Clutch is toast.. how difficult/how much time to replace?

So my clutch is toast. I got my original replaced about 2 years ago and I guess hard driving has taken its toll on the replacement one. My car is still driveable at this point but I’m smelling clutch more and more often and feeling it slip more and more often. My usual mechanic has quoted a little over $900 for parts and labor on a replacement; they also had a worker recommend a performace/non-OEM clutch of some sort for my car in hopes that it could withstand more wear.

I’ve searched and found that most people here recommend exedy organic. Found it online (08-800-A) for about $250 @ Clutch City Online (anyone got any place cheaper)?

My question is… how much time/difficulty is involved in the install of a clutch? I’m not a complete mechanical noob but I’m certainly not up to the level of like performing swaps and the like. I’ve done bolt-ons… installed shock/springs, replaced oil pan gasket (so I’m familiar with the side of the tranny :D), valve cover gasket, and stuff associated with those… basically the removal of parts and straight swap with replacement parts… nothing using precision or specialty tools.

How difficult would it be for someone with this kind of experience to replace the clutch? How much time should one expect it to take? Are their any specialty tools necessary? I’d really like to save the ~$700 labor at my mechanics if possible, but I’d hate to get in a situation where I’m left with a disassembled transmission or reinstalled clutch but can’t get the axles back in, and have to tow my car to the mechanics to get them to finish the job, or something like that. Can anyone give their suggestion/recommendations on doing this?

…or, anyone clutch-experienced in the Bay Area wanna help a guy out? :cool:

there isn’t much in the way of specialty tools needed, the kit comes with the alignment tool. You need a torque wrench, some jackstands and jacks or an engine hoist, 3/8 and 1/2 inch drive rachets with assortment of sockets, and a friend or 2 for the actual lowering and raising of the transmission are very useful. Mine took about 30 hrs because every single bolt that could be rusted was, without this complication I think most people get it done within a day. The helms manual is necessary, for torque specs if nothing else, but it also gives step by step instructions. You will also want to either buy a replacement flywheel, or get your current one resurfaced, $20-40.

I have the exedy organic, I like it.

It is a pretty big job if you don’t have experience.

Is the exedy organic similar to stock in its engagement? Or is it more precision (will I have to re-learn my clutching technique? :D)

I’ve got a paper Helms manual and digital Haynes, and also this site:

http://www.c-speedracing.com/howto/b18cclutch/clutch.php

That site mentions removing the radiator to gain better access to everything. Did you find this to be necessary?

Begin Rant
I also just spoke to my mechanic; they would be using a clutch by Fujicarbon (or a Fuji brand Carbon clutch… not sure which), which came to about $408 in parts. This seems really high to me for a brand I’ve never heard of; they said the guy in their shop thats familiar with honda/acura swaps and performance tuning recommended it. That makes the labor rate (plus incidental costs like tranny fluid) involved about $570 for the clutch install.

I also just found out my front engine mount is broken (quoted $103 parts/labor) and the vertical crossmember from the front of the chassis to the middle is bent ($83 parts, labor free with clutch install :p). I also have a nagging suspicion that I have a slow leak at my oil pan again.

I’m thinking with all this crap I’d probably be better off putting my car on the blocks for a couple days and doing it all myself… get the clutch replaced, fix the engine mount, fix the crossmember, and pre-emptively strike my theoretical oilpan leak. sigh wasn’t anticipating this amount of repairs…

welcome to the having a 12 + year old car.

Tell me about it. Makes me wish they’d come out with an '05 model 93 integra. :roll:

So it looks like I’ll be buying an Exedy Organic for $250 shipped, and having at it myself. Since there’s so many things that I can get at while I have this part out (oil pan gasket, replace a broken nut in the header-to-exhaust connection, front motor mount) it’d probably be better if I try and get at everything rather than drop half a grand on labor for the clutch alone.

Is there anything else I should look for as far as maintenance when I’m doing this? Kinda like replacing the water pump when you replace the timing belt, anything like that that is better to do while you have everything disassembled?

And for those who’ve replaced their own clutches… did you remove your radiator for working room when doing so?

Thx guys for your input…

I didn’t remove my radiator or any part of my header - it might have made a few things easier, but not enough to be worth the hassle.

$103 for front mount is pure BS - it has to come off to get the trans. off, and a new one from acuraparts247.com cost me $35.

Is the member bent enough to affect anything? you could always leave it off, or buy one used from someone who removed theirs.

If you think you might want a lightweight flywheel and have the $, this is a good time to do it. And if you think your rear main oil seal might leak, do that too. I did some other stuff while it was apart anyway, like new shift linkage and shifter bushings. I replaced most of the special bolts the helms said to replace.

I don’t think the exedy feels that much different from stock. Effort is a little higher, not much. it grips a little harder as well, dunno if it is the cold now or what, but I think mine grips harder now(~4000 miles) than it did after the breakin

when i did mine i left it in. took me about 5 hours or so to replace my clutch. i did it in two days though instead of one day. took the tranny off the 1st day and put it back on the 2nd.

i did my flywheel, clutch, rebuilt my trans, axles, oil pan gasket, motor mount inserts, and use up 2 gallons of simple green cleaning up everything i could get my hands on. took about 5 days. 3 of which were 24 hour shifts.

to do a clutch alone could be done in about 5 hours, if you dont get anal about every spec of debris.

I find it easier to just pull the engine to take the tranny off/on. But I have air tools so it only takes me 45min max to pull the motor.

get your flywheel resurfaced and lightened if your not gonna get a new lightened flywheel. but for sure get it resurfaced at least.

get some shifter bushings while your at it and if your mount is just torn get some motor mount inserts, they make a world of a difference.

have fun with the “bitch pin”

and like strikeback03 said, the clutch feel is just a little firmer than stock but it does grab harder

Maybe you should check the oil gallery plugs(http://www.g2ic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102124&highlight=gallery+plugs) because there is one in between the transmission and the motor so while your tranny is out, if it’s leaking you could replace it:)

Anyone have recommendations on where to get this done (at least the resurfacing… what’s involved in lightening an existing flywheel??) in the SF Bay Area? Preferably the Peninsula?

resurfacing shouldn’t cost more than $40 usually its $35 and no longer than a 30 minute wait. lightening i don’t know about since it has to be balanced otherwise the flywheel will just wobble and mess everything up.

Ugh, can’t edit longer than 5 minutes after posting now.

Follow-up question: is there a spec for resurfacing, or a minimal size that must be maintained? At work, can’t check my Haynes. :smiley: Any Bay Area recommendations, or should I just go through the phonebook looking for “machine shops” ?

I don’t see a spec in the Helms manual. I would think a machine shop with experience resurfacing flywheels could tell you if there is enough there to work with. Lightening flywheels can be sketchy - you need someone with experience at it so they don’t remove material from the wrong place and weaken the flywheel too much. I had mine resurfaced at a place called FleetPride, they are a chain, but no idea how far they extend. Only cost $18 though.

Yeah, the pin holding the shift linkage to the shift rod sucks.

Forgot to mention before, I had a couple of loose oil pan bolts under teh clutch cover, you might have something similar for your slow leak.

Just disconnect the whole shift linkage from the shifter. It’s only held in by one bolt. Then when you get the tranny out it’s a million times easier to take that pin out. HTH
Chris

that is what I did, still sucks.