I have read the motorvate write-up on the clutch removal, and found some of the steps pretty vague. I have also read the Chilton's manual on how to remove the transmission and remove and install the clutch. The Chilton's seemed to have more direct information, and more formulated steps to it. But the question i have is, are there any tips or tricks that anyone has to help speed up the process? I am installing this on Saturday Night, and hope to have it take the least amount of time possible, so any tips are helpful.

Thanks

 

If you dont already have some, go get some long extensions and a swivel joint so you dont have to drop the crossmember, and stubby wrenches are good so you dont have to dero pthe ypipe. Make sure to unbolt the trans mount from the chasis and the 4 bolts that hold it to the trans. Get an old tire to drop the tranny onto. What about the motorvate write up was vague? Do you have any specific questions?

 

It just said stuff like "remove the speedometer sensor, slave cylinder, front exhaust, and Crankshaft position sensor." "Remove both drive axles" That is the stuff that i thought was vague, it said to remove it, but i don't have much know how on how to do those. Not just what i mentioned, but what the whole job entails. My friends and I know enough to get it done correctly and figure it out, but i didn't know if people knew from experience certain things that work better than others

 

It's just a lot of grunt work. A trolley jack really helps out when you're moving that 100lb tranny back in and trying to align the input shaft.

Plan for a good workout.

 

I've got a trolley jack, and i am gonna be using a lift and air tools, so i hope that i can cut down on the time. How long should i expect it to take?

 

It'd take me 2 days - yeah I'm sloooo.
Anything under 8hrs is very good I'd say

 

good luck with your clutch replacement, im starting to look into getting a new clutch also and im taking mine to a shop to make sure its done correctly, its too big of a job for me

 

make sure you DO NOT over tighten any of the pp bolts. Torque everything down to spec. and when tightening pp bolts, tighten in a something like a 1,4,7,3,6,9,2,5,7 patturn, or whatever the FSM says. look at www.phatg20.net for the FSM. Also Tq down in 2 stages I think. But download the FSM from there and read it.

 

I'm in the middle of doing mine. I "thought" I was ready to do it 2 times before this time so let me tell you what stopped me the first two times.

First time I had ordered clutch. I was going to do it. Then I found out the tranny oil is special and has to be ordered online (in most cases) as the stuff they sell in stores will destroy the tranny.

Then I ordered my oil and was getting ready to do it when I got under there and saw some engine oil on the bottom of the bell housing. I decided there was a chance that the rear main seal was broken. Not wanting to take everything apart twice I decided to order the seal bracket and have it on hand in case I needed it.

Got my RMS bracket this week and today at around 1:30 got started with a friend of mine who is helping me. We worked until about 5:15.

We got everything out of the top; starter, battery, battery tray, removed the clutch slave cylinder, removed the top 4 transaxle bolts. Drained the tranny. Got underneath, disconnected the 3 nuts for the exhaust to engine mount. Tried to disconnect the two bolts that connect the exhaust near the flexy bit to the catalytic converter. *ROUNDED THOSE OFF*

Decided to skip taking that off for now and go to the drive axles since we knew we weren't gonna finish today. Started on the drivers side. Got the big nut off the axle, unbolted the two bolts that hold the caliper/wheel assembly to the strut. Slid the axle out of that.

This brings me to where we stopped and why I am now on here. We couldn't figure out how to get the driveaxle out of the transaxle. In my Hayne's guide it just says to pry the inner boot out of the trans but it seems like there was something holding it in there.


So, like the guy above said it is a lot of grunt work. I have never done it before nor has my friend and in a little under 4 hours I would say we are more than halfway.

My suggestions. Be prepared for tough bolts/nuts on the exhaust system. Everything else seemed not too bad but like I said above we rounded off the two by the converter. Make sure you have the big *** socket for the axle nut. Make sure you have a breaker bar (I broke my 1/2in ratchet using a pipe around it for leverage rather than having a breaker bar handy) Make sure you have a full set of wrenches and sockets/extensions handy. WD-40. DOT3 brake fluid for after when you have to refill the clutch cylinder.

That is all I can think of now. For having not done it before it has been pretty easy to this point, just takes time.

 

OH Yeah one last tip since I forgot to get one myself.

If you have never (or it is due to be changed soon) now is a good time to buy a fuel filter and change that. With everything out from the engine it is quite easy to get to and change.

 

^^^thread jack..but check ur pm

 

Thats not true.

 

If you're gonna have it on a lift and use air tools, hell you got it made! It really isn't too terribly difficult to do. I didn't know much about mine when I did it, but its not that hard to figure out. As long as you got the tools handy and a little know-how, you'll be fine. As stated above, be careful with those 2 bolts--they'll round off easily. Be careful when torquing the pressure plate, i snapped 2 of those bolts and had to go to Nissan for them cause Autozone, etc. couldn't get them. They weren't cheap and i had to wait a week for them.

 

ah well i was going on the sticky in the fluids forum... everything i saw in the stores here was GL-5 which is no good from what it says there.

 

My clutch just started slipping and I'm planning to replace it in a couple weeks. I'm still looking to see what clutch I should get.

My '02 Maxima has 59K miles and I've been pretty happy with the stock clutch. Without any performance mods, I'm wondering if there's any good reason for me to go with anything beefier. What brands would you guys recommend and where's a good place to order?

The tips in this thread look really helpful, and it's great timing. I'm planning on replacing it over Thanksgiving weekend. I've already reserved the Chilton's book from the library, and I've started shopping for tools.

My fear is that I'll get everything apart, then realize I forgot to buy some tool or part and everything will be closed. Now that I think of it, I'll call Nissan in the morning and ask what their holiday hours are.

 

How did the install go?

 

what is clutch slipping. sorry, i know its a stupid question prolly

 

When the clutch doesn't hold the drivetrain to the engine output. The most basic symptom is if you punch the throttle in 5th gear (highway for example) and the rpms go way up but your speed does not. This is when your clutch is worn out, and you won't have very long at all after this starts happening until it will be undriveable.

Dave

 

You might want to ask in the 5th Gen forum. As for my 4thgen I am going with stock clutch components but I am using the stock 5th gen as it is a direct replacement for the 4th, costs the same, but is a little better than the 4th from what I've read.

I don't really know what your options are for the 5th but if you don't have any performance mods stock is probably gonna be the way you want to go. Generally speaking it seems like the quality of stock Nissan parts is pretty high so if performance is not a question then quality should be your primary concern.

 

^^^^ Well in that case you don't want that fluid. But don't they have any GL-4 in stock? All auto parts stores usually do. If not they at least have the Synthetic GL-4 with 75w-90 weight which would work even better.

 

I looked here at the autozone and advance auto parts, neither had it. Anyway, I already ordered it and have it on hand so it's a moot point now.

 

The clutch install didn't go too hot. It took almost 5 hours to pull everything off including axles, but excluding the transmission. I found out that both my cv boots are torn, and the place to drain the tranny fluid (what is that called?) is broken where it screws in, so i have to buy all those new parts. As for the install, i had all the transmission bolts unbolted, but i didn't pull it off because i had to take the car out of the garage. I was working on free time from a friend of mine at a garage, and had to be out before his boss came in for the morning. So in 7 hours, i managed to change my transmission fluid and that was it, but i am giving it another go with all the new parts this weekend, and i am gonna leave myself some more time to get it done

 

good luck the second time around. at least then you know everything will come off easy. if all you did was round off the drain plug on the tranny you can also drain it from that plastic electronic plug at the bottom there.

i actually have to do both my boots as well. the job just keeps growing but i think when it is done both the boots and clutch should outlive the car itself.

 

The place you drained the oil is not the correct place to drain it; that's why it broke. Fortunately for you a new sensor is only $20.

I definitely recommend buying reman axles from raxles.com. Anything else is going to be messy or likely to not function well, and raxles won't cost much more than any other option.

Dave

 

any idea how much they cost?

i don't think the cv joint on either of mine is that bad which is why i was just gonna do the boots myself.