a go- I've been doing everything I can possibly do DIY and just did my first head gasket and timing belt at the weekend (went well but took two days!)
Remember to consider the cost of all the tools and equipment and be prepared to do it all over again if the friction plate isn't concentric to the flywheel... as others have said this really is critical, and a lot of time can be wasted trying to get the input shaft to slide into the friction plate again.
Not familiar with Fiesta but on Mondeo, quite a lot of suspension disassembly is required, and getting the tracking re-done afterwards would add to the cost!
Plus usual "support the car safely" etc...
Remember to consider the cost of all the tools and equipment and be prepared to do it all over again if the friction plate isn't concentric to the flywheel... as others have said this really is critical, and a lot of time can be wasted trying to get the input shaft to slide into the friction plate again.
Not familiar with Fiesta but on Mondeo, quite a lot of suspension disassembly is required, and getting the tracking re-done afterwards would add to the cost!
Plus usual "support the car safely" etc...
doogz said:
Well, i'm not sure about modern Fiesta's, only really ever spent any time working an Mk2's, but if you get the gearbox unbolted and removed, you're not towing the car anywhere, since your engine will be supported by a crane or a block of wood on a jack. Check out the engine/box mounting arrangement, you might find that's not really a practical option if things go belly up.
Yep, the man's right... either that or the engine is attached to one engine mount and hanging at the other end from a piece of square section aluminium that is sitting across the top of the engine bay (still can't believe this worked tbh!) 
Has to be worth a go and as said above if you have a friendly garage who can rescue you if you get in a pickle - all the better.
I remember attempting a upper wishbone change on an Alfa 156, ended up with two very major bolts that had seized but saw an alternative way round...or so I thought. Ended up swearing at the car and getting my specialist round who laughed at me
, brought some very serious tools with him and I was driving in 30 minutes.
Incredible to watch true specialists work.
. Especially having assumed it would cost more for him to do it, but think it ended up costing me more considering I had to buy spring compressors/special allen key socket e.t.c. Learnt my lesson and most things go to the specialist unless something like a droplink/discs and pads/head gasket e.t.c.
Another tale was when my Alfa GTV V6 was in for a clutch change, specialist buys all his parts direct from Alfa and turns out Lucas had riveted the plate on the wrong way - so once he had the car in bits on the ramp, went to fit the clutch and realised the manufacturers mistake. Cue Alfa trying to get another clutch in stock as the specialist was unable to do any major jobs until the part was swapped!.
I remember attempting a upper wishbone change on an Alfa 156, ended up with two very major bolts that had seized but saw an alternative way round...or so I thought. Ended up swearing at the car and getting my specialist round who laughed at me
, brought some very serious tools with him and I was driving in 30 minutes. Incredible to watch true specialists work.
. Especially having assumed it would cost more for him to do it, but think it ended up costing me more considering I had to buy spring compressors/special allen key socket e.t.c. Learnt my lesson and most things go to the specialist unless something like a droplink/discs and pads/head gasket e.t.c.Another tale was when my Alfa GTV V6 was in for a clutch change, specialist buys all his parts direct from Alfa and turns out Lucas had riveted the plate on the wrong way - so once he had the car in bits on the ramp, went to fit the clutch and realised the manufacturers mistake. Cue Alfa trying to get another clutch in stock as the specialist was unable to do any major jobs until the part was swapped!.
doogz said:
Unless you adjust the track rod, the geometry shouldn't change at all.
Having a spare input shaft lying about does make lining everything up much easier
Not always a practical thing to lay your hands on though.
On mondeo you have to loosen the sub-frame to get the 'box out, and the fixings are all slotted to allow adjustment- so it never goes back on the way it came off. Unless you have the special ford tool, that is...Having a spare input shaft lying about does make lining everything up much easier
Not always a practical thing to lay your hands on though.
re: input shaft- I have one for aligning the clutch in the caterham. So easy!
Garlick said:
Fitting is the reverse of removal.
When rebuilding the head on a Golf Mk2 I genuinely found a line that states..."Devise a way of removing..."
If I wanted to work out my own way of doing things I'd not of bought the b
ding manual.As it happened a mate stood on one end whilst I jumped up and down on a breaker bar. I can only imagine the Haynes guys did the same thing but were too embarrassed to put it in their book.
mrtwisty said:
Had to take the sub-frame OFF my Clio in the end to get the box off!
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|http://thumbsnap.
ETA - Nervous yet op? ;-)
Looking at that picture yes...[url]
|http://thumbsnap.ETA - Nervous yet op? ;-)
Edited by mrtwisty on Wednesday 31st August 17:35
But i'll take 3 days off work just incase.
So to quickly summarize
I will need a hoist of somesort
preferbly a ramp to ramp the car up if need be
And I suppose I can use the hoist again to old the engine
I wouldn't say a hoist was absolutely necessary, but one would be very useful. The most useful thing would definitely be to have another person present to help out. In fact I would say its pretty much essential at some points.
The most difficult stage is getting the 'box off then on again. Everything else is mostly just fiddly and time consuming.
I'll post again tomorrow with some more (hopefully!) helpful info for you, but I would again suggest that you do some digging on the relevant forums for a step by step guide to go alongside the Haynes.
The most difficult stage is getting the 'box off then on again. Everything else is mostly just fiddly and time consuming.
I'll post again tomorrow with some more (hopefully!) helpful info for you, but I would again suggest that you do some digging on the relevant forums for a step by step guide to go alongside the Haynes.
Personally, even though I have access to an engine crane, I'd probably support the car on axle stands and then use the jack to support the engine... Ramps no good as you'll be removing the nearside front wheel and driveshaft.
Again, I don't know fiestas but you should try a ford owners forum to find someone who has done the job before.
Again, I don't know fiestas but you should try a ford owners forum to find someone who has done the job before.
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