Civic Flywheel/Clutch Install (58 pics)

[JerryV]

We got our parts and finished our install. It ws 88 degrees and humid and we did all the work in our driveway. The tools got so hot we had to keep covering them. The install went slower than I had hoped and we had only minor glitches. Our '98 EX had to have the fly-wheel cover installed before the fly-wheel, clutch and pressure plate are installed. Argh ... we had to do that twice. Additionally, we got the linkages arms crossed and could not manuever them because we were on jack stands. We just needed to dis-assemble one more completely which only took an extra 20 minutes or so. We took care in positioning the clutch assembly and the tranny went it pretty easily. I rested the tranny on my chest and my son lifted from the top. We had no extra bolts and no other glitches. Your directions are 5-star. One of the manuals I bought was totally crappy. Guess they are intended for experts. Anyway, MUCH obliged!

[knag]

I just finished my first clutch install on my 99 Civic EX today using your guide. Everything came out awesome and I wanted to say thanks so much for taking the time to post the diy. It took about a day and a half working all by my lonesome and with no air tools, but I learned so much and didn't run into too many snags. Being a newbie your pics helped so much. What really helped was that I really took my time before I got started to look under the car and from the top, studying your guide and really understanding what I was going to be doing under there and where everything was. It became way less intimidating the more I understood what I was going to do. From this thread people seemed to be having a real hard time with with the axel nuts, so that kinda scared me away from that and I figured out how to swing the axles out removing 2 bolts and a nut from the lower control arm. I was intimidated to do the bitch pin and was just going to unbolt under the shifter, but I thought what the heck lets give it a shot and to my suprise mine came out fairly easily. For installing the tranny back on I used some M10x1.25 50mm long bolts and cut the heads off and inserted them into the bottom tranny holes that go into the little stiffeners by the oil pan. They acted as guides and made the alignment of the tranny go fairly easy. I am not sure if it was using the bolt guides or that I accompanied it with really taking my time to line up the clutch using the alignment tool but it went on super easy.

I am currently breaking my clutch in. I installed the XTD stage 3 and exedy flywheel in my 99 ex d16y8 with a Greddy 15g kit, 11 psi, tuned in crome. I will take it easy for the next 500 miles and see how well it holds when I can beat on it more. I have to take it easy anyways since I am having head lift issues, so I will try changing out my first headgasket and arp headstuds next weekend.

Thank you again for all your help. Your guide and the tips everyone else has offered has been an incredible tool to save some money and have a lot of fun learning to turn my own wrenches. Take care!

[westcoaststyle]

Glad to help everyone out.

You do not need an alignment after this task is completed.

[tbone7812]

OK great write up, I must say you make it so damn easy my ex-gf could have done it, I did it in a little under 2days taking my time solo. I have one suggestion and one question.

First Ball joints suck, I found getting them not to spin on the lower ball joint a pain, I read somewhere that if you use impact wrench after you get it threaded it worked, and it did, just thought I would mention that here. I know not to use impact wrench to tighten it all the way up but to get the ball join to seat.

And I am having a pain getting the You can remove the two 19mm bolts connecting the rear tortion mount to the tranny, to thread in. Is there a trick to that?

[revtek6]

did the clutch install and everything went well. but now im at 300 miles after the install and now there is a weird hissing sound coming from the clutch area when i engage the clutch and transmission. if i release the clutch without the transmission engaged there is no hissing sound. any ideas?

[jinandtonic]

All your tips and pictures were great. I will be starting this project soon.

[civic_persia]

good, I have a question is that it is for making bleeding, has that to have on or off car?
ja now knows the weight of the transmission, as I go to make alone as you.
I am thankful for the rank and I am thankful for the reply, you the greater

[civicfan8]

thank you

[95ciVsiR]

you are my savior lol

[jinandtonic]

Thanks for taking the time to put up a post so detailed. I was discouraged at first but I followed your step by step guide and everything went pretty smooth for the most part. My car runs fine now but, I had problems getting that dam fllywheel cover back in and was so anxious to get the job done I left it out. I know the flywheel is exposed to elements now but is it absolutly nessesary to have it and if so does the tranny have to come back out or can I just loosin a few bolts and shimmy it back into place? Anyway if it wasn't for you I'd still be riding my bike 14 miles to work. Much, much thanks bro.

[sdkenneth]

Thanks for the DIY! I just got done installing the competition clutch stage 2 with fidanze flywheel 7lbs. Took about 4 -5 hours for it being my first time but with the help of my mechanic professor.

[mike68]

Awesome DIY! How hard would it be to add changing the rear main seal to this procedure? Is it right there once you remove the flywheel? I've got a leak and am thinking about attempting this. Thanks.

[mttroy]

You R THE MAN!! Awesome brah. With online artists such as yourself we can blow a kiss to the scrub shops that charge out the yang and do a f&^5*$ up job. Do it right, do it yourself, and help others. What a wonderful world it would be!
Shout out to you

[mttroy]

I feel like I'm cheating someone following your DIY!!
My change went great by using this. I've done rear wheel trannies but never a front wheel drive. The unit went back in so easy I'm thinking of taking it back out for practice!
One lame question that I'll hopefully will figure out tomorrow after work; When I put the ball onto the release arm I can't get the holes on the slave cylinder to come close to lining up. The shaft inside the end of the SC is realy loose, it just like hangs there. Looks normal but feels weird. Any experiences like this? Any suggestions?

[dopemarty]

we were doing a flywheel and clutch fix, and the clutch masters bolts stripped (hex). so we tried to drill, and the drill bit broke inside the bolt. so we're there with this motor being held up by my floor jack, stripped bolt on the clutch flywheel assembly, and a broken drill bit inside the bolt. it's about 2 am, and i got just one day to fix this car and have it back on the road.

flywheel and clutch installs..... they can go to hell!

Hmm did you try a bit of liquid wrench/wd40 and a little fire from a blow torch to free up the bolt. Either which way you would have ended up replacing the bolt anyway, but I find that a little fire helps free up the most difficult bolt.

[dopemarty]

great DIY....this will be my second tranny replace in a single month......the first on my cav z24, which was a nightmare (cv shafts were seized in the tranny during tear down....broke 3 crow bars extracting them) and now my 94 civic si........got the first 1/2 done, and now I am sitting there wondering what the heck kinda special tool I need to get the pressure plate off.........guess Im runnin in for a set of 12 pointers tomorrow......

Thanks bud, very informative, and saved my arse, the speed demon will come alive again, thanks to you

[Bejamin82]

XLNT write up my man. My first time ever even removing a wheel on a Honda was in accordance with this DIY. Far better than the maintenance manual and should provide all the know how for anyone with some prior experience. Hardest part was holding the flywheel from turning while removing its bolts. I found that if you reinsert some of the tranny to engine bolts(forward side) back into their threading you may use them as leverage points for a crowbar to rest on as you hold it in the teeth of the flywheel.
My hitch was getting my driver side transaxle properly inserted into the tranny. It left a 1 or 2 mm gap between the two where I can see the oil seal on the tranny. It now leaks a little oil. I havnt figured this one out yet but it may be that I need new clips that fit at the end of the splines that go into the tranny. A warning to all, do not damage the rubber boot on the transaxle as you reinsert it back into the tranny, it will spin all of its grease out and ruin your day.

[pslsnakes]

GREAT write up, thank you VERY much.

I'll be doing this as soon as my parts come in.

[blastbeat]

Thank you!!! I am replacing my throwout bearing and rear main seal this weekend and this is just what i needed. Major props!

[Redline96LX]

Sorry if I'm bringing this back but I wanted to throw my 2 cents in too.

I did this swap with me and a friend and a manual and yeah, it took us two days (though we didnt work that fast).

Regarding the clutch and pressure plate, you CAN do this without the alignment tool, it just makes it harder. It was a bitch for me and my friend as the actual swap was a tranny swap and thus an old flywheel and used clutch didn't wanna hold too well. What you do is get a screwdriver in there when you tighten the pressure plate bolts, and sort of imagine where the clutch is to be centered. Then when you put the tranny on and start torquing the bolts, the mainshaft of the tranny will align the clutch. If I could do this again, I'd rent or borrow one, I heard there are plastic ones at autozone or somethin for like 5 bucks.

[nascarfish]

I did my 96Integra clutch reading this.......runs great now!!!! I could not have done it w/out this!!!!

[pjean_07]

I have a b16a2 civic with aem intake, msd ignition 10mm and dc sports headers.. does it worth the cost and the time to change my flywheel, pressure plate and clutch to a stage 2 kit??...

[cage.smith]

Is their any alternative to the Honda required mtf fluid? I don't know if this is true or not but i was told u can use motor oil, like 5w30 or something like that, true or false?

[swaggs21]

I have a b16a2 civic with aem intake, msd ignition 10mm and dc sports headers.. does it worth the cost and the time to change my flywheel, pressure plate and clutch to a stage 2 kit??...

You really aren't making enough power over the stock to warrant a new clutch unless the old one is going bad. And the flywheel was mostly for pedal feel while cornering.

Is their any alternative to the Honda required mtf fluid? I don't know if this is true or not but i was told u can use motor oil, like 5w30 or something like that, true or false?

You can use motor oil, but at 5 dollars a quart MTF is well worth the money.

[pjean_07]

[QUOTE=swaggs21;4277453]You really aren't making enough power over the stock to warrant a new clutch unless the old one is going bad. And the flywheel was mostly for pedal feel while cornering.


Alright then! thanks alot for answering my question! That's what i tought.. unless i run on a turbo or a supercharge i dont really need that..

[swaggs21]

Alright then! thanks alot for answering my question! That's what i tought.. unless i run on a turbo or a supercharge i dont really need that..

NP, but this car had a turbo on it (this was my car that the DIY was done on) and it was for purposes other then the power of the car. The stock clutch and flywheel would have been fine and held up to some abuse, but I was abusing it constantly, so it was just better to change it while the car was completely apart.

[941crx]

Even though it's been probably a year since I changed out the clutch in the rex, I have to say this thread saved my ass, sure a wee bit diff, but guided me in the right direction, don't think I ever posted a thank you in it so, figured I would

[swaggs21]

Glad it helped and that the car is still running strong. Makes it a lot easier when someone can show you visually what to expect.

[pdx.cervix]

so i followed wcstyle's great diy write up 3 years ago. i bought a cheapo clutch kit from local parts house here in portland, oregon. the clutch is now slipping again, 30,000 miles later. is this possible? should i buy a better pressureplate? i'm gonnaa pull the tranny soon & see what in the #%R$@! is going on. only thing i can think of is oil from tranny getting in there somehow. i dunnoo...its a 1987 Si, 225,000 miles

looks like a rear main seal. engine oil was in the housing. should have replaced it 3 years ago... false economy...

[nonbox]

Is there another way to hold the flywheel from turning when removing the bolts to the flywheel other than using a prybar on the teeth of the flywheel? Is there a special tool that will hold the flywheel from turning?