VX Clutch Install/How to Avoid Headaches
 

Hello Everyone:

Just this past December, the clutch went out on my 94 Civic Vx, whereas thankfully, I still had my 98 Cx that I'd almost donated. Given that I have the other car, I decided to garage the Vx until the end of May, when the weather is considerably warmer.

Since then, I've been reading the tech manual, in addition to watching videos on Youtube, in preparation for my pending task. If experience has taught me anything, it's than whenever it comes to working on cars, there's always some unexpected hitch that neither the manual or the guy making the video never seems to mention.

With that said, what are the issues most common to replacing a clutch that I should be aware of to avoid any headaches?

Okay, maybe I should add that I'm not asking anyone how to replace my clutch. I think that with the tech manual and videos on Youtube, I'm quite capable of managing the task on my own...so far, that's how I've managed all of my automotive projects.

To clarify, I'm asking for the suggestions & advise of those who have done this job before, in accordance any hidden pitfalls, so that I can prepare for them in advance.

Replace the rear main seal on the engine while you're in there. The hardest part is getting the transmission back on. You have to get it lined up just right. I've found it somewhat helpful to take some extra transmission-to-engine bolts, cut the heads off, screw them into the engine and use them to help guide the transmission on straight.

Thanks for getting back to me. Another thing that I should ask is if a jack for the transmission is worth the expense.

IMHO it's not really worth the $$ for the specialty transmission jack. You can make do pretty well with a regular floor jack and some wood and creativity. Make sure to have lots of wood scraps on hand.

A few things I remember vividly from replacing the clutch in my CRX:
- The axle nuts are a bear. Make sure you're pushing down on your cheater bar rather than pulling up; I applied enough torque to the wheel to make the tire slip against the ground when pulling up. (The upward pull decreased the weight pushing the tire down, decreasing the friction, yadda yadda.) There was less room on one side for pushing down, but it worked much better.
- Check lots of procedures for separating the lower ball joints. Some of them may not work. Use the pickle fork as a last resort, as it is very easy to damage the ball joint.
- If you simply cannot get something unbolted, look for how to remove the thing that is fastened to. I was unable to remove the "b*tch pin" in my shift linkage, so I unbolted the other end of the linkage and dropped it out with the trans.

-soD

Towards the middle of December, I'd recently replaced both half-shafts on my 98 Civic Cx. The most effective tool that I found for separating the lower ball joints came from Harbor Freight at an expense of $20.00 and it was quick, simple and easy to use...man did that thing pay for itself.

I understand what you're saying about the b*tch pin in the shaft linkage, which is the just the sort of "heads-up" advise that I'm hoping to get from other members. Information like that gives me time to anticipate & prepare for the task at hand. I'm hoping that more members are willing to contribute their experiences with me.

So with said, what other potential problems lie in wait, and what are some suggestions towards getting around them?

Get some kind of bar ABOVE the engine to support it.

That way when you're wrestling the transmission from under the car you don't have to worry about the engine falling off the blocks, jack, whatever you have holding it up.

Do NOT force the transmission onto the engine. If it doesn't slide all the way onto the engine you are doing it wrong.

I will say if you get the transmission all the way onto the engine except ~1/4" all the way around you are doing ok. At that point you can use 2 transmission bolts to gently guide it in.

The dreaded ****** pin* is way over rated. The proper size punch will drive it out very easily.

It's a lot harder if you don't get the car up high enough in the air to get a good swing at it with a hammer. :D

-soD

I just started working on the car as of yesterday and I've gotten as far as removing both half-shafts from each side.

Incidentally, I just happen to have a thick piece of lumber from another project that's long enough to reach across the engine bay and that should be sturdy enough to support the weight of the engine. My only question now is where I should hook my chains up to the engine.

There's this guy on Youtube who does a pretty decent tutorial, with exception that he's suspending one part of the engine to the distributor. Frankly, I don't like that idea, whereas I'd rather not create additional work for myself if something were to go wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdqmZ6iUO6c

Up to this point, I've been reading tech manuals and watching videos on youtube

I just loop a chain around the #4 runner on the exhaust manifold, fold a towel up and stick it between the chain and valve cover to prevent gouging and scratches.

The engine is very light and there's no chance you'll damage anything by using that runner to hold the engine up.

If you didn't already figure it out all you have to do to pull the axles is:

1. Remove the wheels.

2. Remove the axle nut.

3. Remove the two 10mm brake hose support screws.

4. Undo the lower ball joint castle nut and get the ball joint out of the lower control arm.

At that point you can pull the spindle off the axle shaft and have plenty of room to pop the shaft out of the transmission and just let it hang there on the lower control arm. Use a zip tie if you're concerned about the axle getting damaged.

You don't need to actually pull the whole shaft out of the car but if you decide to do that the inner CV will actually fit between the wishbone / lower control arm with some creative wiggling.

Before you re-install your transmission make sure you clean all the grease off the input shaft collar where the throw out bearing slides. Make sure that shaft is smooth. Apply a small amount of new grease to it so the bearing slides smoothly.

Also pull out the clutch fork, clean the pivot ball / fork and re-grease.

I also put a VERY light amount of grease on the transmission input splines so the clutch disc can slide freely on it also.

Once you've done the D-Series transmission R&R a few dozen times it goes pretty fast and easy. They honestly don't get much easier.

We don't have a sub frame in the way and all the bolts are freely accessible without any special tools.


One last pointer, IMO it's MUCH easier to pull the CV axles out of the way prior to removing the 3 bolts that are on the back of the engine. If you still have your intake manifold support bracket in the way, removing it will really help with room.

I personally never put them back on my own Civic and have not had any issues. I think it's there to help with NVH but I'm sure someone will completely disagree and say that bracket is super critical.

Before you re-install your transmission make sure you clean all the grease off the input shaft collar where the throw out bearing slides. Make sure that shaft is smooth. Apply a small amount of new grease to it so the bearing slides smoothly.

Also pull out the clutch fork, clean the pivot ball / fork and re-grease.

I also put a VERY light amount of grease on the transmission input splines so the clutch disc can slide freely on it also.

I appear to be at a sticking point everybody. Today, I got as far as removing the shift linkage bar off of the transmission, which followed by supporting the engine with ratchet straps and a 4x8 piece of lumber across the fender wells.
Additionally, I supported the transmission with a scissors jack centered in between a 13 inch tire.

From there, I then proceeded to remove all of the transmission mounting bolts from top to bottom and when I removed the last bottom mounting bolt, I could see that the transmission had dropped somewhat. However; when I tried to slide the transmission away from the engine, it would not budge.

At this point now, I have a total of 11 long bolts, whereas I'm starting to second guess if whether or not, I've removed all of the necessary bolts from the transmission.

In total, how many bell housing and mounting bolts should I have?

Don't you have more than one transmission? Check the other one for the number of mounting bolts (assuming you have another one).

regards
mech

For mounts to trans you'll find 9. 3 are on the front close to the radiator, 3 are up top looking straight down, one is close to the firewall right by the speed sensor and the other 2 are on the back of the engine. One you get from the top side, two from the bottom side.

For transmission to engine bolts there are 5. 4 of those you get from the top / transmission side. The 5th is under the car just above where your left axle shaft pops into the trans.

I find it easiest to pull the left axle shaft out of the way and if you still have an intake manifold support bracket remove it. That will give wide open access to the 3 bolts in that area *2 mounts, 1 bellhousing*.

I'm afraid not. All I have is the one car.

Did you remove the dust cover bolts around the flywheel?



http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...psa3pyzsyd.jpg

It would appear that I've gotten all of the mount to transmission bolts, whereas I may have missed the one transmission to engine bolt hidden underneath the bracket towards the front. I will look at this again tomorrow morning. :thumbup:

There's nothing hidden on the front. The only one I would consider hidden is right above the cv shaft seal in the picture.

Yes Sir, I did remove the dust cover; but this picture certainly helps.

Success gentlemen, I was able to remove the transmission from the engine! It was stubborn, requiring me to shake it loose from underneath the car, and my idea of utilizing an old tire to catch the transmission centered around the jack, really paid off. :thumbup:

As a side, I was able to take a look at the pressure plate and flywheel, while noting how small everything was compared to what I've recieved from Exedy. When I went to touch the flywheel, a ring gear fell to the ground.

From what I've seen from the shop manual, this setup is not stock. My guess is that this job has been done before. I did note however, that all of the teeth on the ring gear were still intact, making wonder why the engine would only engage when push started. The teeth on the starter looked fine too.

At any rate, I ran out of daylight and will start removing the pressure plate & clutch disc tomorrow. By then, I'm hoping to see some kind of evidence that indicates what I'd pondered earlier.

Interesting, make sure the clutch disc fits your input shaft on the transmission.

Side note: When I was getting my HX engine ready to install my ring gear was just like yours. A slight nudge and it fell right off the flywheel. It makes me wonder how the PO ever started the car with the starter.

Also the clutch disc on it was COMPLETELY gone. I mean virtually no friction material left lol.

I am VERY happy with the Exedy clutch / flywheel kit I used. Super nice clutch action.

Just make sure you never EVER let the input shaft jam or the weight of the transmission smash into the pressure plate teeth or clutch disc hub.

You will be greeted with a shaky warped feeling clutch if do you this.

Good luck.

Soon comes the installation of all disassemble parts. What I'm most likely going to do is rent a transmission jack, given that my floor jack does not have enough reach to bolt the tranny back onto the engine.

Speaking of the engine, I might also rent an engine host; although, I'm not sure if that's necessary. Granted, the 4x8 piece of lumber I'm utilizing to suspend the engine, is for the most part doing its job. However; I can tell that the engine is tilting somewhat to the left. It's not drastic; but it's just enough where the holes to mounting brackets are slightly misaligned.

If you have scrap lumber on hand, you may be able to make up a cradle that lets your floor jack lift higher.

-soD

I highly recommend getting that jack if yours is a tiny one that doesn't have the reach necessary. The transaxle is relatively light but if you aren't trying to balance it that makes proper alignment MUCH easier.

As far as your engine tilting a bit I wouldn't worry about that at all. Once you have your input shaft and clutch splines lined up right you'll be able to glide it all the way on upto the alignment dowels. At that point a slight lift or twist on the trans will pop it right on.

You haven't mentioned your pilot bearing at all. Make sure you seat it all the way on your flywheel and do not hammer on the center of the bearing, only use the outer race for that.

That spring pin on te shifter linkage is sometimes called the b*tch pin, and if you are laying under the car to do the job of replacing it, even a good punch tool will still leave you aching from trying to position the pin, hold it there, and get a good whack without mashing your finger or dropping the pin. PITA. What I did to reinstall it:


This worked for me while lying under the car, using the same pin that I had removed, still in good shape.

(1) You'll need a nail thin enough to thread through the spring pin with room to spare and long enough to protrude from the top of the linkage after you thread it through the pin and the hole in the linkage that the pin will go into. The head of the nail must be as wide as the diameter of the pin itself (about 8mm).

(2) You'll need a small piece of cork, shaved maybe from a wine cork.

(3) Thread the nail through the pin and the linkage, hold it there, and poke the cork onto the top of the nail on the top of the shifter linkage.

(4) The pin and nail should be able to suspend themselves comfortably and kinda firmly in place without you holding them.

(5) Wack the nail head with good confident strokes until the pin starts to thread in. The nail will probably drop to the ground after a few strokes, leaving the pin started on its journey into the shifter linkage...

This will work in a couple minutes, while lying on the ground, saving you a pin, a parts trip, and days of waiting for the delivery.

More details here: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post366551

You haven't mentioned your pilot bearing at all. Make sure you seat it all the way on your flywheel and do not hammer on the center of the bearing, only use the outer race for that.[/QUOTE]

Great news, the reason why I haven't mentioned my pilot bearing is because it came to me pre-assembled in the flywheel.:thumbup:

Amazing the struggles I am seeing people have with that pin.

I guess years of experience makes it pretty easy.

I do like this pin that's being sold. Would I buy it? Not unless I were doing these transaxles daily.

Honda Civic CRX Transmission Shift Linkage Roll Pin Removal Tool ***** Pin | eBay

We had a few cold days within the last week, whereas April is a funny month where I live. Plus I had to give some attention to the brakes on my other Honda; but now I'm back to it all.

At this point, I'm just about ready to reinstall everything while adding that the pilot bearing to my flywheel already came pre-installed as a bonus.

I've decide that I'm going to have to rent a transmission jack for the day; but I'm also contemplating renting an engine host too given that the engine is leaning slightly towards the passenger side.

My question is whether or not this is necessary or if anyone can offer some viable alternatives. At present, the holes to the mounting brackets are slightly misaligned.

If you mean aligning the motor mounts, you might need a friend to push and shove the engine where it needs to be, or get a jack that lifts higher.

I'm now at the point of attempting to install the transmission.

Actually, I was able to bypass all of that when I rented a transmission jack for today. In fact, the tilt of the engine seems to be helping somewhat; but only somewhat.

Still, I cannot or I think I'm not correctly lining up the splines with the input shaft from the transmission into the the new clutch. In either regard, I can't see what's happening to make a proper judgement.

For those who may ask, I did test fit the new clutch to the input shaft ahead of time, whereas everything is fitting the way that they should; but whenever I seem to have the splines lined up, the transmission will not slide all of the way onto the dowel pins off of the engine.

I've tried adjusting the height and angle of the transmission jack, as well as rocking and shaking the transmission forward when everything seems to line up. It's only at this point, when the transmission doesn't slide forward onto the dowel pins. I've even attempted starting over while rotating the input shaft in hopes that it lines up.

At this point, I'm calling it quits for tonight, whereby I'm open to suggestions.

Make sure it's all nice and greased up.

I don't remember too much resistance, but I did mine when I had the engine out, so it was definitely easier.

Try to get a second hand if possible.

Where I sit now is that the transmission is being suspended by ratchet straps off of the 4X8 piece of lumber that's holding up the engine. Those straps appear to be giving me the added swing and maneuverability that I need to help line everything up.

I'm going to get back to it soon. Only this time, I'm going attempt using a few new ideas that I've gathered from various forums.

First off, I'm going to level the engine. Then, I'm going to move the flywheel by hand in an attempt to line up the splines. If that fails, I may even attempt to get longer bolts which have the same diameter as the bell housing bolts; but with the heads cut off and slots cut in at the ends. That way if everything does line up, I can just back them out with a regular screwdriver.

Current update:

It would appear that leveling the engine was by no means the solution when in fact, all that it did was restrict the amount of room that I needed to adjust the angle for the transmission. It had gotten to the point where the top of the tranny kept hitting the motor mount on the passenger side leading to zero progress.

The problem now is that although the dowel pins are lined up, I still can't seem to get everything to slide in together. I keep ending with a half inch gap. Is this to be expected? Should I attempt to rock & shake the transmission back into place, or should I keep attempt to readjust my angles by adjusting the ratchet straps?

At this point I think that the input shaft may be in place. Whenever I attempt to move the flywheel by hand, it no longer spins as freely as it did when the input shaft is not joined to it.

Up to this point, I've been having problems attempting to mate the transmission with the engine. In an earlier post, I'd mentioned that the flywheel came with a pilot bearing already installed.

What's clear to me is that quite evidently, the splines to both the input shaft and the clutch are lined up, whereas now, I'm thinking that the pilot bearing that came installed with the new flywheel from Exedy might be the culprit.
What do you think everyone, could that be possible?

Before I dismantle the flywheel and swap out the pilot bearing with a new OEM part, I'm going to attempt to wiggle & shake the transmission some more.

It's possible the pilot bearing could be an issue, although small.

If you need to remove the passenger motor mount.

How close is the trans getting to mating up with the engine? Upto 1/2 or so and that's it? That would be pilot bearing for sure.

It's relatively easy to tell if that is your hang up.

Remove the flywheel and see if the bearing/flywheel clears the input shaft on your trans.

You really REALLY need to have the clutch disc perfectly centered for it to all slide together properly. The margin for error is very small.

As you can see the clutch disc can be pretty off center and the trans will slip into that but then get stuck because it's not lined up perfectly with the pilot bearing.

Did your kit come with the plastic centering tool? I personally dislike those because they're very loose fitting and can cause centering problems.

If you are using the plastic one loosen up your pressure plate again, put the tool back in and wiggle it up, down, left and right, get a feel for EXACTLY where center is then tighten the pressure plate down again.

You MUST hold the tool on your center line as you snug down a couple bolts so the pressure plate then keeps the disc from sliding.

I have the best luck centering right the first time with sockets and long extensions.

I find a 1/4" drive socket that fits PERFECTLY in the pilot bearing then I find another 1/4" drive socket that sits PERFECTLY in the clutch disc and use those to center it. Hard to describe, much easier to demonstrate in person.

If I did Honda clutches regularly I would keep on hand an old input shaft out of a transmission for centering the clutch. NOTHING beats this.

The clutch kit did come with the plastic centering tool and I just utilized your suggestions regarding the pressure plate and the plastic alignment tool. I think that tip helped more than previously, because I've seem to have gotten closer.

Instead of eye balling it, I decided to measure the gap between the engine and transmission with my digital calipers.

At the second transmission mounting hole, the gap measured out at 0.32 inches towards the top of the engine & transmission and at the dowel pin at the front of the engine, the gap measured out at 0.25 inches.

It was then that I decided I was perhaps being too cautious & conservative and got behind the passenger side portion of the transmission and wrestled the thing forward. I rocked & shook the transmission until I heard the "tink" of metal joining together & that's when I took another reading.

At the top of the engine towards the second transmission mounting hole, the gap measured at 0.14 inches and at the dowel pin, the gap was measured at 0.11 inches. The last thing that I'd notice was that whenever I put pressure on the rear portion of the transmission, the gap to the rear dowel pin closes off completely.

In short, is it now safe to bolt the transmission onto the engine?

Davo53209, Just reading your series of posts in this thread brought back not so fond memories of my own 1992 Civic CX clutch job. I probably shouldn't share this but I spent more money at the chiropractor than I think I saved. I do remember my father in law helped me, and you are correct about leveling the engine being the wrong method. Seems like we had a slight 3 or 4 degree down angle to get it to match up correctly. But when it does, the heavens opens, angels trumpret, and it slides in like butter on hot corn. Not an experience I want to repeat ever again. I will be removing the entire powertrain when I do my build project. And the ASE pros can do the re-install of the powertrain