So, this weekend and part of next week my big project is installing a new clutch I've never done this before so it's been quite a learning experience (and a pain in the ***)

I have everything removed except the passenger side axle. The tranny is partly pryed back except I think the passenger axle is holding it in. I was hoping I could get by without removing that S.O.B.
The outer CV joint was pretty well stuck inside the hub but luckily, PB Blaster + 2 hours letting it sit did the trick there. I think I will attempt to remove the carrier bearing completely from the engine and yank it out from there. That carrier bearing looks impossibly seized. I might try to separate it after it's out, or take it somewhere tomorrow to have them crack at it.

PS- Air tools are a god-send. 4 seconds with the impact wrench at its highest setting and the axle locknuts almost flew right off. HELL YEAH.

 

Mmmm Pics would be nice... Or maybe not a dismantled maxima... good luck with everything hope all goes well...

 

Thanks. I'll try to take some pics of it dismantled just for fun

I'm installing a SPEC Stage 1. The motor's pretty much stock (just a PR CAI), but the stock clutch is definitely on its way out. It's not slipping while driving but taking off... yeah. Pedal engages really high, you pretty much have to keep RPMs below 1500 while taking off or else it slips. It's just no fun

 

good luck! The first time installing a clutch is always a memorable one..

 

hehehe

TRANSMISSION SUCCESSFULLY REMOVED *****!!!!!

 

Hmm. The clutch disc actually has what looks to be a decent amount of life left, although I don't have a gauge to tell for sure. It might've been the pressure plate that was causing the light clutch feel. That or a stuck slave cylinder maybe?

Either way, it's time to get the flywheel out. I think I'm going to install my SS clutch line and bleed the slave cylinder before everything's put back together.

 

you have a clutch allingment tool?

 

I think the stock clutch always has some material left, even when it start feeling all jello like. Mine is in the same condition as yours at only 60k miles

 

I will probably be replacing my clutch on my 2K maxima soon. Did you have to remove the passenger side axle?

 

You gotta take out the whole engine ther bucko... Yes you would need to remove the passenger side drive shaft... This isnt a job for someone who isnt very mechanical, takes time and well the know how...

 

Yeah, the SPEC Stage 1 kit comes with an alignment tool.

The passenger side axle does need removal. Well, supposedly you're able to do it without that, but I think it'd make it a lot easier to pull. At the very least, you need to back it out of the differential, maybe not remove the whole thing (but you might as well remove the whole thing, rip apart the carrier bearing and grease it up real well while you're doing that...)

 

Ah OK, good to know. I can't wait to feel this new clutch

Come to think of it, I have all the stuff to install the Energy Suspension motor mounts too. I should pop them on the crossmember before installing. Man this car's going to feel like a new machine

 

oh, and you don't have to remove the whole engine when taking off the tranny.

 

You should also do the rear main seal while you have it exposed, do the axle seals too. This is all good preventive maintenance while you have it all there at your fingertips. Glad to hear it's going well!
Jason

 

i dropped my trans without taking out the pass axel, but it was a pita so i pulled it b4 reinstalling the trans in the car.

remember to readjust ur pedal when ur done.

btw how much do our trans weight, it felt like it was only about 40-50lbs, if so, thats nuts!

 

ColdSHO when U going to tell me how to get a Maxima in GT2 ?????

Spirilis- you took off the cross member to do the clutch ? Weird I never do that, I manage to remove all the bolts off the tranny with that attached still. Regardless, good luck on the reinstall- make sure to put some good Redline ShockProof Medium fluid in the tranny !

 

might as well remove the crossmember just to have more room around there. Its only 6 bolts anyways

 

Yeah, the crossmember removal was only really to remove the 3 bolts holding the two parts of the carrier bearing together, although that ended up unnecessary since I ended up removing the whole thing anyway.

BlackBIRDVQ- Hmm, never used that stuff. I did buy some Redline MT-90 this time around though

Cutler- Damn I totally forgot about those, LOL... Just ordered some for overnight (along with another piece I wanted to replace, one of the front crossmember bolts was a bit mangled somehow) Thanks for the reminder

 

Ah great. The threads inside one of the front bolt holes mounting the crossmember to the frame is stripped. Completely. I ordered a new bolt from DAVEB and it won't go in at all.

Any advice? Thread repair (eg Helicoil) the sucker, or would that be a weak solution?

 

or try a thread tap (i believe that's what its called). Its a hard bit that you purchase depending on the thread size you want that you screw in and it will re-shape and fix it

 

I was considering that, problem is, the only real way to get a good grip on the original threads would be to go in from above... which would require removing the A/C condenser core. Not gonna happen.

Well, I guess I could at least give it a shot anyway. But now my problem is finding a ride to go to the store and buy a tap

 

Welp, took the crossmember out (had the back side bolted up with a bottle jack holding it up), looks like the threads are salvageable with a tap. I could probably guide it in there properly. I'll have a ride in an hour or so, so I'll be able to get what I need.
I'm going to pick up a heli-coil kit too just in case. It looks like the threads on those bolts are M11x1.25, measured with a steel ruler, although I'm going to test it with different dies to be sure.

On one good note, I got the clutch and pressure plate installed properly and torqued (in proper order) to spec

 

Mine was stripped also. I was able to clean it out with a tap. Be sure to bring the new bolt to the store so they can match it exactly. I think the bolt on mine was 12x1.25 but that's in a 2002 car.

I put in a Clutchmaster stage 3 with Fidanza 15 pound flywheel. The clutch they sent was way out of balance and caused a bad vibration. I had to take everything back off and put the stock pieces back while figuring out what was wrong. I have everything balanced and waiting to go back in. When my headers arrive I'm going to do it all at the same time. Looks like 3 clutch jobs in about a months time. No fun at all on jackstands with hand tools. I should have gone with the Spec.

 

Oh good god, I would be PISSED. The thought of having to do this whole thing one more time makes me vomit

 

let us know how the clutch feel and chatter is on that spec stage I spirillis.

 

Damnit. The thread repair kit I bought (tap and die, but not for creating new threads unfortunately... only for repairing/cleaning old ones) didn't work. Couldn't get it started. Looks like I need a heli-coil, and none of the local shops I found carried them in that size (M12x1.25, just as Derrick said... that was the size for my car too)

Good thing is, I was able to clean all the bolts at least and I can clean the threads for the existing holes that still work. Now it's time to call around looking for anyone with a heli-coil in that size. Grr.

 

Got a local shop overnighting an M12x1.25 kit for tomorrow morning. I hate burning time but it looks like I have no choice, hopefully after this everything else will be a walk in the park

I'mma tap the other good threads with the thread restorer to clean them up.

 

i think ill need mine replaced soon but not brave enough to attempt it myself, will probibly go no nissan (to get funked$$$$$$) or to place that is familiar with nissnas/maximas. btw, anyone know how much dealer charges???

 

good luck with the thread tap endeavor!

 

Or the heli-coil endeavour, as it will be

I've never installed a heli-coil before so this will be interesting. I understand how they work, just never tapped fresh threads in a hole before...

 

Dang. So while bored here waiting for tomorrow when I (weather permitted) can get that heli-coil kit, I was reading about SPEC's entire line of products.
They offer a lightweight option for clutches for $79 more, and they also offer aluminum pressure plates in replacement to the pressure plate for any kit for select cars (Nissan Maxima was included in that list). Neat!
Stock mass for everything is fine for me though, since I don't race. But still, in addition to their 7 stages (stage 1, 2, 2+, 3, 3+, 4, 5), the rest of those options just impress me. I hope the quality is up to par.

 

i got a spec stage one clutch. my friend at nissan installed it for me and i endedu p having clutch chatter. he said that when installing nissan clutches, he never gets clutch chatter. but anyway. he also told me to get a rear main seal from nissan cuz they like to leak. the old ones. i thought my clutch was slipping for a while, but it turns out that the rear main seal on my car was leaking and i believe it was getting on the clutch plate, making it feel like slippage. but anyway. good luck, the clutch chatter is quite embarrasing.....sometimes i ride it to 1800 rpm or something so that it wont chatter so much.

 

Got the heli-coil kit, installed it, got the crossmember up. Next is installing the tranny itself. Fortunately the jack I'm using is a floor jack with some flat universal mount on it, with another flat piece bolted to one end of it (with room to move around). The platforms aren't tightened down so they can move around, should give me adequate play to move the tranny back 'n forth while finding the right position to 'stab'

 

yea, wtf, my stage II had chatter as well....specs are definitely ruled out now unless i go stage III and that just sounds like a hard pedal....exedy and stock are my last two options....ga dammit!, spirillis, your the only hope now

 

lol, now you guys are scaring me

 

Hmm. So far I got the tranny in, bolted up and torqued, trans mount installed, crankshaft POS sensor installed (although the connector's being a pain, I ended up having to electrical tape it tight since it won't snap shut... if it's still messed up I'll have to see if Nissan has a pigtail harness I can use to replace it)

Installed the clutch slave cylinder and got a first taste at the clutch pedal feel. That pedal is LIGHT! I'm hoping I didn't do anything wrong here, but that pedal is really light. Lighter than my stock one was.
The clutch fork is definitely moving--I had my roommate push the pedal while I looked. Also it's definitely pushing against the pressure plate--I can't move the clutch fork myself, too much tension. But the clutch pedal definitely feels light. I never disconnected any hydraulic lines/bleeders so I know it's not air in the line.

Actually the pedal feel reminds me of another org member's 4th gen clutch, think it was a Key Value she had... I compared hers against another 4th gen that had a ACT. The ACT was stiff, hers was really light, my stocker was somewhere inbetween.

Also FYI, I torqued the pressure plate bolts down to 30 ft/lbs. I think the shop manual specified somewhere around 25-33 ft/lbs, so I did it to 30 (10 first, then 30, in the proper star formation) and afterwards went around in a circle verifying the torque of each one.

 

I got the lightweight aluminum pressure plate from spec. It weighs 10 lbs 3 ounces. The lightweight $79 option no longer exists (or so the sales rep says), the only option they have now is the aluminum version which is $189 or $159 if you already have a spec pp that you want to send back. It features a aluminum portion with steel friction plate (like a fidenza flywheel). So all you have to do is replace the $75 steel plate instead of buying a new pp down the line

I don't think the light pedal sounds as if you have any problems, but you'll have to start the car and check things around first

 

spirillis, i love the update. Tahts a good first sign already . All i need to know now is if the clutch has chatter. Once you make your first roll out of first gear with no gas, holla back and let me know if you felt chatter.

 

Alright well, car isn't on the floor yet but EVERYTHING IS IN. Except the brakes and wheels, so it's still sitting on jackstands.

Initial start up: Had a lot of vibration and a nasty vibrational noise. It went away after a little while (maybe 5 seconds or so?). I assume the clutch disc wasn't 100% centered or something, and it took a few seconds to straighten out. Hopefully I didn't damage anything

In either case, with the clutch pedal down, shifting is nice and smooth. For right now only the right front axle is spinning, left front spins a little if I rev it up high enough. I assume that's the differential action, guess it's locked currently into giving all the torque to the right side. I'll see for sure when I bring it down and take it for a spin. Either way, I can definitely hear the tranny internals spinning when I release the clutch pedal, and hear them spin down/stop when I push it in. I assume the clutch fork/throwout bearing action is working 100%.

Clutch pedal is still extremely light. After that initial vibration smoothed out it seems smooth enough so far, shifting and all. We'll see once it's on the pavement.

Thanks everyone for your advice, praise and attention

 

Welp, everything is officially on. Brakes installed, wheels installed, car dropped, axle locknuts tightened down and cotter pins installed, lug nuts torqued, lugnut covers installed.

Tools moved aside, air compressor moved out of the way (it sits right near the entrance of my side of the garage), ready to go.

Here's to her maiden voyage...