Time for another Tech write up! The replacement of a clutch, hydraulic or cable,... Or both? My stepbrother Rick (Mean71Cuda) will think you're a god .

Once again, you're the man!

 

I will assume this is for a V8 Mustang and doing it in the driveway so I will write it up as such.

This applies to 79 - 04 V8 Mustangs, both 5.0 and 4.6. The same principle and concept can be applied to other rwd vehicles but this write up is geared toward Mustang owners.


Step 1: Disconnect the battery
Step 2: Get the car up on 4 jack stands.

Get the car up high enough to where you will have enough room to personally get under there and man handle the transmission. It is not advisable to only raise the front of the car. For one as soon as you remove the drive shaft your going to have fluid running out the back of the tranny. And two,.. with out being able to rotate the rear axle,.. it makes getting the 4 bolts for the drive shaft out a little bit of a pain in the ass.

Step 3: Remove the starter.

5.0 models this is not difficult. Remove the 2 bolts holding it and let it hang by the wires. Wont hurt a thing.
4.6 models are a bit of pain in the ass. There are 3 bolts that hold the starter. The 2 lower are the easiest to get to. The top bolt will require a long extension and you will need to go in from the front of the engine and then you will have to feel for it when the socket gets on it. What I like to do is use a 1/2" swivel socket and use some tape around it so when I am feeding the socket at the end of the extension the socket wont droop and fall on me,.. yet when I am at the bolt I still can angle the socket enough to get on the bolt easier then trying to do it with a straight socket. Once all 3 bolts are removed,.. let it hang by the cables. Wont hurt a thing. Despite what others might think or feel. You DO NOT have to put that 3rd top bolt back in for 4.6 engines. I never have and never will. I hate that top bolt and refuse to use it. I have not had any problems using just the other 2 bolts. Though I will admit,.. it is not the "Correct" way. If you want the correct way,.. take it to a dealer and pay them to do it.

Step 4: Remove the exhaust mid pipe.

Just undo the bolts holding the mufflers to the mid pipe and then unbolt the mid pipe from the exhaust manifolds or header pipes. 5.0 cars with long tubes wont have any problems. But the majority of 4.6 cars with long tubes will need to have the passenger side header removed in order to get the transmission out. The header pipes hug the bell housing and will not allow the bell housing to be pulled back off the flywheel enough to get it out. This is a 4.6 problem only and requires a completely different write up for that part and those cars with long tubes,.. so I wont get into it right here.

Step 5: Remove the drive shaft.

Will need a 12mm boxed end wrench or 12 pt socket to remove the 4 little bolts that hold the drive shaft in place. I like to rotate the drive shaft around so that 2 are at the bottom. Then lock the parking brake. Knock them out. Undo the brake,.. rotate so that the other 2 are at the bottom and repeat. ***CAUTION*** If the drive shaft has not been removed in a long while or if ever??? The bolts may be a bit stubborn. Some PB blaster and an impact gun usually makes short work of this problem but unless you want to break the head of your bolts off and drill out whats left and then retap the threads I suggest the following. Get some penetrating spray like PB Blaster or similar,. WD40 ok,. but not as good as PB Blaster. Spray all 4 bolts liberally and let it stand for a few hours. 4 - 6 hours should be good. You need a breaker bar for your socket. I use an adapter for 1/2 drive breaker bar to 3/8 socket. This way usually the adapter will break before the bolt does. If you find the adapter breaking first,.. spray the bolts some more and let it sit over night. Hit it again in the morning with the breaker bar and they should break loose. Once the bolts are removed use a long screw driver or pry bar to pop the drive shaft loose from the rear,.. sometimes they like to stick. Then it just slides out of the rear of the transmission.

Now would be a good time to put in a new rear transmission seal. Odds are the tranny hasnt seen one in a long while and for a couple dollars its cheap insurance. You can use the end of the drive shaft yoke to pry out the seal. Then a block of wood and a mallet to tap the new one back in place. Takes all of 2 minutes to do.

Step 6: Remove the shifter.

4.6 cars this is very easy. The bezel around the shifter snaps in place. Just pry on it with your hands and it comes out. The hold the boot up out of the way. Remove the 4 bolts that hold the shifter to the transmission. You will need to tap the shifter with a brass mallet or use a pry bar to break it loose. There is RTV sealant holding it to the transmission. Careful when removing the shifter,.. there is a plastic cup that likes to come out with the ball of the shifter. If it does,.. pull it off and put it back in the shifter hole.

5.0 cars, the console is a pain in the ass and removing it makes access to the 4 bolts easier. How ever,.. it can be done with the console in place. Just a PITA.

Step 7: Remove the shifter cable.

T5, T45 and 3650 have a tin cover held in place with a single small screw. Remove the screw and the tin will slide out and give access to the cable. Take a pry bar and jamb it inside the bell housing so that your using the bell housing as a brace and then push on the clutch fork to loosen the cable. The cable should have an end on it with a ball that sits in a cup on the clutch fork. Using the pry bar to loosen it will allow you to remove the cable by hand. If you have an adjustable cable,.. you should be able to just spin the adjustment loose to remove it. Pull the cable through the grommet in the bell housing and let the cable hang in front of the steering rack.

Step 8: Remove bell housing bolts

Leave the top 2 bolts for last. Use a long extension and a 1/2 inch swivel socket (13mm for 4.6). wrap some tape around the socket swivel like I told you for the starter and feed it up to the bolts on the bell housing. Only need a single layer of tape around the socket. I like to use electrical tape because its flexible. The reason again is to hold the swivel in place while your feeding the extension to the bolts.

Now bring in a floor jack and raise it to hold the transmission in place. Raise it a little bit to take pressure off the cross member bolts and remove the nuts and bolts that are holding the cross member to the subframe back there. Take some rags and shuv them inside the rear of the tranny where the drive shaft was or reinsert the yoke of the drive shaft. Your going to drop the rear of the tranny down some in order to make access to the top 2 bolts easier. Dont drop it all the way,.. you dont want to damage the motor mounts or crunch the engine into the firewall. Just enough to give easy access to the top 2 bolts. Once all the bell housing bolts are removed raise it back up and undo the bolts holding the cross member to the tranny. or you can leave it in place if you dont mine fighting with it when you pull the tranny out.

Step 9: Remove the transmission

With the floor jack holding the middle of the transmission in place use a heavy flat screw driver or pry bar and pry the bell housing from the block. Once the dowel pins are clear you should be able to rock the transmission from side to side while pulling it back. Once the input shaft has cleared the splines for the clutch it should just slide back with the floor jack. Careful to hold the transmission with your hands so it does not fall off the jack. If you have access to a transmission jack this would be a good time to use it and works much better then a floor jack. Lower the transmission to the ground,.. slide it out from under the car and inspect the bell housing and case for cracks. If all is well. Pull off the throw out bearing. Dip 2 fingers in some lube/grease and smear it on the input shaft where the T/O bearing slides. Now put on the new T/O bearing. (T/O bearing = Throw out bearing).

Step 10: Remove the clutch.

Remove the bolts holding the clutch in place. Do not completely remove each one. Take each bolt about half way out and then start on the next one until all the way around are about half way out. You will see that the springs in the clutch are holding force against the bolts. Now leave one of the top bolts for last and completely remove the rest of the bolts. The disc should fall out. With the top bolt last hold one hand on the clutch and finish removing the last bolt. Pressure plate should now be in your hands.

Step 11: Remove the fly wheel.

Remove the bolts holding the flywheel in place. With a pry bar working the left and right side pry the fly wheel off the crank. Careful not to drop it. Dont want to damage the teeth on it. Take the flywheel to the machine shop and have them resurface it for you or go to Autozone and buy a "re-manufactured" (Its really just a resurfaced used flyweel) flyweel for $50. Most machine shops charge between $25 - $40 to resurface a flywheel. Shop around for best price.

Step 12: Remove the pilot bearing.

The easiest way to do this is with a slide puller. Its a tool with 2 or 3 fingers that goes inside the pilot bearing and has a sliding weight that you use to whack out the bearing. If this tool is not available you have some other options. Take some wonderbread (less messy) or some axle grease and (either or) stuff the hole behind the pilot bearing with it until its coming out. Now find a socket or round cylinder that matches the inner diameter of the pilot bearing. Odds are you wont have a solid cylinder you'll have to use a socket. Use some electrical tape around the head of a breaker bar and then whack the sock on to the breaker bar. Insert the socket in the hold for the pilot bearing and with a 3 - 5lb mallot,.. whack the shit out of the end of the breaker bar until the bread or grease pushes the pilot bearing out. If using wonderbread,.. you may need to repack it a couple times until the bearing starts to come out. If using grease,.. understand that if the socket is not a perfect fit,.. that its going to spray out the sides. Also,.. this method does not completely remove the bearing,.. but will get enough of it out so that you can pry the rest out with a screw driver or small pry bar. Use a thick brass punch to put the new pilot bearing in. Dab some grease on your finger and smear some on the little bearing surface all the way around.

Step 13: Reinstall flywheel.

Do not use an impact gun when reinstalling the fly wheel and clutch.
Use some thread locker on the bolts. I prefer to use red.
5.0 Torque the bolts to 80 - 85 ft/lbs, 4.6 do 60 - 65 lbs.

Step 14: Clutch installation

You will need a clutch line up tool to center the new clutch disc. Its a simple tool that inserts through the clutch disc into the pilot bearing hole and lines up the disc so that when you torque down on the clutch, the disc will be centered properly and will make lining up the input shaft for the transmission easier. Many clutches come with a plastic line up tool. Most Zoom clutches do. Centerforce used to but they got cheap. King Cobra clutch is made by Zoom. With thread locker on the bolts and with the clutch disc centered, start with the top bolt of the pressure plate first. Hold pressure plate with your had and finger in a few of the bolts to hold the pressure plate in place. Then start wrenching down evenly,.. top to bottom,.. side to side. You can watch the fingers of the clutch closing in as your torquing it down. Once they are all snug break out the torque wrench again. 35 lbs for the pressure plate bolts. Dont forget to use Thread sealant,.. aka Locktite.

Step 15: Transmission installation

With the tranny centered on the jack raise it so that the input shaft lines up with the splines in the clutch disc. Sometimes its easier to have the tranny just a hair lower so you have some wiggle room. Rock the transmission on top of the jack so the splines of the input shaft line up with the splines inside the clutch disc and slide it through the clutch disc. Sometimes you need to grab the rear shaft and rotate it to line up the splines. Now,.. if you lined up the disc correctly you should be able to shove the transmission to the block,.. line up the dowel pins,. you wont be able to see this part,.. but the tip of the input shaft needs to go into the pilot bearing,.. thats where it rides. And if you did not line up the disc correctly you'll never get the tranny to snug up to the block. It will require some rocking and twisting to get the tranny to snug up,.. but if its not going to go,. then pull it back out and redo the clutch disc again. With practice you will be able to line it up with your eyes closed.

Then reverse all of the other steps until everything is buttoned back up.

Also,.. while the car is up in the air and the shifter is off,.. now would be a good time to drain the tranny fluid and put some fresh clean fluid in there. Regular ATF, GM Synchromesh works. Use the bottom drain plug to empty. Close it back up,.. undo the fill plug except you can use a funnel and pour fluid in through the shifter opening up top,.. much easier then trying to get it into the fill hole. Once fluid starts pouring out of the fill hole you are full. Should be about 5.5 quarts for T5 and 6.5 for T45/3650. Mixing in 1 quart of synthetic with regular ATF oil doesnt hurt a thing.

Also,.. dont forget to use some thread locker when putting the drive shaft bolts back in and dont forget to use some RTV on the bottom of the shifter plate when bolting it back to the transmission.

There biatch.
Tell me how sexy I am,..

Hurst

 

pretty good , hurst , you said once you didnt like doing ranger clutches. About 80% easier.You have this one down pretty good , a ranger clutch only takes about 30 min. You ever thought about being a tech somewhere? You have enough knowledge to get your foot in the door.By the way , that 3rd bolt is easier from the top with a gearwrench.

 

I dont even own a ford, and I always read Hurst's posts.

 

Under ideal conditions I can do all of the above in 30 - 45 mins,.. from start to finish and that includes turning the flywheel on the laithe. Not on the floor with jack stands of course. But on a lift at my inlaws place, using a tranny jack and stand and air tools makes quick work. Old rusty exhausts and stubborn drive shaft bolts would be the only things to slow me down.

I tried here recently,.. after I got laid off and couldnt find any work in construction,.. first thing they asked me was if I was ASE certified. Nope. Plus I'm taking night classes and some of the places wanted me to work late. No can do,.. my education and family come first. Used to make $35hr in the union up north with all the over time you wanted. Grossed on average $72k a year. Came down here and barely made $16hr doing the same thing. Then hired on as an hourly foreman with a $800 week minimum take home guarantee and a company truck. Wasnt too bad until the company went under. I'm sick of construction. I'm getting too old for that type of work. Rather park my fat ass in a nice air conditioned office and administer Cisco routers for $80k a year. Thats my plan anyway. Dont graduate till 2012,.. but I start my internship in April.

Hurst

 

Hurst, you really should look into doing some tech work, man! You write some great write-ups, and they're extremely simple to understand for someone who may or may not know the 'fancy' terms for many of the parts under the car.

 

If you know someone that will pay for it then sure,.. I'm all for trying to make a buck.

For now I dont mind helping those that dont know. I always have and probably will continue to help until I'm too old and cripple to be of any help. You would have to be a parent to really understand. But when I see a young guy working on his ride and he got his motor out or did his first clutch and it was because of me helping him do it,.. I know my legacy will carry on in him and hopefully he will do the same later for someone else.

Hurst

 

Hurst, I seriously hope you had the write up saved and copied pasted. Thats a lot of typing. lol.

 

hurst wants to come to cali and help me with my clutch whaaa? hahaha *coughs* *hinthint* *winkwink*

 

If you payed for him to come out there Rick, im sure he would!