Civic Flywheel/Clutch Install (58 pics)

[urkinduhdorky]

Do You Have To Drain The Tranny? Or Change The Clutch Fluid Everytime You Change The Clutch?

[Provocateur]

Do You Have To Drain The Tranny? Or Change The Clutch Fluid Everytime You Change The Clutch?

Yes, the tranny needs to be drained and refilled, preferably with fresh fluid. The clutch fluid doesn't need to be touched unless you remove the slave cylinder or any hardlines, but again, it is a good idea to bleed it and replace the fluid if it needs it.

[Pueblorrado]

fantastic writeup man. I had to do a clutch on a 96 dx for school and this helped a ton. keep it up man.

[eg6lover]

i used the pics n notes to take out my tranny. very successful for it being the very first time i pulled out the tranny. thanks.

[darkoe6]

damn good write-up. i used this to install my clutch and flywheel. i had a few problems putting one of the 17mm bolts back in the rear mount. no biggie. i think i have to jack up the motor to alighn it better. either that or it is just hard to torque on. than you WCS

[westcoaststyle]

Glad to help out, everyone.

[eg6lover]

does anybody know where i can take my tranny to get it serviced? it's f-d up. can't go into reverse, 3 gear doesn't go in n grinds. basicaly no tranny in the car. any shops specialize on b16a2(LSD)tranny's and that will not rip me off. i live in Burbank, CA.
Thanks

[westcoaststyle]

Aamco? And please don't post in here to ask questions like this. Go into the vehicle-specific section for your car. Thanks.

[dwbaily]

How much different would the instructions to replace the clutch in my 90 Civic sedan be from this awesome and detailed description? It looks like to me that 3 of the 4 motor mounts that hold the engine/tranny in are attached to the tranny in mine. 2 for sure and the other one (the front one) looks like it has to come out, too. Any held/advice?

[westcoaststyle]

I'm sure it's all generally the same save a few bolts and positions of various things.

[dwbaily]

From the looks of it and your pics, you're right. I'm a little leary though about the engine hanging my one motor mount if I'm right in that 3 of the 4 are in some way connected to the tranny. This guy loaned me this cradle type set-up that lays accross the engine bay and has this big J bolt in it that connects to the engine and holds it so it doesn't fall. The best place to hook it would be one of the hooks on the head that is supposed to be there to hook to when you need to pull the engine but mine are missing for some reason. I'm using a couple of small nylon straps that came on some come alongs I had and I wrapped them around the exhaust manifold and hope they hold the weight of the engine! You're right about that roll pin in the stabilizer bar that goes back to the shifter, too! I tried a couple of things and it didn't seem to want to budge so I may just drop it at the shifter and hope it doesn't get in a bind when I start backing the tranny out of the engine. I was also told to have the flywheel resurfaced and to get a shim that is equal to the amount they take off. Something about the travel on the throw out bearing. Thanks for getting back to me.

[westcoaststyle]

You can use a second jack as well. I've done that in the past. It's just a matter of having something else available to support the engine. Do it if you have something. I've even used blocks of wood in a pinch.

You don't need a shim for the flywheel resurfacing. Think of it in the same respect as turning rotors. They have a tolerance to where they can't be turned past a certain thickness. A flywheel works under the same set of restrictions. Once it's worn or surfaced to a certain thickness, you'll need to replace the flywheel.

[bb200bmw]

yeah it should take more than 1 hour if you kinda know what you are doing.

[gsrclan]

Great write up and pics. I enjoyed reading it a lot jus for entertainment. How close is this procedure to that for 97 Integra GSR?

[swaggs21]

Great write up and pics. I enjoyed reading it a lot jus for entertainment. How close is this procedure to that for 97 Integra GSR?

Very close

[westcoaststyle]

Great write up and pics. I enjoyed reading it a lot jus for entertainment. How close is this procedure to that for 97 Integra GSR?

The bolts are all in the same place. Some of the lines for the clutch and wiring may differ slightly, but for the most part, this DIY will give you the gist of how it should be done with minor variations.

[gsrclan]

The bolts are all in the same place. Some of the lines for the clutch and wiring may differ slightly, but for the most part, this DIY will give you the gist of how it should be done with minor variations.

Excellent! How long does it take you to replace the timing belt and water pump on an GSR? The reason I am asking is I want to compare these two in terms of time/efforts. I recently replaced the timing belt and water pump, it took me probably 15 hours total time. I had some problems installing the "OEM spec" water pump and ran into some other snags. Lastly can this job be done by one person?

[westcoaststyle]

I got to the point where I could get the entire job done in under four hours by myself. It can be done alone, but you need some blocks to hold the motor up and it's very handy to have a couple jacks available. The part that usually takes the most amount of time is getting the tranny back onto the motor. Sometimes it slips right on, others it just doesn't seem to want to go back together.

[Dirtball]

Great right up,after i go pick up my next project i have to do this so this writeup will come in handy.

[Psshhtt]

Had to dig up an old thread to thank you because I couldn't have done this without the write up. This was my first ever clutch install and it went flawlessly because of you

[psyclone]

When you have you're clutch disc in with alignment tool installed put the pressure plate on and snug the bolts down to where they are just starting to collapse the pressure plate but not so tight that you can't still move the clutch disc by pushing up and down on the alignment tool. Once in this position, move the clutch disc around by moving the alignment tool until it is perfectly centered. You can tell when it's perfect when you can pull the alignment tool out and put it back in with no resistance at all. Now it should be perfect. Leave the alignment tool in and torque the pressure plate bolts all the way down and then re-check. The alignment tool should still freely move in and out of the clutch disc & pilot bearing with no resistance. Now install the tranny and if it doesn't fall into place you may have to align the splines on the input shaft by wiggling a little and then it should fall into place. They call them alignment tools but with gravity pulling down on the disc it usually is sitting a little low if you just slap it in there and tighten your pressure plate down. Hope this helps you guys.

[westcoaststyle]

When you have you're clutch disc in with alignment tool installed put the pressure plate on and snug the bolts down to where they are just starting to collapse the pressure plate but not so tight that you can't still move the clutch disc by pushing up and down on the alignment tool. Once in this position, move the clutch disc around by moving the alignment tool until it is perfectly centered. You can tell when it's perfect when you can pull the alignment tool out and put it back in with no resistance at all. Now it should be perfect. Leave the alignment tool in and torque the pressure plate bolts all the way down and then re-check. The alignment tool should still freely move in and out of the clutch disc & pilot bearing with no resistance. Now install the tranny and if it doesn't fall into place you may have to align the splines on the input shaft by wiggling a little and then it should fall into place. They call them alignment tools but with gravity pulling down on the disc it usually is sitting a little low if you just slap it in there and tighten your pressure plate down. Hope this helps you guys.

Uh... thanks.

[braatenj]

I have a '94 civic dx.
I just redid my clutch following this guide, once I got it back together I went to test it out and my car will not go into gear when it is running.

Does anyone have any idea on what is going on and what went wrong?

[westcoaststyle]

Did you reattach the shift linkage?

[snosurfa7]

Honestly, would you attempt/or did some of you do this w/o air tools?

All I have is a Dewalt 18V cordless impact gun, it works great for lug nuts (supposedly good to 300lbs/ft but once you start using it this goes down, though I do have 2 quick-charge packs for it). But I don't know how effective it would be for a project like this. Plus its freakin huge, dont know if it'd even fit down there in some tight places. But it was free from a buddy at work so hey...

Thanks

[henleyboy]

Cheers westcoaststyle! Just installed a clutch in my 94 teg using your awesome write up as a guide and it was a breeze.
Only hassle I had was re-installing the axle into the tranny. After an hour or two of shoulder cramps, pushin, twisting, shovin, it seemed to slip in pretty flush with the tranny, however after the first days test drive, it seems to be poping out again. I reckon it either I didn't quite push it in far enough for the retainer clip to hold, or the retainer clip is bung.

Anyone got any tips or tricks on how to get the axle in there securely?

...
update:

Oops, sorry guys, false alarm.
My paranoia got the better of me.. I checked it out properly last night (not just by feel as I did before) and it hasn't budged!

Thanks again westcoaststyle

[rebel_punk442]

I have a '94 civic dx.
I just redid my clutch following this guide, once I got it back together I went to test it out and my car will not go into gear when it is running.

Does anyone have any idea on what is going on and what went wrong?

Did you install the clutch backward?
If you put it on the wrong way it wont release from the flywheel

[SIcivic99]

Here's the deal. I called Honda to see how much it would cost for them to replace my throwout bearing because I've noticed it hissing lately. They tell me it will take them 8 hours and $630 Labor to replace the bearing. Are they giving me a load of crap?!? Also, how bad is this throwout bearing hurting the car? Is it something that has to be replaced or it will start to affect the clutch? If you guys could give me any kind of advice that would be great. I just couldn't believe it when he told me 8 hours to do this.

[westcoaststyle]

8 hours is pushing it. Use this DIY and just fix it yourself. Yes, the throwout bearing is important and will affect your clutch performance if it gets bad enough or goes out completely. If it fails, your car will essentially be immobilized.

[JerryV]

A picture is worth 1,000 words. Your pic's and write up are EXCELLENT. We took the tranny and clutch out of our '98 EX with little difficulty. I have no impact wrench but sure did put my breaker bar to good use, especially on the axle nuts. Got a question, do we need to have the wheels aligned after this is all re-assembled?

Jerry